Imitation Song is a style of Chinese

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

s modeled after a type style in Lin'an in the

Southern Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

. They are technically a type of

regular script Regular script (; Hepburn: ''kaisho''), also called (), (''zhēnshū''), (''kǎitǐ'') and (''zhèngshū''), is the newest of the Chinese script styles (popularized from the Cao Wei dynasty c. 200 AD and maturing stylistically around th ...

typeface. It is the standard typeface used in official government documents texts in China, civil drawings in both China and Taiwan.

Name

The name of this kind of typeface varies across regions that use Chinese characters. *In Chinese, it is called ''fǎng Sòngtǐ'' (/, "imitation Song form"). *In Japanese, it is called ''Sōchōtai'' (, "Song Dynasty form").

Characteristics

Characteristics of imitation Song typefaces include: *The basic structure of

. *Relatively straight strokes, with horizontal strokes slanting up slightly. *Low stroke width variation between horizontal and vertical strokes, with strokes usually being relatively thin. *Overall geometrical regularity.

History

The

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

industry from the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

reached an apex in the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

,Kinkido Type Laboratory - Home
→ ●知る: 漢字書体 during which there were three major areas of production: *

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

, where publications imitated the

Ouyang Xun Ouyang Xun (; 557–641), courtesy name Xinben (), was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, and writer of the early Tang dynasty. He was born in Hunan, Changsha, to a family of government officials; and died in modern Anhui province. Achievements ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of t ...

, where publications imitated the regular script of

Yan Zhenqing Yan Zhenqing (; 709–785) was a Chinese calligrapher, military general, and politician. He was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy is equal to that of the ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its ...

, where publications imitated the regular script of Liu Gongquan When Song lost control of northern China to the Jin (金) dynasty, its capital was moved to Lin'an (modern

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also Chinese postal romanization, romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the prov ...

), where there was a revival of printing, especially literature from Tang left in what was conquered by the Jin Dynasty. Many publishers were established in Lin'an, including ''Chén zhái shūjí bù'' (陳宅書籍鋪) established by Chen Qi (), from which publications used a distinct style of regular script with orderly, straight strokes. Modern typefaces of this style are classified as imitation Song typefaces ().

Imitation Song in computing

References

Chinese calligraphy Chinese type styles {{typ-stub