Student Standard Calligraphy Training for Passing the Regular Script Examination

Author: Gu Zhong'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-03
Features: This workbook is specifically designed to implement the spirit of the Ministry of Education's "Notice on Strengthening Writing Instruction for Primary and Secondary School Students in Compulsory Education" and to align with the "Notice on Establishing a Writing Proficiency Examination System for Primary and Secondary Schools in Shanghai" by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. It serves as a calligraphy practice workbook for students preparing for the writing proficiency examination. Regardless of their initial foundation, students can significantly improve their calligraphy skills by diligently studying and practicing with this book, enabling them to pass the examination and achieve the national standard for Level 1. This book is also beneficial for primary and secondary school students across various grades and regions, as well as anyone seeking to master calligraphy. It helps them enhance their writing skills and supports schools and families in promoting writing education nationwide.
This workbook is structured according to the four scoring criteria—correctness, neatness, balance, and tidiness—proposed in the "Draft Implementation Plan for the Primary and Secondary School Writing Proficiency Examination" issued by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. It provides targeted writing exercises for students. The training is divided into two main parts: foundational training and examination-oriented training. Foundational training is the most crucial part, with the fundamental goal of teaching students to write well—correctly and neatly, and ultimately, in a balanced manner. This training is further divided into two sub-topics: stroke training and structural training, each preceded by dedicated guidance. Carefully reading these guidance texts will help students master writing skills.
Regarding the arrangement of exercises, this book avoids the common practice of using partial-character drills and instead adopts a unique approach of classified specialized training. For example, in "stroke training," there are eight exercises such as "horizontal and vertical stroke practice" and "multiple horizontal stroke practice." In "structural training," there are eighteen exercises such as "square-stroke solo-character practice," "top-and-bottom structural character head-and-foot practice," and "left-and-right structural level-head-even-foot practice." These are specifically designed to address common writing errors, such as uneven horizontal and vertical strokes, inconsistent stroke spacing, unstable center of gravity in solo characters, skewed shapes in top-and-bottom structural characters, and uncoordinated pairing in left-and-right structural characters. To aid comprehension and memorization, each exercise is accompanied by a concise maxim and textual explanation. By practicing a particular exercise, students can grasp the key principles of writing a certain type of character, making progress more easily than simply copying model characters from a textbook.
Although this book does not include the common content of partial-character drills, it contains over 1,500 character examples, covering nearly 400 different radicals, which are sufficient to meet students' writing practice needs.
Examination-oriented training is designed to help students adapt to the writing proficiency examination. Based on the "Sampling Test for Level 1 of the Writing Proficiency Examination," it includes exercises on vocabulary, classical poetry, and short passages. These exercises not only cover the content of the actual exam but also provide deeper and more advanced material. Through this training, students can approach the "Writing Proficiency Examination" with confidence.
As a cultural competency assessment for students, the writing proficiency examination currently lacks a scoring criterion that teachers can operate. To advance this work, this book includes an article titled "How to Score the Student Calligraphy Proficiency Examination," which proposes some specific suggestions. Additionally, it provides commentary and demonstrations on the calligraphy practice of some students, serving as a reference for students, teachers, and parents.