The Eight Principles of Yong (永字八法 Pinyin: Yǒngzì Bā Fǎ; Japanese: えいじはっぽう, Eiji Happō; Korean: 영자팔법. Yeongjapalbeop; Vietnamese: Vĩnh Tự Bát Pháp/ Tám Phương Pháp về Chữ Vĩnh) explains how to write the eight strokes common in Chinese characters found all in the one character of yong (永, meaning "permanence"). It is believed that the frequent practice of these principles as a beginner calligrapher could ensure the beauty in one's writing. Pinyin (Chinese: 拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard... Stroke order refers to the way of writing Chinese characters. ... 漢字 hànzì, hanja, kanji… in Traditional Chinese and other languages. ... Calligraphy in a Latin Bible of AD 1407 on display in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire, England. ... Many see natural beauty in the folded petals of a rose. ...

The Eight Principles are influenced by the earlier Seven Powers by Lady Wei Shuo. Publications on the Principles include: Lady Wèi Shuò (Traditional: 衛鑠, Simplified: 卫铄) (272-349), commonly addressed just as Lady Wei (衛夫人 Wei Furen), was a calligrapher of Eastern Jin Dynasty China who established consequential rules about the Regular Script. ...

• The Praise to the Eight Principles of "Yong" (永字八法頌) by Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元) of the Tang Dynasty.
• Explanations to the Eight Principles of "Yong" (永字八法解) by Li Puguang (李溥光) of the Yuan Dynasty. Li provided two-character metaphorical names.

The Principle's names and representations are: (listed by stroke order) Outline of the character æ°¸, showing stroke order and direction. ...

1. Cè (側), or "Sideway"
   • Also known as Diǎn (點), or "Dot"
   • Li's name: Guài Shí (怪石), or "The Strange Stone"
   • Top-left to bottom-right
2. Lè (勒), or "Bridle"
   • Also known as Héng (橫), or "Horizontal"
   • Li's name: Yù Àn (玉案), or "The Jade Table"
   • A straight horizontal line
3. Nǔ (弩 or努), or "Crossbow"
   • Li's name: Tiězhù (鐵柱), or "Iron Pillar"
   • Also known as Tiěchǔ (鐵杵), or "Iron Staff"
   • A straight vertical line
4. Tī (剔), or "Picking off"
   • Also known as Lì (趯), or "Leaping"
   • Commonly known as Gou (鉤), or "Hook"
   • Li's name: Xiāzhuǎ (蟹爪), or "The Pincer of Crab"
   • A hook to the left
5. Cè (策), or "Horsewhip"
   • Also known as Tiāo (挑), or "Lifting off"
   • Li's name: Hǔyá (虎牙), or "The Tiger's Tooth"
   • A tapering horizontal line thinning toward upper right
6. Lüè (掠), or "Passing lightly"
   • Also known as Piě (撇), or "Slant"
   • Li's name: Xījiǎo (犀角), or "The Horn of Rhinoceros"
   • A long slightly curvy tapering line thinning toward lower left
7. Zhuó (啄), or "Pecking"
   • Also known as Duǎn Piě (短撇), or "Short slant"
   • Li's name: Niǎo Zhuó (鳥啄), or "Bird Pecking"
   • A short tapering line thinning toward lower left
8. Zhé (磔), or "Dismemberment"
   • Also known as Nà (捺), or "Pressing forcefully", and Pō (波), or "Wave"
   • Li's name: Jīndāo (金刀), or "Golden Dao"
   • Thickening line toward lower right, where it is "as sharp as a knife" (hence the name "Dismemberment")

In addition to these eight common strokes, there are at least two dozen modified or completely unrelated strokes. Chinese Saber Dao (Chinese: 刀; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: tao1) is a category of single-edge Chinese swords primarily used for slashing and chopping (sabers), often called broadswords in English because some varieties have wide blades. ...

External links

• Step-by-step