Calligraphy in ancient china is collectively called an oriental art. It is called that mainly because it serves both as a painting and as a writing technique. When you look at a character of ancient Chinese calligraphy, it looks like something you would find in a modern museum, but it was actually part of their language.

Archaeological discoveries has proven that calligraphy was invented 4,500 years ago, but legends of china say that the yellow emperor, a man called Cang Jie invented it 4,600 years ago. No one really knows the answer of when it was invented, but most people think it was roughly 4,000 years ago.

The art of calligraphy became popular during the Qin dynasty when it was mostly a form of art. Then it was often used during the Han dynasty, but had more of a word meaning. Calligraphy uses a simple stroke and presentation to convey a basic meaning, which also reveals the culture, feelings and beliefs of the artist.

Calligraphy started being painted on pottery and sometimes was carved into jade rocks. It then grew into paintings in the Qin dynasty and rose to a technique of writing in the Han dynasty.

There are four basic types of calligraphy in Chinese history. Zhuan-shu (seal character script), was used mainly throughout the Qin dynasty, and is broken up into three parts; early seal character, greater seal character and lesser seal character. Then comes zhenshu, which was used in the Han dynasty. This was a more elaborate writing style than the lesser seal, and was used throughout the Han dynasty. Then came the more modern styles of writing, being caoshu (cursive script), lishu (official script), which are still used today.

During the Qin dynasty, the written characters of the many different regions were simplified, and much of the original calligraphy's elaborate carvings and paintings lost meaning to make way for the more efficient Qin dynasties style. You can tell the difference in simplification phases from the early seal character through to the lesser seal character. It follows the pattern of primitive writing to the unification of china, and a more simplified writing.