from The Writing System of Scribe Zhou: Evidence from Late Pre-imperial Chinese Manuscripts and

from The Writing System of Scribe Zhou: Evidence from Late Pre-imperial Chinese Manuscripts and Inscriptions by Haeree Park

Before the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) united the main six other states of the Warring States 戰國 period, the writing system was also not unified. States used characters that can be traced back to the oracle bone script, but there were various divergences along the way. Some you can see are just a slight variation, some totally different—a lot to think about! (also remember this is pre modern mandarin pronunciations on the left there) Qin Shi Huang mandated the use of only the Qin forms—maybe in a parallel universe the Chu was the great unifier~