Eight-Script Book Common 5000 Characters Calligraphy Book

Author: Compiled by the Editorial Department
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-06-01
Features: "Common 5,000 Characters Manuscript in Eight Scripts," a comparative calligraphy book featuring eight scripts—regular script, running script, cursive script, clerical script, semi-cursive script, bamboo and silk script, small seal script, and large seal script—along with a simplified-traditional regular script comparison. It includes nearly 5,000 commonly used single characters. The calligraphers are experts with extensive research in specific scripts and have individually published calligraphy books, making this manuscript suitable for beginners as well. Most modern calligraphy books published today have specific content and limited character counts, failing to meet the needs of a broad readership. Particularly for cursive and seal scripts, which have been standardized over a thousand years, their structures and writing rules are fixed and cannot be arbitrarily created. Additionally, ancient steles and stone inscriptions often contain mixed styles of seal and cursive scripts, making it difficult for beginners to grasp them. A standardized script reference is essential. Even those with some calligraphy foundation may need a concise and easily searchable dictionary to avoid mistakes. This multi-script "Common 5,000 Characters Manuscript" was created to address these needs.
This manuscript originated as the "Common Characters Manuscript in Five Scripts," which has been published intermittently since 1978. By 2000, it had been reprinted 27 times, with nearly five million copies in print, and has been widely favored by calligraphy enthusiasts. Given many readers' requests to include semi-cursive script, bamboo and silk script, and large seal script to enrich the "Common Characters Manuscript," we invited Mr. Tong Wei from Beijing, Mr. Chen Jiangong from Xi'an, and Mr. Guo Ruyu from Shanghai to contribute. During the editing process, we thoroughly reviewed the original manuscript, made minor corrections to non-standard elements, and completely reorganized it to present a new version to calligraphy enthusiasts.
The manuscript features nearly 5,000 common characters, presented in eight-script comparison (regular, running, cursive, clerical, bamboo and silk, small seal, and large seal), along with a simplified-traditional regular script comparison. The calligraphers are renowned experts, making this book suitable for both practicing calligraphy and as a reference tool. The manuscript's predecessor, the "Common Characters Manuscript in Five Scripts," was published in 1987 and reprinted 27 times by last year, with nearly five million copies sold and widely welcomed by calligraphy enthusiasts. For this edition, we added bamboo and silk script, semi-cursive script, and large seal script, revised the original manuscript, and completely reorganized it. The new version is released in two volumes, hardcover, and is expected to be well-received by enthusiasts.