Chinese Calligraphy Styles

When writing calligraphy, local simplifications are also used (for example, synsitai ).

Japanese calligraphy uses katakana and hiragana . Katakana came from the kaishu style, and hiragana came from the taoshu . Similarly, in Korea, Hangul is used for calligraphy.

Zhuanshu

Zhuanshu , "hieroglyphics of the press" , appeared in the VIII-III centuries BC. e. ^[1] and was the official writing style in the kingdom of Qin , and then in Eastern Zhou in Qin and spread to those regions that Qin conquered. Zhuanshu is the most commonly used of archaic calligraphy styles.

There are two main options: the “big seal” ( Chinese 大篆 , pinyin : dàzhuàn , pall .: Dazhuan ) and the “small seal” ( Chinese. 篆篆 , pinyin : xiǎo zhuàn , pall .: Xiaozhuan ).

At the end of the 20th century, this style was mainly used for incans . Although the print itself is made of wood, jadeite and other materials, the inscription for the print is done with brush and ink.

Most Chinese people cannot read Zhuangshu; its use is usually limited to calligraphy ^[2] .

Lishu

Lishu evolved from a vulgar version of Zhuangshu during the reign of the Han Dynasty , in the 2nd century A.D. e. ^{[1] [3]} .

One of the most characteristic features of a lichen is an expanding “tail” of horizontal and diagonal features , called in Chinese “silkworm head and goose tail” whale. Exercise 蠶 頭雁 尾 , pinyin : cántóu yànwěi , pall. : Tsantou Yanwei ^[4] .

A lishu is available for reading by a kaishu owner ^[2] , although the archaic lichen of the Qin dynasty is difficult to read, so modern inscriptions in this style are usually made by a late lishu.

Sinshu

Sinshu , the “running style”, has a peculiarity: features in this style merge with each other ^[5] . The brush is rarely torn off the paper. This is the newest of the styles that came from kaisu ^[1] .

An educated Chinese can read most of the written Sinshu.

Tsaoshu

Tsaoshu , or “herbal style”, is a full-fledged handwritten italics derived from lichen ^[1] , which requires specific skills to read. Even one who can read Sinsha cannot read Tsaosh without training.

Hieroglyphs in Tsaoshu are written without taking off the brush, often flowing into each other. To create a “beautiful” appearance of the inscription, the traits are modified or completely omitted. The rounded Tsaoshu signs and ligatures are difficult to read, so the Tsaoshu was never widely used ^{[6] [7]} .

Hiragana came from Tsaoshu.

Kaisu

Kaisu is the most popular ^[8] and one of the most recent styles of calligraphy: appeared between the reign of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms . Kaisu became popular during the reign of the Southern and Northern Dynasties . It came from a carefully written lichen ^[1] . All the features of the kaishu characters are separated, the brush in the process breaks away from the paper as many times as there are individual features in the character.

Kaisu is the first style taught by foreigners and young children, as well as students of calligraphy.

Edomoji

Edomoji ( 江 戸 文字 ) - Japanese calligraphic style, invented during the Edo period , intended for advertising and signage ^[9] . It is used in China and Korea to decorate Japanese restaurant signs.

• Kanteiрюu ( 勘 亭 流 kantei :u:, Kantei 's style) was used to design programs for performances of Kabuki and rakugo ^[9] . Invented by Okadzakiya Kanroku ( 岡 崎 屋 勘 六 ) , the name of the style comes from the nickname Okadzakia : “Kantei” ( 勘 亭 亭 ) .

• Yosemoji ( Japanese 寄 席 文字 , letters for the yose theater) - a combination of the Kantei-ry and the Chötin-moji styles, used to design posters and leaflets.

• Kagomoji ( Japanese 篭 文字 , letters in cells) - usually only the outer outline of the thick square signs of kagomoji is depicted.

• Higemoji ( Japanese 髭 文字 , mustachioed letters) - the signs of Higemoji have a "mustache". They make out the packaging of kakigori and ramune , as well as barrels of sake .

• Sumomoji ( Japanese 相撲 文字 sumo: moji , letters for sumo ) - used in advertising posters and sumo programs ^[9] .

• Chötin-moji ( Japanese 提 灯 文字 cho: chin moji , letters for aunts ) - used for inscriptions on lanterns of aunts , for example, on yakitoria .

• Kakuji ( 角 字 , angular letters) - used for seals.

Kao

Kao is a stylized calligraphic signature that many emperors, shoguns and politicians had.

• Character traits in hieroglyphs
• Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian languages

Shared sources

• Barrass GS , British Museum. The Art of Calligraphy in Modern China . - University of California Press, 2002. - S. 19. - ISBN 9780520234512 .
• Qiú, Xīguī 裘錫圭. Chinese writing. - Berkeley : The Society for the Study of Early China and The Institute of East Asian Studies, 2000. [English translation by Gilbert L. Mattos and Jerry Norman of Wénzìxué Gàiyào 文字 學 概要, Shangwu, 1988.]
• Xing JZ Teaching and Learning Chinese as a Foreign Language: A Pedagogical Grammar . - Hong Kong University Press, 2006 .-- S. 103. - ISBN 9789622097629 .
• Chiang Y. Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to Its Aesthetic and Technique . - Harvard University Press, 1973. - (@Havard paperback). - ISBN 9780674122260 .
• Chen T. Chinese Calligraphy . - Cambridge University Press, 2011. - (Introductions to Chinese Culture). - ISBN 9780521186452 .
• Han J. Chinese Characters . - Cambridge University Press, 2012 .-- S. 42. - (Chinese Characters). - ISBN 9780521186605 .
• Norman J. Chinese . - Cambridge University Press, 1988. - (Cambridge Language Surveys). - ISBN 9780521296533 .
• Richie D. A Lateral View: Essays on Culture and Style in Contemporary Japan . - Stone Bridge Press, 1998. - (Japanese culture / Film). - ISBN 9780962813740 .
• Self C. , Self S. The Art of Chinese Brush Painting: Ink, Paper, Inspiration . - Tuttle Publishing, 2012 .-- ISBN 9781462905812 .

Ancient styles

• Boltz, William G. The origin and early development of the Chinese writing system. - New Haven: The American Oriental Society, 1994.
• Keightley, David. Sources of Shang history: the oracle-bone inscriptions of bronze-age China. - Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.
• Norman, Jerry. Chinese. - Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

• Chinese Calligraphy Script in the book (1997) "Chinese Calligraphy, Abstract Art, Mind Painting" by Ngan Siu-Mui
• History of Chinese writing
• Evolution of Chinese Characters
• Zhongwen.com : a searchable dictionary with information about character formation
• Chinese character etymologies
• Chinese Characters : Explanation of the forms of Chinese Characters; of their ideographic nature. Based on the Shuo Wen, other traditional sources and modern archeological finds.