Small seal script is the Chinese calligraphy style developed under the Qin dynasty from standardized seal forms.
The Qin state unified much of China in 221 BCE and introduced administrative standardization, including a preferred writing form associated with the chancellor Li Si. This style is called small seal script, or xiaozhuan, to distinguish it from older and more varied large seal forms.
Small seal characters have balanced, often elongated shapes and smooth, rounded strokes. They were used for inscriptions, official writing, and seals, although clerical script gradually became more practical for rapid bureaucratic work during the Han dynasty.
Small seal script remains important in seal carving and calligraphy. It should not be confused with clerical script, which developed into a more angular and horizontally emphasized form, or regular script, which later became the standard model for clearly formed characters.