Chinese scripts

Brush control is regarded as the key to success. Despite various styles due to Chinese writing system evolution, the basic aspects of brush control remain the same as they have always been - starting and ending a stroke with opposite movement, and keeping the tip of a brush within stroke path throughout.

Li Si Inscription of Mt Yi Ink rubbing on rice paper

Seal style is the oldest form of Chinese calligraphy. Technically there is only one stroke in this style - to start a stroke, long or short, straight or curved, back the brush quick, then launch it out firm.

Ritual Implements

Clerical script owns four strokes - horizontal, vertical, left-falling and right-falling stroke. All other strokes are their variations. This style stresses on contrast between light and heavy part of brushstroke, especially in right-falling stroke.

Zhang Zhi Year-end

Cursive style began as a hasty scrawl of clerical script, but later became an aesthetic form in its own right. The brush technique of this style is based on clerical style. Thus, clerical script training is a prerequisite.

Wang Xizhi Aunt

Semi-cursive style, a legible form of cursive script, is the most casual and popular script in Chinese calligraphy. The strokes can be pressed close together or scattered, elongated or curtailed, or any way otherwise, and the characters can differ greatly in size. The ultimate model of this style is Wang Xizhi.

Ouyang Xun Huangfu Dan Stele

Regular style is the practical form of clerical script and the punctilious form of semi-cursive script; thus only those who are capable of clerical script can get its essential and those who are capable of semi-cursive script can get its spirit. Regular style still owns four strokes like clerical script, though it is sometimes labeled with four more strokes - dot stroke which can be a variation of any other stroke, hook stroke which is a variation of left-falling stroke, short horizontal stroke and short vertical stroke. Four Regular Script Masters are Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Zhao Mengfu.