籀
surname Zhou; (literary) seal script used throughout the pre-Han period; to recite; to read (aloud)
Closest English meanings
seal script·to read·to write
The Calligrapher — Wú Dàchéng 吴大澂
Qing scholar-official famed for refined seal script.
Qing calligrapher (), master of seal script — known for 金文书法家. Qing dynasty
Cultural Story
籀 preserves the name of the oldest known Chinese primer: 史籀篇, credited to a Zhou royal scribe, lent its name to 籀文, the greater seal script kept in Shuowen glosses and the stone drums. Before Qin's simplification, schoolboys learned to 籀读 — to write out and recite — its chapter lists stroke by stroke.
Common words & phrases
- 籀文 great seal script · zhou script
- 史籀 historian Zhou (author)
- 籀读 to read
Read the story behind the character
籀 is now a scholar's word: calligraphers studying 籀文 copy the stone-drum inscriptions for their archaic weight, seal carvers reach for the old forms, and antiquarian dealers label pre-Qin style 大篆 or 籀文. Ordinary readers meet the character once, in dictionaries, where it tags the ancient shapes printed beside the modern ones.
Own this character
Purchase delivers the original SVG of this glyph, brushed by Wú Dàchéng 吴大澂, ready to place on skin, paper, or screen.