Evolution of the ‘dragon’ character

Evolution of the dragon character in Chinese, from Shang dynasty oracle bone script (about 3,500 years ago) through to the simplified character of the 1950s.

Shang dynasty (1600 – 1046 BC) oracle bone script







Western Zhou dynasty (1046 – 771 BC), bronze script



Qin/Han dynasty (221 BC – AD 220), bronze script



Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25 – 220), clerical script



Three Kingdoms era (220 – 280), regular script



Tang dynasty (618 – 907), cursive script



1950s Mainland China, simplified script



Fancy-looking traditional dragon character, this script is actually ‘thin gold script’ (瘦金書 shòu jīn shū), a form of regular script created by the Emperor Huizong of Song about 1000 years ago.