Listen to this articlechóngshū 虫书
Insect Script
春秋战国时期流行的一种特殊书体。又称“鸟虫书”“鸟虫篆”。是篆书的一种变体。因其形态取象于鸟虫之形，故得名。虫书大多铸造或镌刻在兵器、钟鼎上，如湖北宜昌附近出土的越王勾践剑，上面的八字铭文就是鸟虫书。秦朝通行的书体有八种，“虫书”列第四。王莽（前45—公元23）篡位时官方规定的六种书体中亦有“鸟虫书”，用于书写旗帜、符信，或作为印章文字。
Insect script was a special style of calligraphy current in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, also known as “bird-and-insect script” and “bird-and-insect seal script.” It was a variation of seal script. Characters written in this style resembled birds and insects in nature, hence the name. Insect script was cast or inscribed on weaponry, bells and cauldrons. For example, the 8-character inscription on the sword of Goujian, the king of the State of Yue, unearthed near Yichang in Hubei Province, adopted this very style. There were eight styles of calligraphy in use during the Qin Dynasty, among which insect script was in the fourth place. After he usurped the throne, Wang Mang (45 BCAD 23) ordered that insect script be recognized as one of the six official scripts and be used for writing on flags, tallies or seals.
引例 Citations：
◎自尔秦书有八体：一曰大篆，二曰小篆，三曰刻符，四曰虫书，五曰摹印，六曰署书，七曰殳（shū）书，八曰隶书。（许慎《说文解字·序》）
（自那时以后，秦朝有八种书体：第一是大篆，第二是小篆，第三是刻符，第四是虫书，第五是摹写刻印，第六是官署之书，第七是殳书，第八是隶书。）
From then on, the Qin Dynasty boasted eight scripts: (1) greater seal script; (2) lesser seal script; (3) engraved script; (4) insect script; (5) ancient imperial seal script; (6) official script; (7) weaponry script; and (8) clerical script. (Xu Shen: Preface to Explanation of Script and Elucidation of Characters)
◎六体者，古文、奇字、篆书、隶书、缪（móu）篆、虫书，皆所以通知古今文字，摹印章，书幡信也。（《汉书·艺文志》）
（六种字体，分别是古文、奇字、篆书、隶书、缪篆、虫书，书写它们需要通晓古今各种书体，可用来刻写印章、书写符节等。）
Chinese characters may be divided into six forms. They are: archaic style, script adapted from archaic style, seal script, clerical script, deviant seal script, and insect script. One must be well versed in all forms of writing ranging from ancient times up to this day to be able to inscribe seals and write on tallies. (The History of the Han Dynasty)
