Chinese character studies 中文字學

[2ouvenir]

Doing some Chinese character studies of the most commonly used characters. I intend to do one a day for at least 1000 characters! It's fun and you should totally join me in this journey! Feel free to do your own character study and post it in the gallery (or here in this thread)!

 

Today I will do the character 的.

 

In Chinese, the character 的 is one of the most commonly used characters and serves several grammatical functions. Its primary usage is as a possessive particle, indicating possession or association. Here's a breakdown of its main functions:

 

1. Possessive Particle: 的 is commonly used to indicate possession or association between nouns. For example:
   - 我的书 - "my book"
   - 他的车 - "his car"
   - 中国的文化 - "Chinese culture"

 

2. Adjectival Modifier: 的 can also be used to turn a phrase or clause into an adjective to modify a noun. For example:
   - 美丽的花 (měilì de huā) - "beautiful flowers"
   - 好吃的食物 (hǎochī de shíwù) - "delicious food"

 

3. Nominalizing Suffix: In some cases, 的 is used to turn a verb or a phrase into a noun. For example:
   - 做饭的 (zuòfàn de) - "the one who cooks" or "cooking"
   - 看书的 (kànshū de) - "the one who reads" or "reading"

 

4. Emphasizing Possession: Sometimes, "的" is used for emphasis, especially in written or literary contexts. For example:
   - 他的书 (tā de shū) - "his book" (standard)
   - 他书的 (tā shū de) - "his book" (emphasizing possession)

 

5. Part of Compound Words: "的" is also used as a component in many compound words and phrases, such as "的确" (díquè) meaning "indeed" or "certainly," or "安全的" (ānquán de) meaning "safe."

 

Overall, "的" is an indispensable character in Chinese, playing a crucial role in indicating possession, forming adjectives, nominalizing phrases, and more. Its versatility and frequency of use make it an essential element of the language.

 

Pens/Inks: Kuretake Fountain Pen Brush No. 50 with original pigment cartridge, Pilot Prera F with Pilot Black

Paper: A5 Stalogy 365 full year size

 

 

Notes:

• I will be using both traditional and simplified characters, view at your own discretion.
• This is not a lesson in Chinese language, will be mostly focusing on the calligraphy and aesthetics.
• I will do the calligraphy in traditional character and brief explanation in English scattered with traditional or simplified Chinese.
• In addition to the regular script, I will experiment with other scripts like the ancient "small seal" script.

 

[2ouvenir]

The Chinese character 間 (simplified: 间) is a commonly used character in Mandarin Chinese and other East Asian languages such as Japanese and Korean. It is pronounced as "jiān" in Mandarin.

 

Here are some key aspects of the character:

 

1. Meaning: The character "間" has several related meanings, but its primary meanings include "between," "among," "interval," "space," or "room." It often conveys the idea of a space or interval between two objects or events.

 

2. Usage: "間" is used in various contexts in the Chinese language. For example:
   - In spatial terms, it can refer to the space between two physical objects or locations, such as "房間" (fángjiān) meaning "room."
   - In temporal terms, it can refer to the time interval between events, such as "一個小時的間隔" (yīgè xiǎoshí de jiàngé) meaning "an hour interval."
   - It can also be used metaphorically to indicate a relationship or connection between different entities or concepts.

 

3. Radical: The character "間" belongs to the radical "門" (mén), which means "door" or "gate." This radical often indicates concepts related to space or enclosure.

 

4. Stroke Order: The stroke order for "間" typically starts from the top-left corner, moves downward and to the right for the first two strokes, then proceeds horizontally from left to right for the remaining strokes.

 

5. Variants: There are simplified and traditional versions of the character. In simplified Chinese, it is written as "间," while in traditional Chinese, it is written as "間."

 

Overall, 間 is a versatile character used in various contexts to denote space, intervals, or relationships between entities or events in the Chinese language.

 

[RedPie]

This looks very interesting. Thank you for sharing this here. I like your explanations. 

[2ouvenir]

@RedPie Thanks, RedPie! 

 

 

A self-correction note: the horizontal strokes are a little unevenly spaced in 首 in the regular script, and perhaps the 辶 shouldn't be touching the 首; not the easiest character to write. In hindsight I really should be practising the characters on a spare sheet of paper before writing this in my journal. But I guess I am too lazy to have done that. I may (or not!) try to be more mindful next time.

[RedPie]

12 hours ago, 2ouvenir said:

the horizontal strokes are a little unevenly spaced in 首 in the regular script

I think most of us would not have noticed it... 😊

[RedPie]

What kind of tip are you using? What material? Firm or fine? @2ouvenir

[2ouvenir]

@RedPie I am using a Kuretake Fountain Pen Brush No.50 with the original pigment ink cartridge (basically a black pigment ink except it's specifically formulated for use in brush pens). It uses natural hair bristles (sable?), and I would say it is a somewhat of a small brush, but it's not like a tiny tiny brush. It's not a firm brush like in say Shikiori brush pens, it's soft and so I wouldn't say it is particularly good in English/Latin calligraphy, I didn't manage to write well in English with it, but that could just be me. It's basically like a watercolor brush except it is shaped like an elongated teardrop. I am not well-versed with how to describe brushes as you can see.

 

Here is a review of it by a guy just note that the ink cartridges that came with his brush pens are for some reason different from mine. He says they are not waterproof, but the ink cartridges that came with mine are waterproof. Kuretake must have mixed and matched what cartridges they put in with their products. Anyways, I really like his illustrations, I want to be able to draw like him one day.

[2ouvenir]

7 hours ago, RedPie said:

I think most of us would not have noticed it... 😊

 

Those who practise Chinese calligraphy should. It is a basic principle to have the horizontal strokes distributed evenly in space where applicable. There is even a name to the principle called 横筆等距 which roughly means "even spacing of horizontal strokes". There are hundreds of principles but this is one of the earlier ones, within the first few. So e.g. within the 首 I just wrote, there are five horizontals, all of which should be evenly spaced.

[Penguincollector]

  This looks fun, and a good kick in the pants for me to pick up my brush and grind some ink. I struggle with the even spacing of horizontal lines and remembering stroke order, so  I think I just need to start all over again. Once I actually get going, I’ll contribute. I haven’t written much of anything in Chinese for the last 20 years. 

[2ouvenir]

30 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

  This looks fun, and a good kick in the pants for me to pick up my brush and grind some ink. I struggle with the even spacing of horizontal lines and remembering stroke order, so  I think I just need to start all over again. Once I actually get going, I’ll contribute. I haven’t written much of anything in Chinese for the last 20 years. 

 

It is fun! And very relaxing. The more that joins the better, little activity on Chinese calligraphy in FPN. I am not good enough in Chinese to join the forums related to calligraphy in Chinese (I mean, I don't even know how to type in Chinese even if I knew how to communicate coherently; all the Chinese that I have scattered on this thread is ashamedly just copy and paste) so I just start my little corner here instead.

 

And... you start at a good time! There are many good resources online on Chinese calligraphy. YouTube, various websites, even here in FPN believe it or not (you just have to go through the posts and threads). (Although tbh, I more often than not just look at a character and wing it. Disclaimer I did have calligraphy lessons when I was a young teenager though I barely remember the lessons. Nothing memorable, I don't think I even enjoyed it that much when I was that young.) For stroke order, I use this. 

[A Smug Dill]

5 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

I haven’t written much of anything in Chinese for the last 20 years. 

 

I didn't for longer than three decades, until I started my deep dive into the fountain pen hobby six years ago, so I can relate. No worries, it's like riding a bike… but, alas, forgetting the road map and how to get from A to B.

[Penguincollector]

8 hours ago, 2ouvenir said:

 

It is fun! And very relaxing. The more that joins the better, little activity on Chinese calligraphy in FPN. I am not good enough in Chinese to join the forums related to calligraphy in Chinese (I mean, I don't even know how to type in Chinese even if I knew how to communicate coherently; all the Chinese that I have scattered on this thread is ashamedly just copy and paste) so I just start my little corner here instead.

 

And... you start at a good time! There are many good resources online on Chinese calligraphy. YouTube, various websites, even here in FPN believe it or not (you just have to go through the posts and threads). (Although tbh, I more often than not just look at a character and wing it. Disclaimer I did have calligraphy lessons when I was a young teenager though I barely remember the lessons. Nothing memorable, I don't think I even enjoyed it that much when I was that young.) For stroke order, I use this. 

    Oh thank you for the link, that’s brilliant! My dad taught me a few characters, mainly food, and I took Mandarin at uni almost 25 years ago. I still have my brushes, ink cake, stone, and paper but it’s hard to see the details of characters now. The video will really help. 

[Penguincollector]

4 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I didn't for longer than three decades, until I started my deep dive into the fountain pen hobby six years ago, so I can relate. No worries, it's like riding a bike… but, alas, forgetting the road map and how to get from A to B.

  😆 I ‘ll endeavor to enjoy the ride!

[Number99]

13 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

remembering stroke order

I took kanji instruction at school when I was 7 years old.

As for stroke order, the teacher writes the characters in the air while counting the numbers one stroke at a time.

The 7 year olds would write the characters in the air as they counted the strokes.

I don't know if all the teachers did this, but our homeroom teacher wrote mirror-image reversed letters in the air.

I only wrote the letters in the air for the first few hours, and then each child did it in his or her notebook.

Even now, I sometimes count the numbers in my head while writing the letters.

[RedPie]

@2ouvenir Thank you very much for all the info. I like the review as well. I have not done anything like this in many years. I think I may start again soon. Have a good weekend!

[2ouvenir]

@RedPie No problem, and thanks, have a good weekend too!

[Penguincollector]

18 hours ago, Number99 said:

I took kanji instruction at school when I was 7 years old.

As for stroke order, the teacher writes the characters in the air while counting the numbers one stroke at a time.

The 7 year olds would write the characters in the air as they counted the strokes.

I don't know if all the teachers did this, but our homeroom teacher wrote mirror-image reversed letters in the air.

I only wrote the letters in the air for the first few hours, and then each child did it in his or her notebook.

Even now, I sometimes count the numbers in my head while writing the letters.

  Oh, I can do this by following the videos in the link and counting! I learn choreography by counting, so it tracks.

[A Smug Dill]

22 hours ago, Number99 said:

As for stroke order, the teacher writes the characters in the air while counting the numbers one stroke at a time.

 

Stroke order for a given hanzi/kanji ideogram is not necessarily universal, however. There's a very good illustration of this (for the character 必, as an example) in Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke_order#Stroke_order_per_polity

 

I write it the way it is shown as being for ROC & Hong Kong, ‘drawing’ the heart (心) part first in the usual manner, and then slashing through it at the end, because that's what I was taught as a child growing up in Hong Kong. I now know I cannot expect agreement from someone who may have learnt the character as a Japanese kanji in school, though.

[Number99]

6 hours ago, Penguincollector said:

  Oh, I can do this by following the videos in the link and counting! I learn choreography by counting, so it tracks.

It is more efficient to memorize the characters in order of simplicity.

However, in Japan, which is among the Asian cultures that have adopted Chinese characters, it takes 12 to 16 years to learn 2,000 to 2,500 characters.

Even so, you will forget how to write some characters. Basically, you only master reading.

When writing a handwritten manuscript, forgotten characters are recalled with a pocket dictionary or keyboard.

 

[Number99]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

I write it the way it is shown as being for ROC & Hong Kong, ‘drawing’ the heart (心) part first in the usual manner, and then slashing through it at the end, because that's what I was taught as a child growing up in Hong Kong. I now know I cannot expect agreement from someone who may have learnt the character as a Japanese kanji in school, though.

In this case, I think the letter shape is different. Recently, I often see such " 必 " which seems to be a Chinese style font. For example, the font of Gboard which I am using now.

 

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

Stroke order for a given hanzi/kanji ideogram is not necessarily universal, however. There's a very good illustration of this (for the character 必, as an example) in Wikipedia:

A quick Google search shows that the stroke order of "必" has been changed many times in Japan. It seems that some generations learned it in the traditional Chinese stroke order.

It seems that Japanese kanji stroke orders are changed to make the resulting characters look nicer when written, or to make them easier to remember, with different standards from time to time.

 

I sometimes make my own changes to the stroke order to make the characters easier to write and more beautiful. Calligraphy models include stroke order, but sometimes it is different from the stroke order I learned at school. I now know why, perhaps it is the Chinese stroke order or an older stroke order.

My writing style is a hybrid of standard (楷書) and running script (行書), and the stroke order is a hybrid of various regions and eras.

I recently changed the stroke order of "horse"「馬」 to match the calligraphy model.

 

Stroke order is important to learn the correct form of a character, but basically, I think any stroke order is fine as long as the characters can be easily read by anyone.

 

By the way, I often have the opportunity to read Chinese articles using Google Translate on Chrome, and there are times when I need to decipher simplified Chinese text.

Do you know of an easy way to convert a simplified text to a traditional text, other than switching the translation language from Japanese to traditional?