Various current Chinese characters have been traced back to the late Shang Dynasty about 1200–1050 BC,[6][7][8] but the process of creating characters is thought to have begun some centuries earlier.[9] After a period of variation and evolution, Chinese characters were standardized under the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC).[10] Over the millennia, these characters have evolved into well-developed styles of Chinese calligraphy.[11]