early form of Chinese writing, examples of which are found on bronze vessels and objects of the Shang (c. 18th–12th century BC) and Zhou (12th century–256/255 BC) dynasties. The term jinwen (“metal script”), a reference to those metal objects, has also been used to designate guwen characters. Guwen is close in appearance to jiaguwen, the ancient pictographic script found on oracle bones and turtle shells. Although no standardization of form had yet taken place and the arrangement and interrelationship of lines were different in every example, guwen showed a gradual development over jiaguwen. The number of strokes increased, and characters became more complex structurally and acquired additional meanings. They showed a transition from the pictographic to a more ideographic and abstract symbolization.