Eight Principles of Yong
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The character æ°¸, yÇ’ng, "forever", "permanence" Stroke order animated (left) and in color gradation from black to red (right) | |
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The strokes numbered Where there are multiple numbers in an area, the strokes overlap briefly and continue from the previous number to the next. | |
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The strokes together, and separated Sequence numbers and stroke directions in red |
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The Eight Principles of Yong (Chinese: æ°¸å—八法; pinyin: YÇ’ngzì BÄ FÇŽ; Japanese: æ°¸å—八法/ãˆã„ã˜ã¯ã£ã½ã†, eiji happÅ; Korean: ì˜ìžíŒ”법, Yeongjapalbeop; Vietnamese: VÄ©nh Tá»± Bát Pháp/Tám PhÆ°Æ¡ng Pháp viết Chữ VÄ©nh) explain how to write eight common strokes in regular script which are found all in the one character, æ°¸ (pinyin: yÇ’ng, "forever", "permanence"). It was traditionally believed that the frequent practice of these principles as a beginning calligrapher could ensure beauty in one's writing.
The Eight Principles are influenced by the earlier Seven Powers (七勢) by Lady Wei Shuo (è¡›é‘ ) of Eastern Jin. Publications on the Principles include:
- The Praise to the Eight Principles of "Yong" (æ°¸å—å…«æ³•é Œ) by Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元) of the Tang Dynasty.
- Explanations to the Eight Principles of "Yong" (æ°¸å—八法解) by Li Puguang (æŽæº¥å…‰) of the Yuan Dynasty. LÇ provided two-character metaphorical names.
Table of naming usages
| Stroke | Name (pinyin, trad./simp.) |
CJK stroke name | LÇ's name | Additional description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Cè, (å´/侧) "Sideway" | DiÇŽn, (點/点) "Dot" | Guà i ShÃ, (怪石) "Strange stone" | Tiny dash, speck. |
| 2 |  |
Lè, (勒) "Bridle" | Héng, (橫) "Horizontal" | Yù Àn, (玉案) "Jade table" | Rightward stroke. |
| 3 |  |
Nǔ, (弩), "Crossbow"; Nǔ, (努) "Strive" |
Shù, (竪 "Erect"; TiÄ›chÇ”, (éµæµ/é“æµ) "Iron staff" |
TiÄ›zhù, (éµæŸ±/é“柱) "Iron pillar" | Downward stroke. |
| 4 |  |
TÃ, (趯) "Jump" | GÅu, (鉤) "Hook" | XièzhuÇŽ, (蟹爪) "Pincer of a crab" | Appended to other strokes, suddenly going down or going left only. |
| 5 |  |
Cè, (ç–) "Horsewhip" | TÃ, (æ) "Raise"; TiÄo, (挑) "Lifting off" |
Hǔyá, (虎牙) "Tiger's tooth" | Flick up and rightwards. |
| 6 |  |
Lüè, (æŽ ) "Passing lightly" | WÄn, (彎/弯) "Bend, curve" | XÄ«jiÇŽo, (犀角) "Horn of rhinoceros" | A tapering thinning curve, usually concave left (convex outward right) and with fast speed as if skimming. |
| 7 |  |
Zhuó, (å•„) "Pecking" | PiÄ›, (æ’‡) "Throw away, slant"; DuÇŽn PiÄ› (çŸæ’‡) "Short slant" |
Niǎo Zhuó, (鳥啄)/(鸟啄) "Bird pecking" | Falling leftwards (with slight curve). |
| 8 |  |
Zhé, (磔) "Dismemberment" | Nà , (æº) "Pressing forcefully"; PÅ, (æ³¢) "Wave" |
JÄ«ndÄo, (金刀) "Golden dao (knife)" | Falling rightwards (fattening at the bottom), where the end point is "as sharp as a knife" (hence the name "Dismemberment"). |
Note: 
ï¼ Xié æ–œ is sometimes added to the æ°¸'s strokes. It is a concave Shù falling right, always ended by a GÅu, visible on this image.
CJK strokes
In addition to these eight common strokes in æ°¸, there are at least two dozen strokes of combinations which enter in the composition of CJK strokes and by inclusion the CJK characters themselves.
See also
References
- Explanations to the Eight Principles of "Yong" (æ°¸å—八法解) by Li Puguang (æŽæº¥å…‰)
- Unicode page for all CJK strokes, thus including the 8 strokes of Yong