Student Standardized Calligraphy Training for Passing the Regular Script Level

Author: Gu Zhong'an
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
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 comply 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 quickly improve their calligraphy skills and pass the examination, achieving the national standard for Level 1, through careful study and practice with this book. It is also beneficial for primary and secondary school students across various grades and regions, as well as anyone seeking to master calligraphy. 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" released by the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission. Targeted writing exercises are arranged for students. The training is divided into two main parts: foundational training and examination-oriented training. Foundational training is the most important part, with the fundamental goal of teaching students to write correctly and neatly, and ultimately to achieve balance. Foundational training is further divided into two topics: stroke training and structural training, each preceded by dedicated guidance. Carefully reading these guidance texts will help students master writing skills. The arrangement of writing exercises in this book does not follow the common practice of practicing radicals but 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 18 exercises such as "square-stroke solo-character practice," "top-and-bottom structural character head and foot practice," and "left-and-right structural level head and foot practice." These are all specifically designed to address common writing errors, such as uneven horizontal and vertical strokes, inconsistent spacing between horizontal strokes, 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 memory, each exercise is accompanied by a concise maxim and textual explanation. Through a particular exercise, students can grasp the key principles of writing a certain type of character, making it easier to progress. This is far more effective than simply having students copy model characters from a writing manual. Although this book does not include the common practice of radical exercises, 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 Sample Paper for Level 1 of the Writing Proficiency Examination," it includes exercises on vocabulary, classical poems, and short passages. These exercises not only cover the content of the examination paper but also include content that deepens and enhances learning. Through examination-oriented training, students can approach the "Writing Proficiency Examination" with confidence. As a cultural competency test for students, the writing proficiency examination currently lacks scoring criteria that teachers can operate. To advance this work, this book includes the article "How to Score the Student's Calligraphy Proficiency Examination," which proposes some more specific suggestions, along with commentaries and demonstrations on selected students' calligraphy exercises, for reference by students, teachers, and parents.