Write good calligraphy and recite poetry from the character book

Author: Liu Jingxiang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-09-01
Features: Calligraphy is the art of writing Chinese characters, with a glorious history spanning over three thousand years. It is a precious gem in the treasure trove of ancient Chinese culture. As one of its forms, regular script (Kai Shu) is the foundation of calligraphy practice. For millennia, it has been passed down in an unbroken line, with generations of masters contributing to its development. By the Sui and Tang dynasties, the techniques and structures of regular script had nearly reached perfection, with eminent calligraphers following one another in succession, like a hundred flowers blooming in the forest of calligraphy. Beginners should start with regular script. The ancients compared regular script to "standing," running script to "walking," and cursive script to "sprinting." Only when one stands firm can they walk quickly and sprint far. Mastering regular script greatly aids in writing running script and cursive script. It can be said that regular script is the foundation of calligraphy. As every descendant of the Chinese nation, we should regard the practice of calligraphy as a course in inheriting and promoting the millennia-old cultural history of China. The ancient Chinese poems and prose of the dynasties are a marvel in the history of Chinese literature. The Tang poetry, Song lyrics, and Yuan qu (quyi) represent the flourishing and maturation of Chinese poetic creation, holding a significant place in literary history. Those intricate and elaborate ancient verses, like carved brocade and dazzling jewels, are the crystallization of the beauty of ancient minds, worthy of inheritance and promotion.
With the continuous deepening of educational reforms in primary and secondary schools, the Ministry of Education has mandated that students memorize outstanding ancient Chinese poems and prose to comprehensively enhance their cultural literacy and moral character, putting quality education into practice. To promote calligraphy art and the memorization of outstanding ancient poems and prose, this regular-script penmanship book has been compiled and published. Through technical introductions, poetry appreciation, and calligraphy practice, students can memorize ancient poetry while practicing writing, thereby increasing their interest in calligraphy and utilizing the opportunity to memorize the poems prescribed by the educational curriculum—truly achieving two goals at once.