Regular script explained

The regular script is the newest of the major Chinese script styles, emerging during the Three Kingdoms period, and stylistically mature by the 7th century. It is the most common style used in modern text. In its traditional form it is the third-most common in publishing after the Ming and Gothic types used exclusively in print.

History

The Xuanhe Calligraphy Manual credits with creating the regular script, based on the clerical script of the early Han dynasty (202 BCE220 CE). It became popular during the Eastern Han and Three Kingdoms periods, with Zhong Yao (230 CE), a calligrapher in the state of Cao Wei (220–266), being credited as its first master, known as the father of regular script. His famous works include the,, and . Palaeographer Qiu Xigui describes the script in Xuanshi biao as:

However, very few wrote in this script at the time other than a few literati; most continued writing in the neo-clerical script, or a hybrid form of semi-cursive and neo-clerical. The regular script did not become dominant until the 5th century during the early Northern and Southern period (420–589); there was a variety of the regular script which emerged from neo-clerical as well as regular scripts known as or . Thus, the regular script is descended both from the early semi-cursive style as well as from the neo-clerical script.

The script is considered to have become stylistically mature during the Tang dynasty (618–907), with the most famous and oft-imitated calligraphers of that period being the early Tang's Four Great Calligraphers (Chinese: 初唐四大家): Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji, as well as the tandem of Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan.

During the Northern Song (960–1127), Emperor Huizong created an iconic style known as . During the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) also became known for his own calligraphic style for the regular script, called .

92 rules governing the fundamental structure of regular script were established during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912); the calligrapher wrote a guidebook illustrating these rules, with four characters provided as an example for each.

Characteristics

The Eight Principles of Yong encapsulate varieties of most strokes that appear in the regular script. Regular script characters with dimensions larger than are usually classified as 'large' ; those smaller than are usually classified as 'small', and those in between are 'medium' .

Notable works written in regular script include the Northern and Southern-era Records of Yao Boduo Sculpturing (Chinese: 姚伯多造像記) and Tablet of General Guangwu (Chinese: 廣武將軍碑), the Sui-era Tablet of Longzang Temple (Chinese: 龍藏寺碑), Tombstone Record of Sui Xiaoci (Chinese: 蘇孝慈墓誌), and Tombstone Record of Beauty Tong (Chinese: 董美人墓誌), and the Tang-era Sweet Spring at Jiucheng Palace (Chinese: 九成宮醴泉銘).

Derivative styles

• Fangsong typefaces are based on a printed style which developed during the Song dynasty (970–1279)
• The most common printed typeface styles, Ming and sans-serif, are based on Fangsong
• Japanese textbook typefaces (Japanese: 教科書体;) are based on regular script, but modified so that they appear to be written with a pencil or pen. They also follow the jōyō kanji character forms.
• The bopomofo semi-syllabograms are nearly always written using regular script strokes.

References

Sources