Dates, dynasties, their scripts, and my preference

I’m still trying to hone my grasp of Chinese history. Here’s what I’ve pieced together. I update this occasionally(*) as I get clearer:

• ~1600-1046 BC: Shang Dynasty : Oracle Bone script seems to be the first, oldest writing in China (originally developed from bones that were fired and then the cracks were interpreted as messages). Note that by the time of Lâozî, the word shàng (上 in modern script) was associated with an emperor and drawn as one line above another:

• Zhou Dynasty:
  • ~1066-770 BC: Western Zhou: Western Zhou Bronze Inscriptions (those writings that were cast in bronze survived)
    • ~1,000 – 750 BC: The I Ching is thought to have been used as a divination manual during this time. Later, in the Warring States period, it was treated more as a cosmological and philosophical text.
  • Eastern Zhou:
    • ~770-475 BC: Spring and Autumn Period: S&A Shu Bronze Inscriptions. (During this time, Small Seal script was organically developing from the earlier Western Zhou dynasty (1066 – 770 BC) script, some of which was preserved on bronze inscriptions. As far as we can tell, the evolving seal script was not yet fully developed or codified, and it coexisted with a rougher, popular “vulgar” writing.)
      • 601 BC: Lâozî said to have been born in the state of Chu; 551 BC: said to have departed the country at age 70 and written the Dâo Dé Jïng. Some historians believe Lâozî lived later, in the 300’s BC (the Warring States period)
      • 551-479: Confucius believed to have lived (China).
      • 563 (or 480) – 483 (or 400) BC: Buddha believed to have lived in present-day Nepal and/or India. The oldest Buddhist writings are in Pali and Sanskrit.
    • ~475- ~256 or 247 or 221 BC: Warring States Period (WS): The earliest forms of seal script were written on bamboo “slips” (narrow, thin pieces, tied together). The scripts themselves varied greatly by region and sometimes are collectively known as Large or Great Seal Script. There were also WS bronze inscriptions.
      • 300’s BC: most likely when the Guodian Chu text of the Dào Dé Jīng was written. It’s the oldest version found to-date and was unearthed in 1993 in the village of Guodian in the state of Chu, written on what’s called the Chu slips.
      • 305-240 BC: Life of You Yan, considered the founder of the School of Naturalists, which is considered one of the original foundations of Taoism.
      • Note: Many call 621-221 BC the “Classic” period, though “Classical Chinese” is often considered to be the written language from 475-220 BC.
• Qin Dynasty:
  • ~247-230 or 221 BC: Qin wars of conquest
  • 221 BC: China unified into “Imperial China”
  • ~221-207 BC: Qin Dynasty: Qin Slip or Small Seal Script
• ~202 or 206 BC-220 AD: Han Dynasty: Small Seal Script
  • ~ 110 AD: the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary famously compiled and standardized Small Seal Script, though its etymology has been largely discredited since.
  • Sometimes all of the writing before the Qin dynasty is referred to as Large or Great Seal Script—script definitely varied greatly by region or state before 221 BC.

Based on the above, here’s my preference for what script is close to something Lâozî might have used:

1. Spring and Autumn inscriptions or slip script: I hardly ever can find copies of these images, but when I can, they’re my first choice.
2. Western Zhou Bronze inscriptions: These end up being the images I use most often. They pre-date Lâozî but as I described in the About tab, they formed the basis of whatever script was evolving during Lâozî’s time, and being a clerk, Lâozî was sure to be familiar with them.
3. Shang Oracle Bone: This oldest script is my third choice because Lâozî surely had knowledge of this root etymology of all characters.
4. Warring States Chu Slip: This represents the next evolution of any handwritten script Lâozî may have used.
5. Warring States Bronze inscriptions
6. Small Seal Script

Last tinkered with on 1/14/20.