Regular script (; Hepburn: ''kaisho''), also called (), (''zhēnshū''), (''kǎitǐ'') and (''zhèngshū''), is the newest of the

Chinese script styles In Chinese calligraphy, Chinese characters can be written according to five major styles. These styles are intrinsically linked to the history of Chinese script. Styles When used in decorative ornamentation, such as book covers, movie po ...

(popularized from the

Cao Wei Wei ( Hanzi: 魏; pinyin: ''Wèi'' < Middle Chinese: *''ŋjwei^C'' <

Ming and gothic styles, which are used exclusively in print).

History

The ''Calligraphy Manual of Xuanhe Era'' (; Xuānhé Shūpǔ) credit Wáng Cìzhòng () with creating Regular script based on

Clerical script The clerical script (; Japanese: 隷書体, ''reishotai''; Korean: 예서 (old spelling 례서); Vietnamese: lệ thư), sometimes also chancery script, is a style of Chinese writing which evolved from the late Warring States period to the Qi ...

in the early Western Hàn. This script came into popular usage between the Eastern Hàn and Cáo Wèi dynasties,Qiú 2000 p. 143 and its first known master was Zhōng Yáo (; sometimes also read Zhōng Yóu), who lived in the Eastern Hàn to Cáo Wèi period, c. 151–230 CE. He is also known as the "father of regular script", and his famous works include the ''Xuānshì Biǎo'' (), ''Jiànjìzhí Biǎo'' (), and ''Lìmìng Biǎo'' (). Qiu Xigui describes the script in Zhong's ''Xuānshì Biǎo'' as: However, other than a few literati, very few wrote in this script at the time; most continued writing in neo-clerical script, or a hybrid form of semi-cursive and neo-clerical. Regular script did not become dominant until the early

Southern and Northern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

, in the 5th century; there was a variety of regular script which emerged from neo-clerical as well as from Zhong Yao's regular script, known as " Wei regular" (, Wèikǎi) or "Wei stele" (, Wèibēi). Thus, regular script has parentage in early semi-cursive as well as neo-clerical scripts. The script is considered to have matured stylistically during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

, with the most famous and oft-imitated regular script calligraphers of that period being: * Four great calligraphers of the early Tang (): *:

Ouyang Xun Ouyang Xun (; 557–641), courtesy name Xinben (), was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, and writer of the early Tang dynasty. He was born in Hunan, Changsha, to a family of government officials; and died in modern Anhui province. Achievements ...

() *: Yu Shinan () *: Chu Suiliang () *: Xue Ji () * "Yan–Liu" ("") *:

Yan Zhenqing Yan Zhenqing (; 709–785) was a Chinese calligrapher, military general, and politician. He was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy is equal to that of the ...

() *: Liu Gongquan () In the Northern Song dynasty, Emperor Huizong created an iconic style known as "Slender Gold" (). In the Yuan dynasty, Zhao Mengfu is also known for his own calligraphic style for regular script, "Zhaoti" (). In the Qing dynasty, the ninety-two rules for the fundamental structure of regular script are established, calligrapher wrote a guidebook to illustrate these rules, each rule has four characters for sample.

Name

In addition to its many names in Chinese, regular script is also sometimes called "block script", "standard script" (alternate translation of ) or even "square style" in English.

Characteristics

Regular script characters with width (or length) larger than 5 cm (2 in) is usually considered larger regular script, or dakai (), and those smaller than 2 cm (0.8 in) usually small regular script, or xiaokai (). Those in between are usually called medium regular script, or zhongkai (). What these are relative to other characters. The

Eight Principles of Yong The Eight Principles of ''Yong'' (; ja, 永字八法/えいじはっぽう, ''eiji happō''; ko, 영자팔법/永字八法, ''Yeongjapalbeop''; vi, Vĩnh tự bát pháp) explain how to write eight common strokes in regular script which are f ...

are said to contain a variety of most of the strokes found in regular script. Notable writings in regular script include: * ''The Records of Yao Boduo Sculpturing'' () during the

Southern and Northern dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

* The Tablet of Guangwu General () during the

* The Tablet of Longzang Temple () of the Sui dynasty * ''Tombstone-Record of Sui Xiaoci'' () of the Sui dynasty * ''Tombstone-Record of Beauty Tong'' () of the Sui dynasty * Sweet Spring at Jiucheng Palace () of the

Derivatives

* Imitation Song typefaces () are typefaces based on a printed style which developed in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, from which Ming typefaces developed. * The most common printed typeface styles Ming and sans-serif are based on the structure of regular script. * The Japanese textbook typefaces (; Hepburn: ''kyōkashotai'') are based on regular script, but modified so that they appear to be written with a pencil or

pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

. They also follow the standardized character forms prescribed in the Jōyō kanji. * Zhuyin Fuhao characters, although not true Chinese characters, are virtually always written with regular script strokes.

In computing

References

Citations

Sources

* Qiu Xigui (2000). Chinese Writing. Translation of by Mattos and Norman. Early China Special Monograph Series No. 4. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies,

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. .

External links

Regular Script "tao te king" CHAPTER LVII

In English, at BeyondCalligraphy.com {{Writing systems Writing systems Chinese script style Logographic writing systems Chinese characters