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27-427: The Tenrei banshō meigi or Tenrei banshō myōgi ( 篆隷萬象名義 , "The myriad things [of the universe], pronounced, defined, in seal script and clerical script ") is the oldest extant Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters . The title is also written 篆隷万象名義 with the modern graphic variant ban (万 "10,000; myriad") for ban (萬 "10,000; myriad"). The prominent Heian period monk and scholar Kūkai , founder of

54-634: A loss of power, Li Si decided to betray the dead Qin Shi Huang. Li Si and Zhao Gao tricked Fusu into committing suicide and installed another prince, Qin Er Shi (229–207 BC), in his place. During the tumultuous aftermath, Zhao Gao convinced the new emperor to install his followers in official positions. When his power base was secure enough, Zhao Gao betrayed Li Si and charged him with treason. Qin Er Shi, who viewed Zhao Gao as his teacher, did not question his decision. Zhao Gao had Li Si tortured until he admitted to

81-503: A system of 542 radicals ( bùshǒu 部首 ), which slightly modified the original 540 in the Shuowen jiezi . The Japanese Tenrei banshō meigi defines approximately 1,000 kanji (Chinese characters), under 534 radicals ( bu 部 ), with a total of over 16,000 characters. Each entry gives the Chinese character in ancient seal script, Chinese pronunciation in fanqie , and definition, all copied from

108-509: A threat to Qin) nor employ him (as his loyalty would not be to Qin). As a result, Han Fei was imprisoned, and in 233 BC convinced by Li Si to commit suicide by taking poison. The state of Han was later conquered in 230 BC. After Qin Shi Huang became emperor, Li Si persuaded him to suppress intellectual dissent. Li Si believed that books regarding things such as medicine , agriculture , and prophecy could be ignored, but political books were dangerous in public hands. He believed that it

135-563: Is known that Li Si compiled the Cangjiepian , a partially-extant wordbook listing some 3,300 Chinese characters in the small seal script. Their form is characterized by being less rectangular and more squarish. In the popular history of Chinese characters, the small seal script is traditionally considered to be ancestral to clerical script , which in turn prefigured every other script in use today. However, recent archaeological discoveries and scholarship have led some scholars to conclude that

162-749: The Shingon Buddhism, edited his Tenrei banshō meigi around 830–835 CE, and based it upon the (circa 543 CE) Chinese Yupian dictionary. Among the Tang dynasty Chinese books that Kūkai brought back to Japan in 806 CE was an original edition Yupian and a copy of the (121 CE) Shuowen Jiezi . One of the National Treasures of Japan held at the Kōzan-ji temple is an 1114 copy of the Tenrei banshō meigi . The Chinese Yupian dictionary defines 12,158 characters under

189-688: The Yupian . The American Japanologist Don Bailey writes: At the time of its compilation, calligraphic style and the Chinese readings and meanings of the characters were probably about all that was demanded of a dictionary, so that the Tenrei banshō meigi suited the scholarly needs of the times. It was compiled in Japan by a Japanese but is in no sense a Japanese dictionary, for it contains not one Wakun (Japanese reading). In modern terms, this dictionary gives borrowed on'yomi "Sino-Japanese readings" but not native kun'yomi "Japanese readings". A later Heian dictionary,

216-485: The large seal script and the small seal script . Without qualification, seal script usually refers to the small seal script—that is, the lineage which evolved within the state of Qin during the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771–221 BC), which was later standardized under Qin Shi Huang ( r.  221–210 BC ). The term large seal script may itself refer to a broad range of forms, including Qin forms older than

243-568: The (898–901 CE) Shinsen Jikyō was the first to include Japanese readings. Ikeda Shoju has studied the conversion of JIS encoding to Unicode in order to create an online Tenrei banshō meigi . Seal script The literal translation of "seal script" ( 篆書 zhuànshū ) is 'decorative engraving script'—this name was coined during the Han dynasty, and reflects the role of the script being reduced to ceremonial inscriptions. The term seal script may refer to several distinct varieties, including

270-452: The Qin court urged King Zheng to expel all foreigners from the state to prevent espionage. As a native of Chu, Li Si would be a target of the policy, so he memorialised the king explaining the many benefits of foreigners to Qin including "the sultry girls of Zhao." The king relented and, impressed with Li Si's rhetoric, promoted him. The same year, Li Si is reported to have urged King Zheng to annex

297-581: The Zhou script starting in the Spring and Autumn period. Beginning around the Warring States period, it became vertically elongated with a regular appearance. This was the period of maturation for the small seal script. It was systematized by prime minister Li Si during the reign of Qin Shi Huang through the elimination of most character variants, and was imposed as the imperial standard. Through Chinese commentaries, it

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324-473: The crafty hare. But how could we do that!" Believing in a highly bureaucratic system, Li Si was central to the efficiency of Qin and the success of its military conquest. He was also instrumental in systematizing standard measures and currency in post-unified China. He further helped systematize the written Chinese language by promulgating as the imperial standard the small seal script which had already been in use in Qin. In this process, variant glyphs within

351-542: The crime and once even intercepted a letter of pleas Li Si had sent to the Emperor. In 208 BC, Zhao Gao had Li Si subjected to the Five Punishments , executed via waist chop at a public market, and his entire family to the third degree exterminated . Sima Qian records Li Si's last words to his son as having been, "I wish that you and I could take our brown dog and go out through the eastern gate of Shang Cai to chase

378-502: The cultural unification of China. He "created a government based solely on merit, so that in the empire sons and younger brothers in the imperial clan were not ennobled, but meritorious ministers were", and "pacified the frontier regions by subduing the barbarians to the north and south". He had the metal weapons of the feudal states melted and cast into bells and statues. He also lowered taxes and eased draconian punishments for criminals that had originated from statesman Shang Yang . Li Si

405-477: The direct ancestor of clerical script was proto-clerical script, which in turn evolved out of the lesser-known vulgar or popular writing of the late Warring States to Qin period. The first known character dictionary was the 3rd-century BC Erya , collated and referenced by Liu Xiang and his son Liu Xin ; it is no longer extant. Not long after, the Shuowen Jiezi ( c.  100 AD )

432-400: The famous Confucian thinker Xunzi , he moved to the state of Qin , the most powerful state at that time, in an attempt to advance his political career. During his stay in Qin, Li Si became a guest of Lü Buwei , who was Chancellor , and had the chance to talk to King Ying Zheng, who would later become the first emperor of a unified China, Qin Shi Huang . Li Si expressed that the Qin state

459-558: The ideas of Shen Buhai , repeatedly referring to the technique of Shen Buhai and Han Fei , but regarding law, he followed Shang Yang . John Knoblock, a translator of classical Chinese texts, considered Li Si to be "one of the two or three most important figures in Chinese history" as a result of his efforts in standardizing the Qin state and its conquered territories. Li Si assisted the Emperor in unifying laws, governmental ordinances, and weights and measures. He also standardized chariots, carts, and characters used in writing , facilitating

486-631: The neighbouring state of Han to order to intimidate the other five remaining states. Li Si also wrote the Jianzhuke Shu ( Petition against the Expulsion of Guest Officers ) in 234 BC. Han Fei , a member of the aristocracy from the State of Han, was asked by the Han king to go to Qin and resolve the situation through diplomacy. Li Si, who envied Han Fei's intellect, persuaded the Qin king that he could neither send Han Fei back (as his superior ability would be

513-634: The random life events around them. And so instead of always being restricted by moral codes, people should do what they deemed best at the moment." He made up his mind to take up politics as a career, which was a common choice for scholars not from a noble family during the Warring States period . Li Si was unable to advance his career in Chu. He believed that achieving nothing in life while being so intelligent and educated would bring shame to not just himself but to all scholars. After having finished his education with

540-474: The small seal script—but also earlier Western Zhou forms, or even oracle bone characters. Due to this imprecision, modern scholars tend to avoid using the term large seal script . There were several different variants of seal script which developed independently in each kingdom during the Eastern Zhou. One of these, the bird-worm seal script , is named for its intricate decorations on the defining strokes, and

567-497: The welfare of the state. It is commonly thought that 460 Confucian scholars were buried alive in the well-known " burning of books and burying of scholars ". When Qin Shi Huang died while away from the capital, Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao suppressed the late emperor's choice of successor, which was Fusu . At that time, as Fusu was close friends with Meng Tian , there was a high chance that Li Si would be replaced by Meng Tian as chancellor should Fusu become emperor. Fearing

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594-461: Was a Chinese calligrapher, philosopher, and politician of the Qin dynasty . He served as Chancellor from 246 to 208 BC, first under King Zheng of the state of Qin —who later became Qin Shi Huang , the "First Emperor" of the Qin dynasty. He then served under Qin Er Shi , Qin Shi Huang's eighteenth son and the second emperor. Concerning administrative methods, Li Si is said to have admired and utilized

621-410: Was extremely powerful, but unifying China was still impossible if all of the other six states at the time united to fight against Qin. Qin Shi Huang was impressed by Li Si's view of how to unify China. Having adopted Li Si's proposal, the ruler of Qin spent generously to lure intellectuals to the state of Qin and sent out assassins to kill important scholars in other states. In 237 BC, a clique at

648-409: Was hard to make progress and change the country with the opposition of so many "free thinking" scholars. As a result, only the state should keep political books, and only state-run schools should be allowed to educate political scholars. Li Si himself penned the edict ordering the destruction of historical records and literature in 213 BC, including key Confucian texts, which he thought detrimental to

675-617: Was originally from Cai in the state of Chu . As a young man he was a minor functionary in the local administration of Chu. According to the Records of the Great Historian , one day Li Si observed that rats in the outhouse were dirty and hungry, but rats in the barn were well-fed. He suddenly realized that "there is no set standard for honour since everyone's life is different. The values of people are determined by their social status. And like rats, people's social status often depends purely on

702-611: Was used in the states of Wu , Chu , and Yue . It was found on several artifacts including the Spear of Fuchai and the Sword of Goujian . As a southern state, Chu was influenced by Wuyue. Chu produced bronze broadswords that were similar to those from Wuyue, but not as intricate. Chu also used the bird-worm style, which was borrowed by the Wu and Yue states. The Qin script—as exemplified in bronze inscriptions prior to unification—had evolved organically from

729-601: Was written by Xu Shen . The Shuowen ' s 9,353 entries reproduce the standardized small seal forms for each entry, organized under 540 radicals . It is anticipated that small seal script forms will eventually be encoded in The Unicode Standard . The code points U+38000–U+3AB9F on the Tertiary Ideographic Plane have been tentatively allocated. Li Si Li Si ( [lì sɹ̩́] ; c.  280  – 208 BC)

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