Kaishu - Formal/Regular Style
Calligraphic Art in Stamps
Naxi Minority Dongba Painting
Finger-Painting, Acrobatics of Fingers |
Kaishu came into use in China at the end of the Han Dynasty. It is still used in China today after more than 1.700 years. It is the main Chinese writing style, called kaishu, or regular script. It is also called zhengshu or zhenshu. Kaishu was initiated by Wang Cizhong toward the end of the Han Dynasty, according to legend. In the Wei-Jin period Zhong You (151-230) and Wang Xizhi(303-363) initiated a new way of writing that allowed kaishu and lishu to separate and form two systems. Chinese script unused today in China to serve the needs of society are kaishu (regular script) and xingshu (running script), but in the art arena zhen, cao, official script and seal character script compete with each other. They give a resplendent view of the beauty of calligraphy and the depth and breadth of this Oriental art, formed through several thousand years of ancient culture. To study Chinese calligraphy, one should begin with kaishu. The next step is to study carefully various other scripts and absorb their good points. In this way one will create a unique style of one's own.
Wang Xizhi, "Yue Yi Lun," Jin Dynasty, (regular script)
Wang Xianzhi, "Fu on the Goddess of the Luo River," Jin Dynasty, (regular script)
Long Zang Si Bei,(Commemorative Stone Tablet for the Long Zang Monastery), Sui Dynasty, (regular script)
Yu Shinan, Stele in the Confucian Temple, Tang Dynasty, (regular script)
Chu Suiliang, Yanta Shengjiao Xu(Preface to the Holy Teaching of the Wild Goose Pagoda),Tang Dynasty, (regular script)
Yan Zhenqing, Duo Bao Pagoda Stele, Tang Dynasty, (regular script)
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Different Styles of Chinese Character Writing
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- Lishu - Official/Clerical Style
- This form of Chinese script germinated in pre-Qin times. By the Qin Dynasty it came to be used by low-ranking officials in the Chinese government. It simplified the more complicated strokes of seal...
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- Xingshu, the Semi-Cursive Script(One of the Prettiest Chinese Calligraphy Styles)
- The Semi-cursive Script (also called Running Script) approximates normal handwriting in which strokes and, more rarely, characters are allowed to run into one another. In writing in the...
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- Caoshu, the Cursive Script(One of the Most Artistic Chinese Calligraphy Styles)
- The Cursive Script (sometimes called Grass Script, or the Cao Style) is a fully cursive script, and a person who can read the Semi-cursive Script cannot be expected to read the Grass Script without...
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- Zhuanshu, the Seal Script(One of the Most Ancient Chinese Calligraphy Styles)
- The Seal Script (often called Small Seal Script) is the formal script of the QÃn system of writing, the informal script of which was precursor to the Clerical Script. Seal script is the oldest...
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