classical Chinese prose; ancient script
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesnoun
classical Chinese prose (pre-1919); ancient literary language
formalThis term broadly refers to the classical written language used before the May Fourth Movement (1919). It generally excludes parallel prose (骈文) and is often contrasted with modern vernacular Chinese (白话文).
Studying classical Chinese is very helpful for understanding traditional Chinese culture.
This thesis cites a large amount of pre-Qin classical prose.
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His foundation in classical Chinese is very solid.
noun
ancient script (pre-Qin); ancient characters
technicalIn a narrower, paleographic sense, it refers to the writing systems used before the Qin dynasty, especially the forms of characters recorded in Xu Shen's "Shuowen Jiezi" that predate the standardization into seal script. It contrasts with the clerical script (隶书) that became standard in the Han dynasty.
"Shuowen Jiezi" contains many ancient character forms.
Oracle bone script and bronze inscriptions are both types of ancient writing.
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Scholars study ancient scripts to decipher unearthed documents.