Standard Cursive Script Dictionary of Yu Rongren

Author: Shen Daorong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-02-01
Features:
1. This book is arranged according to the "Radical Index Table" of the Ci Hai (Shanghai Ci Shu Press, 1989 edition) and the stroke count of Chinese characters. The book contains 8,543 simplified characters (including 1,875 traditional characters and 361 variant characters), with a total of 18,010 model characters.
2. The character heads in this book are presented in simplified form with circles, followed by traditional or variant characters in square brackets (if a character has no variant forms, it is not listed). Below these, the cursive model characters are included with their sources noted. For some characters without sources, the notation "lower radical governs upper radical" is used—meaning the source of the lower radical governs the source of the upper radical. If different character heads share the same source and are adjacent, their sources are noted separately.
3. In this book, characters marked with an asterisk () in the upper right corner are "non-standard cursive."
4. The arrangement of model characters in this book follows one of three methods: single-column vertical writing, interlaced vertical writing, or a swaying vertical writing along column or grid lines.
5. The model characters in this book are generally arranged by stroke count, with minor deviations in some cases to accommodate line breaks, page turns, and aesthetic symmetry.
6. This book includes a "Radical Index Table" and a "Stroke Lookup Table," allowing users to find simplified, traditional, or variant cursive model characters of any given simplified character head using either index.
The standard cursive created and promoted by the modern calligraphy master, Grand Calligrapher Yu Youren, in the early 1930s was a groundbreaking achievement and contribution in the history of modern Chinese calligraphy. For half a century, standard cursive has had a profound influence on calligraphy circles both in China and abroad. It has allowed the ancient Chinese cursive script, once so obscure that even deities could not recognize it, to once again shine with its magnificent artistic vitality.
The publication of Shen Daorong’s Yu Youren Standard Cursive Dictionary is a long-awaited joy for all those studying and researching standard cursive. On this occasion, we express our congratulations.
Mr. Shen devoted over three years to selecting more than 18,000 standard cursive model characters (including a small number of non-standard cursive) from a vast collection of Yu Youren’s calligraphy works and the Standard Cursive Character Collection compiled by his disciple, Hu Gongshi. This dictionary has been recognized and supported by Mr. Qu Beina and Mr. Hu Ximin, fully reflecting Mr. Shen’s passion for standard cursive and his dedication to promoting the cause of standard cursive.
—Chen Moshi, China Standard Cursive Calligraphy Society