Shizhoupian (Chinese: ; pinyin: Shzhupin) refers to the Hn dynasty etymological dictionary Shuwn Jiz based on fragments of a compendium of roughly 800 BCE1 which was written in the late Western Zhu script.

Zhuwn (Chinese: ) refers to the set of 220 or so examples of ancient characters reproduced in the Shizhoupian 2 from that compendium; it is not the name of the book nor is it the general name of the script in use at that time (late Western Zhu script); rather it is the name of a particular example of that script. The zhuwn characters help supplement the far larger quantity from late Western Zhu bronzes as evidence of late W. Zhu script.

Traditionalists holds that around the end of the Western Zhu the Zhu King Xuns historian Shzhu () Historian Zhu compiled the written characters into a lexicon of fifteen pin () sections. This account has been questioned by some scholars who thought the script structure and style do not match that period; however others disagree and uphold the traditional dating.3 Wng Gowi () also questioned the traditional interpretation of zhu () as the historians name pointing out that in ancient times according to Shuwn it had the same meaning as d (to study and understand the meaning of books; to read). According to this view the title of the book was likely taken from the first sentence of the text (as is often done when assigning names to untitled ancient texts like those on bronzes) which presumably contained the historian studies.4 However numerous scholars5 believe that Sh Zho (Historian Zhu) was the historian listed as Sh Li ( Historian Li) in the Hnsh (Book of Han)s chapter on Notable Persons Past and Present. (Note that has at its center the graph and the implication is that the two characters are cognate.) Confirmation of the historical existence of a Historian Li from the correct period of time has been found on an ancient dng tripodal cauldron in the collection of the Shnghi Museum leading to the conclusion that the Shzhupin was indeed likely written by a Historian Zhu.6

The zhuwn characters have been described as generally symmetrical and balanced and are on average (although not always) more complex than the later seal characters. They contain many swirls and circles in place of later squared or rectilinear forms. References Notes King Xun reigned 827-782 BCE acc. to Qi 2000 p.72-3 and before 841 BCE 781 BCE acc. to the Wiki page on him. Qi 2000 p.72: The term zhuwn refers to the characters in the Shzhupin For a brief summary of the debate see Qi 2000 pp.72-77. Chn 2003 p.17; Qi 2000 p.74; Hny Dzdin pp.1677 & 1259 See overview (in Chinese) of the debate in Chn Zhorng () 2003 pp.17-19. Chn 2003 pp.17-19 Sources Chn Zhorng (2003) Research on the Qn (Ch'in) Lineage of Writing: An Examination from the Perspective of the History of Chinese Writing. Academia Sinica Institute of History and Philology Monograph. ISBN 957-671-995-X. . Hny Dzdin 1992. Hbi Cishu Chbnsh and Schun Cishu Chbnsh; Taiwanese reprint (traditional characters) from Jinhng Publ. in Taipei is ISBN 957-813-478-9. Qi Xgu (2000). Chinese Writing. Translation of by Mattos and Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies University of California Berkeley. ISBN 1-55729-071-7.