was hand-carved in reverse on a block and then hand-printed, so that the printed form of a kanji matched the handwritten form. In contemporary times, kanji have been specially designed (kanji were modified as necessary) so that every character is sized to fit a standard, uniform amount of space, and thus even if the characters are printed very small, texts remain easy to read. Many young people in Japan are so accustomed to reading printed materials in this style that their handwriting replicates this form. But this uniformly-spaced style should most certainly be avoided in the art of shodo.
The Cultural Revolution in China (1966–76) brought about new changes in writing. The traditional ideograms using many strokes to create one word were simplified by eliminating certain lines, and thus a new style of kanji was developed and continues to be used in Mainland China. During this same period in Japan, kanji was also simplified by eliminating strokes in certain ideograms. Today, the traditional way of writing Chinese ideograms is found only in Taiwan and certain other Asian countries. However, for the artist of shodo—whether in China, Japan or Korea—the traditional style of kanji is still used.
The top ideogram, Ben, means “convenience” or “service” but also means “excrement.” The lower ideogram, Korosu or Satsu, carries the meanings “kill,” “slaughter” or “restrain.” Both are in the gyosho style.
Writing Styles
There are five basic styles commonly used in Japan today for writing kanji. They are tensho (seal style), rei sho (scribe’s style), kaisho (block style), gyosho (semi-cursive style) and sosho (cursive style), which all appeared in China before the end of the fourth century. In addition to the Chinese ideograms, the Japanese, in the 8th century, developed hiragana and katakana where one small portion of an ideogram was taken to represent a phonetic sound more suitable for the spoken language of Japan.
REISHO 隷書
Reisho is sometimes referred to as the “clerical script” or “scribe’s style.” The Chinese Emperor Shin Huang Ti of the Tsin dynasty (221 BCE) ordered the consolidation all of the existing styles of ideograms into a standard reisho form based on pictures in order to make writing more accessible to the masses. This style, which is highly linear, was considerably influenced by the tensho style or “seal script,” a formal calligraphic style created a generation earlier for carving ideograms on stone tablets or monuments as well as on ornamental stamps or seals for signifying ownership. Although the strong decorative aspects of tensho were adapted for reisho, they were considerably simplified, with fewer strokes and in a slightly more cursive style. The reisho style is thus both decorative and easy to read, even for the average person.
Although traditional or classic reisho had less ornamentation and was much simpler, some embellishments were eventually applied to it. The ideograms in reisho were also longer horizontally. Unique to reisho is that when making the horizontal line, the beginning of the line is rounded, but the end of the line goes up like the bow of a ship. Today, however, the sho artist will write reisho with much more freedom than in the past, injecting his own personality.
Using the brush in a particular way for the beginning and ending of each line is a unique aspect of reisho. Example (a) at left of the ideogram ichi, meaning “one,” comprises a horizontal line. The brush is held perpendicular to the paper. As it is pressed down, it is pushed to the left to make the circular head; it is then moved to the right; after pressure is applied, the brush is lifted upward to create a taper.
Reisho continues to be used today, especially in shodo exhibitions featuring Chinese poetry, and is popular for company and product names because of its relative simplicity and legibility. The reisho style is also commonly employed by carvers of stone seals, especially official seals, which often function as official signatures in Asia.
The example (b) at left shows the ideogram for “dream” in the reisho style. In the grouping at left (c), the ideogram at the top is an early version of mu (“nothingness”) in a classic Chin dynasty (221–206 BCE) reisho style. The ideogram in the middle is the same ideogram written in a contemporary style with embellishments. The ideograms in the last line—“guest,” “elderly lady” and “crow”—come from Chinese poetry of the Chin dynasty and have much more ornamentation.
The ideogram for “dream” in the reisho style.
KAISHO 楷書
Kaisho literally means “correct writing.” It is a simplified form of reisho and is the form used in both China and Japan for everyday writing. Often called the “block script,” kaisho is the easiest style to read because of its precise nature. This derives from the fact that the form and number of strokes are placed in a prescribed place and sequence within a fixed area. The ideogram for kaisho itself (see the heading above) can also be interpreted to mean that each stroke has a “fixed” or “set” position. The left side of the first ideogram is a tree or wood; the right side means “everyone” or “all.”
Writing in kaisho is similar to walking up a staircase one step at a time. The order in which the lines are to be placed must be strictly followed line by line. In copybooks, the ideogram strokes are numbered and the strokes must be followed in the correct order. For this reason, students often begin with the kaisho form when first learning shodo; it gives them a chance to practice the sequence of strokes while becoming used to handling the brush. Indeed, kaisho was developed after brushes made with animal hairs became commonly available.
All printed materials, such as newspapers, magazines and books, are printed in the kaisho style. A newly designed printing block system called katsujitai has been devised so that even small print can be easily read. In this style, each ideogram is made to fit a uniformly sized square block. Some ideograms have been adjusted to fit the block size.
Despite the overall uniformity of the kaisho writing style, slight variations do occur depending on the strength of the brush stroke, and this is permissible. Much depends on individual taste and choice. Although such terminology as “rigid and formal kaisho,” semiformal kaisho” and “informal kaisho” is not part of the curriculum in a sho classroom, a “casual” or “relaxed” style is sometimes referred to.
In the traditional line for the kaisho ideogram ichi, meaning “one,” shown above, the brush is pressed down; slight pressure is applied before it is moved to the right; the amount of pressure is reduced “in transit”; at the end more pressure is again applied; then the elbow is turned slightly clockwise to create a knuckle effect.
This example shows the yin and yang balance within the one line. The beginning and end are both given the strength of yang while the lighter touch of the brush “in transit” reflects the reduced strength of yin.
In this contemporary example, there is no obvious visual effect at the beginning and end of the line although the brush stroke is slightly more natural from left to right and the feeling of strength within the line is maintained.
The ideogram for “dream” in the classic kaisho style.
The ideogram for “dream” in the gyosho style.
GYOSHO 行書
Gyosho is a semi-cursive style that literally means “traveling writing.” Indeed, the ideogram for gyo (b above) translates as “motion.” Writing in gyosho is faster than writing in kaisho, and because it is a less formal style the letters have a softer, more rounded appearance, with the individual