契
Definition
qì:* 证券，证明买卖、抵押、租赁等关系的文书。 ～约。～据。房～。 * 相合，相投。 相～。～合。默～。～友。～分（ fèn ）（投合无间的情分）。～厚。 * 用刀雕刻。 ～刻。～舟求剑。 * 〔～机〕指事物转化的关键。 * 刻的文字，近代称甲骨文。 书～。～文（甲骨文）。 qiè:* 古同"锲"，用刀子刻。 xiè:* 古人名，中国商朝的祖先，传说是舜的臣，助禹治水有功而封于商
deed, contract, bond; engrave
Structure
Related substructures
Precursors
Bronze Inscriptions
c. 1200–221 BCE (Shang–Zhou; continues into the Warring States)
Inscriptions cast or engraved on ritual bronzes, especially prominent from the Western Zhou onward; a major source for early political, ritual, and social history.Wikipedia ->
Qin Script
c. 475–206 BCE (Qin, Warring States → Qin dynasty)
Qin-area character forms attested on bamboo/wood slips (e.g., Shuihudi, deposited 217 BCE), overlapping chronologically with the standardization of seal script and the emergence of clerical tendencies.Wikipedia ->
Small Seal Script
Standardized 221–206 BCE (Qin); developed earlier in Qin
The standardized seal script promulgated after Qin’s unification, based on earlier Qin seal forms and used as an empire-wide norm.Wikipedia ->
Clerical Script
c. 300 BCE–220 CE (emerged late Warring States/Qin; dominant Han)
A practical script that evolved from late Warring States/Qin writing; it matured and became dominant in the Han dynasty, favoring faster, more rectilinear strokes.Wikipedia ->
Transmitted Pre-Qin Forms
Pre-Qin forms (≤221 BCE) / late 2nd century BCE onward (Han → later textual transmission)
Pre-Qin character forms preserved through later textual transmission (often discussed as the 'Old Text' / guwen tradition). Shaped by repeated copying, they can diverge from excavated Warring States materials.Wikipedia ->
Last Modified: 2026-01-29 11:48 UTC