Classification of Chinese characters and fonts

Classification of Chinese character fontsEvolution and classification of fonts

Chinese characters have a long history and are extensive and profound. The font structure has been created and improved for thousands of years

Success, with strong regularity.

The evolution process is roughly: graphic—pictogram—Oracle bones—Zhongding—< span >Shigu—Ancient Chinese—Qin Department—< /span>Official script—Regular script—Weibei—Cursive script—Run script—Song type—< span >Imitation Song typeface—Black body—Round black

body

Pictographs, pictographs

Pictographs engraved on some pottery from Banpo later than

6,000 years ago to the Yin and Zhou dynasties, very recognizable characters similar to pictures.

Oracle

It is the earliest recognizable characters in my country. It is written or carved on tortoise shells and animal bones, and there are also a fewnotes. However, its discovery is an event in modern history. It was discovered by Wang Yirong in the 25th year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1889).

According to statistics, more than 150,000 oracle bone inscriptions have been discovered, and there are more than 4,500 unique characters, recognizable About 1,500 words. These characters are inscribed with sharp tools, and there are also ink or Zhushu characters written with a brush similar to . The strokes are thin, hard and straight, and the lines are strong and have a three-dimensional effect regardless of thickness. Calligraphy styles also vary with different periods.Different, or delicate and meticulous, or sloppy and extensive. Dong Zuobin once divided the era characteristics of oracle bone script calligraphy:

The first phase (Wuding), majestic; the second phase (Zugeng, Zu Jia), respectful;

Ding), decadent; the fourth phase (Wu Yi, Wen Ding), vigorous; the fifth phase (Di Yi, Di Xin), strict and orderly.

Divided by era, the characters in the early period are generally large, the characters in the middle period are small and simple, and the characters in the late period have some bronze inscriptions

The characteristics of some words are very small, but very rigorous.

Oracle bone inscriptions are mostly carved with knives, some are filled with vermilion after they are carved, and a few of oracle bone inscriptions are written in vermilion ink but not engraved. Explain that oracle bone inscriptions are usually engraved directly, and some are written first and then engraved. From here we know that the lines of oracle bone inscriptionsnot only have knife skills but also contain brushwork, which cannot be ignored. Because of the limitation of tool materials,its lines are thin and sharp, with straight lines and curves;single-knife and double-knife. It is often thicker in the middle and sharp at both ends, and there are still some square circles at the beginning and end of stippling; Appears rich and varied.Various. The structure of the characters is generally flat and rectangular, and the combination of square circle curves and straight lines is very meaningful. Oracle bone inscriptionsare arranged in vertical rows, from top to bottom, from left to right or from right to leftarranged in sequence.

Oracle Bone Inscriptions already have"Six Books"(pictographic, knowing, referring to things, borrowing, Zhuanzhu, pictophonetic) Chinese characters Construction rules. Oracle bone inscriptions already contain many elements of calligraphy art. Judging from its stippling, knotting, movement, and composition, it is integrated and full of changes, reflecting the Shang Dynasty. Human artistic skills and artistic literacy.

Zhong Dingwen

Bronze inscriptions appeared later than oracle bone inscriptions, which are also called Zhong Dingwen. The Shang and Zhou dynasties were the age of bronze wares. The ritual vessels of bronze wares were represented by tripods, and the musical instruments were represented by bells.“Zhong Ding span>” is synonymous with bronze. All

Thus, Zhong Dingwen or Jinwen refers to the inscription cast or engraved on bronze.

The content of the bronze inscriptions is about activities or events such as ceremonies, orders, edicts, campaigns, hunting, and covenants at that time

The records reflect the social life at that time. The font of the bronze script is neat and elegant, simple and thick, and it is similar to the oracle bone script

Compared with, get rid of rigidity, varied and richer. Bronze inscriptions basically belong to seal script. These words,had been discovered in the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. At that time, someone sent a tripod unearthed in Fenyang to the palace. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty

So the year name is set as Yuanding(before 116)< span>. Bronze inscriptions were discovered one after another. Song Dynasty literati Ouyang Xiu,

Zhao Mingcheng is good at books, and has researched and recorded bronze inscriptions.

The bronze inscriptions on the "Maogong Ding" cast during the reign of King Xuan of the Zhou Dynasty are very representative, with a total of 32< span> line,497 word,

It is the longest bronze inscription unearthed. The font structure of the inscription of "Mao Gong Ding" is strict, thin and smooth, and the cloth

He is not in a hurry, and his actions are appropriate. He is the best in bronze inscriptions. In addition, the inscription of "Da Yu Ding", "San

The inscription "Shipan" is also an excellent work in bronze inscriptions.

Stone Drum

The texts carved on ten stone drums by the Zhou and Qin Dynasties were discovered in the Tang Dynasty, and the existing Forbidden City is the earliest extant inscription in Chinese history

Stone text. Stone drum inscriptions are no longer like oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions. The characters are evenly sized and bold and simple.

Air.

Gu WenThe scriptures found hidden in the walls of Confucius’ house in the Han Dynasty and the texts in the Spring and Autumn Zuo’s Biography are called Gu Wen.

Qin Zhuan

Dazhuan is a kind of writing after sorting out the ancient writings during King Xuan of Zhou Dynasty. Also known as

“Jiwen”Qin Shihuang annexed six countries, unified the world, and the words used by the ministers.

big seal

It is the collective name of Zhongdingwen, Shiguwen, Guwen and Qinzhuan. The font is rough and powerful, thick and simple, and the style hastended to be linear and standardized. Dazhuan is a common script before the Qin Dynasty. "Shi Zhen(zhòu)Pian" written by Zhou Xuanwang is a children's literacy textbook written in big seal script, so the big seal script is also called Zhuanwen. Because the seal script evolved from oracle bone inscriptions, many characters are very similar to oracle bone inscriptions.

XiaozhuanBC 221 years, Qin unified China and ordered Li Si and others to implement"Books with the same characters"Based on Qin sealA simplified Canonical text. The fonts are round and neat, the top is tight and the bottom is loose, the cloth is white and well-proportioned, and the decoration is beautiful with patterns.

Small seal script should be represented by Qin carved stone.

According to "Historical Records·The Chronicle of Qin Shihuang": Qin Shihuang once erected six steles during his east tour. The only surviving ones today are "Taishan Stone Carvings" and "Langya Stone Carvings". Qin Keshi Biography was written by Li Si.

"Taishan Rock Carvings" was written in the previous 219 Carved, the original stone was destroyed in the fifth year of Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty (1740) and it has survived for ten years

Compared with the big seal script, the strokes of the calligraphy are simple and the structure is more regular and elegant.

The one handed down today in "Yishan Carved Stones" was imitated by Zheng Wenbao of the Song Dynasty. The above-mentioned steles are typical of Qin seal script. The brushwork is also like jade tendons and hairpin bones, so Qin Zhuan is also called"Jade tendon seal"Compared to Qin carving "Stone Drum",

"Qin Gonggui" was simplified and ended the confusion of the six countries' characters

Official script

It is said that during the time of the first emperor of Qin, a small official named Cheng Miao was imprisoned for a crime. The official script evolved from the simplified seal scriptIn order to simplify the sketch, the round strokes of the seal script were changed The strokes of Wanzhe flourished in the Han Dynasty, and later generations learned the official scriptTaking the Han stele as a model, there are round changes in the strokes, dignified and elegant, stretching left and right, and have a balanced beauty.

Since the Han Dynasty BC 206 year Gaozu established the world, after< /span> 60 Years of governance, appeared“Hanwu”

Prosperous times, economic and cultural aspects have made great progress, the invention of papermaking, the development of characters,

The impact is profound. At the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial court set the official script as one of the contents of the examination for schoolchildren, and those with good grades could do it

Officer. At that time“Historical Book Lingshi”was an official position who was good at writing official script. Han people call Han Lishu“History

Book". According to Ban Gu's "Han Shu" record: Emperor Yuan"multi-talented, good at history books. "Xiaocheng Empress Xu"clever,

Good history books. ”The important features of official script are straight strokes and square structure. Several strokes are relatively fixed, which is Han

Writing is defined as a constant form.

The other thing is to transform the radicals of the combined characters and make them fixed and unified. In oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions, the radical is the same as the original single font, and its position is not fixed. In order to make the characters square and easy to write, the official script stipulates a special form for the single-style characters used as radicals, and at the same time fixes many seal characters with different radicals as the same Next to , such as "English", "Fan"、"Mo"< /span>,"true","Dian” and other words, the original seal characters have different bases, and the official characters are unified as< span >"big". Also“Thai”,“Qin< /span>”, ”Spring”, “仁”Words such as are also unified into "Husband"The first word.

This makes the official script easier to memorize and write than the seal script, adapting to the growing requirements of the times.

The finalization of official script also has its own development process. From a broad perspective, Lishu has the distinction of Qinli and Hanli. The shape of Qin Li can also be seen from the unearthed cultural relics and the edicts of measuring instruments. At this timeThe structure of the official script is still vertical and rectangular, and the size of the characters is not limited. Some people call this scribe"Guli", which was used in the early Western Han Dynasty font.

The official script gradually changed with the times, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the stereotyped Han Li script was formed. Especially at Hanheng

Emperor Emperor and Emperor Ling (AD 174～189 ), the Han Li reached its heyday. The stereotyped fonts of Han Li, mainlyrefers to the handwriting of this period.

The stereotyped official script has formed its own style in calligraphy. Both the brush and the circle are used, and the hidden front and exposed frontall methods are available;The characteristics of the silkworm head and swallow tail appear in the stroke shape, and the long and horizontal strokes have the silkworm head, and there are Wave potential, there arepitch and tail;In terms of body posture, it changes from vertical to square and then flat to horizontal;Structurally, Zhongguantighten, strokes spread out to the left and right, symmetrical“character eight” , so there is a saying in Han Li“eight points” method.

The style of official script from pen to knot is not only solemn and orderly, but also varied. This kind of font, inherits seal script and ancient official script on the top, and regular script on the bottom. So official script has an important position in calligraphy. The official script developed into a stereotyped official script in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and became the official standard font with strict laws and regulations. The official script left over from this period is rich and varied, especially in the Eastern Han Dynasty, when monuments were erected and passed on, so the number of monuments leftis the most exquisite.

The so-called "monument"in ancient times was a rectangular stone for seeing the shadow of the sun and tying animals at the gate of palaces and temples in ancient times. /span>Inscriptions are engraved on stones, as souvenirs or marks, or engraved proclamations, etc., in the Qin Dynasty it was called“Carved stone ”, after the Han Dynasty was called“Monument”.

Wei BeiRefers to the stone carvings in the Northern Wei Dynasty, which belong to regular script. Wei Bei is the evolution process of Chinese characters from official script to regular script

, it shows the bold innovative spirit and outstanding creative talent in art. Features: various categories, styles

Different and unprepared.

Regular script

Regular script is also called Zhengshu, or Zhenshu. Because it is a model of fonts, it is called regular script, standard, and formal is also called regular script.block script. The Western Han Dynasty began to sprout, and after the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty flourished. Tang Kai has been used as the standard font of Chinese characters for more than one thousand years. Features:Founder shape, straight strokes, rigorous rules, plump and beautiful.

Song Xuanhe Shupu:"At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, there was Wang Cizhong, who began to use official script as regular script"thinks that regular script was developed by ancient official script Changed. According to legend:“On the tomb of Confucius, Zigong planted a regular tree with straight branches and no bending.”kaiThe strokes of the book are simple and crisp, and must be like the branches of a regular tree.

In the early days"regular script", there are still very few official scripts left, the structure is slightly wider, the horizontal strokes are long and the straight strokes are short, in the In the Wei and Jin posts handed down from generation to generation, such as Zhong Yao's "Declaration Table" (left picture), "Ji Ji Zhi Biao", Wang Xizhi's Leyi Theory Huang Ting Jing and others can be regarded as representative works. Looking at its characteristics, it is just like what Weng Fanggang said:“Change the wave painting of official script, add points and picks, and still retain the horizontal and straight of ancient official script< /span>”.

After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the north and the south were divided, and calligraphy was also divided into two schools. The northern style of calligraphy, with the legacy of Hanli

Type, the brushwork is simple and strong, but the style is simple and strict, and it is better than the list of books. This is the so-called Wei stele. Nanpaishu

The method is more sparse and beautiful, and it is better than the ruler. In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to regional differences, personal habits and calligraphy styles were completely different

Same. The northern book is strong, while the southern book is rich, each is perfect, and there is no distinction between superior and inferior, but Bao Shichen and Kang Youwei are trying their best

Praise the books of the two dynasties, especially the steles of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Kang cited ten beauties to emphasize the advantages of Wei Bei.

The regular script of the Tang Dynasty, just like the prosperity of the country in the Tang Dynasty, is truly unprecedented. The calligraphy style is mature, and calligraphers have come out in generations. In terms of regular script, Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang in the early Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing in the middle Tang Dynasty, LiuGongquan in the late Tang Dynasty, His regular script works are valued by later generations and regarded as a model for practicing calligraphy.

cursive script

There are cursive scripts of Dazhuan, Xiaozhuan, Guli and Jinli. Cursive script is specially developed into a characteristic character

The style began in the Han Dynasty, and from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty was a period of heyday, forming Zhangcao, Jincao, and Kuangcao

and cursive. It not only has its own laws, but also expresses its own feelings. Jincao is the main body of cursive script. it

The strokes of their strokes are continuous and circling. Features: strong rhythm

Strong, flowing, comfortable.

From the ancient (chapter) cursive script to the Wei and Jin Dynasties (should be after the appearance of running script), some changes are gradually taking place,

Its intention and origin (from the masses) is to get rid of the official style, facilitate writing, and get it into the hands of calligraphers——that is

It is a standardized variant, and it has a transitional form that later became Imakusa,“草草” book was published

Now, its popular time is extremely short. According to the sheep Xin "Cai" article a cloud: "Hedong (this mountainWestern Province) Wei Kezi Boru, Wei Shangshu Pushe, good cursive and ancient prose, slightly perfect, slightly thin cursive style and fine handwriting

Cooked. Covet Ziguan, whose name is Boyu, is Taibao of Jin Dynasty. He adopts Zhangzhi method and uses covet method to participate in it.

According to the book (foot calf) also. " "Calamity"What kind of style is it?

Chunhua Ge Tie, Volume 2, Chuan Fu has“Dunshou Zhoumin”a post (Mi Fu and Huang Bosi were not rated as pseudo

post), its style is roughly the same as the ancient (chapter) grass minus the waves——that is, minus the official pen. its

He also saw ink stains on "Ping Fu Tie" written by Lu Ji written by Wu Jin (the machine is "Wu Shi", of course it may be in the southeast

There is another system in the style of the book, I dare not say that he must have been influenced by Wei Guan), and many Wei and Jin woods unearthed in Loulan

The cursive characters in the bamboo slips are mostly similar. Judging from the situation of transformation, this is the natural trend of the times, not by

It is up to the will of one or two people.

It is undeniable that Wang Xizhi deserves to be an important family letter to standardize and beautify the establishment of present cursive (including running cursive). “Today”Grass appeared and established, and the time was in the middle of the Eastern Jin Dynasty,The representative calligraphers of its standardization and beautification, according to the literature of the Six Dynasties and the handwriting handed down from generation to generation (mainly the Tang Dynasty's ticking andSong Dynasty Chuanfu Rare Books) we know are Wang Xizhi, Wang Qia and others .

Run ScriptA font between real script and cursive script, which was produced at the end of Han Dynasty. It has regular script and is easy to recognize, and

Cursive script is fast and fast, so it has become a commonly used font like regular script. According to legend, it was created by Liu Fasheng

Creation, Wang Xizhi was revered as"Book Sage". Its characteristics: fast strokes, brisk rhythm, flowing stippling, easy use of brushes

Lively.

Song style Bi Sheng invented movable type printing in the Northern Song Dynasty, and the lettering produced a kind of horizontal lightness and straight weight on the regular script, which is easy to read

The striking printed style, later called Song style. In the Ming and Song Dynasties, it evolved into a Ming style with thin, firm and thick strokes and square characters.

body. At that time, a kind of Hongwu style with thin horizontal strokes and very strong strong strokes was popular among the people, such as Zhi

Official badges, lanterns, notices, etc. all use this font. Features: horizontal thin firm thick,"skimming like a knife, pointing like

Melon seeds, like sweeping”The strokes are rigorous, with decorative dotted lines, the font is square and elegant, serious and generous, it is

The first of art fonts.

Imitation Song style The strokes are consistent in thickness, pay attention to the strokes, straight and beautiful, suitable for handwritten imitation Song style, at that timeIt was called Xin Song, and Song style was also called old song. is a type of modern Song typeface. Features: The character body is beautiful and long, and the Song Kai knot

Closed, horizontal and vertical, the same thickness, evenly spaced, with a short pause at the beginning of the pen, and a short pause at the end of the pen.

Black bodySprout at the end of the Qing Dynasty 57 After simplifying the font and finalizing it . The strokes are horizontal and vertical, the thickness is the same, the strokes are thicker, the square head and the tail form a square black body, so it is named, also known as square body. Features:Arial structure, simple strokes, mutually generous, eye-catching and strong.

Round black bodyEvolved from black body, square corners become rounded corners, square head becomes round head, dot, left, right, pick, tick slightly

Arc, and slightly longer. The square thick and thick round strokes of the strokes, although the shape of the characters are the same, the effects achieved are different. Coarse

Square is thick and flat; thick round is thick and flexible. Therefore, round black appears in typography,

It has a strong impact, giving people the effect of round movement and a sense of the times.

Modern art fontsWith the rapid development of computer technology, modern art fonts emerge in endlessly, so I won’t go into details one by one.