I would like to share some basic Chinese Calligraphy writing techniques I think are very useful for anyone who is interested in learning or trying. In Taiwan, elementary school students used to be required to learn basic Calligraphy writing; unfortunately, the course has been replaced by some “more important” subjects. Personally, I think anything hand written, hand drawn, or hand made always has its own unique and irreplaceable value. That is also the reson why I like to include “hand touched” details in my design whenever I can.

The word “Yong” is the first letter every beginner has to learn, since this single letter contains seven out of the eight basic strokes in Chinese Calligraphy writing. Analyses have shown there are no more than eight basic strokes used in Chinese writing, which means by mastering the eight strokes, one should be able to write/mimic every single Chinese word without any problem.

The eight strokes are: dot, dash, perpendicular downstroke, downstroke to the left (or left-falling stroke), right-falling stroke, hook, upstroke to the right, and bend (or twist).

The “Yong” graphic on the right illustrates the seven basic strokes in the word “Yong” and also includes the missing stroke, “upstroke to the right”.

Chinese calligraphy writing can only be practiced by using normal pens or pencils. However, if you would like to do it more “formally”, below is a list of the writing tools you should buy. Next time, I will share information on how to use these tools. We call this set of tools the “Four Treasures of Study”.

1)  Brush
2)  Paper
3) Inkstone
4) Inkstick