(This discussion started in Writing Instruments, in the topic thread, "My first Cursive Italic nib, I think I like it.".)



There is an excellent, easy-to-follow book for English-speaking students of Chinese who want to learn the most common xingshu and caoshu forms of the 300 most frequently written characters (which contain most of the pieces used in all Chinese characters):

Author: Wang, Fang-yü.
Title: Chinese Cursive Script: An Introduction to Handwriting in Chinese.
Date: 1958, 6th printing of 1972 still in print (paperback, red cover).
Publisher: Far Eastern Publications, Yale University, New Haven, CT.
Series: Mirror Series A-28.
ISBN: 0887100333

Anyone who can do kaishu properly (correct stroke shapes including correct finishing hooks, and correct order of strokes) can do xingshu with just a little bit of practice because xingshu is mostly kaishu with few or no lifts of the pen.

Caoshu is what happens when the writer draws the pen movements between the standard (kaishu) strokes and abbreviates or eliminates most of the standard strokes. Caoshu is sort of like a neon sign in negative.

You might find it interesting! If you're right-handed, try the Lamy 1.1 with the nib at 45º and 90º angles, and see what your mother and other authoritative judges of Chinese handwriting say about each.

To get the effect of a 90º angle with a "normal," comfortable, right-handed hold (producing thin vertical strokes and broad horizontal strokes, which seems to be the closest approximation to Chinese brush writing), use what I'm using now: a 30º left-foot-oblique, cursive italic nib. Pendemonium and Richard Binder both sell them, although you might have to wait with either supplier if none are in stock.

Enjoy!

I'd like to get SimonWang's comments on this thread... The guy has some really good Chinese handwriting!

I remember him! At first I thought he was middle-aged too & practiced for a long time to get such nice results, but turns out he's so young. WOW! That handwriting!

Thanks for the tip about SimonWang's Chinese calligraphy! Here is his first photo of it , and here is his second photo of it .

Hello, I'm new here. i have been lurking for months & finally delurked! :ph34r:

i'm also Chinese & interested in pens & penmanship (either Chinese & English.)
although I don't write as well as Simon Wang.

for English, i like italic nibs.

Strange thing is i don't find italic nibs inducive(?) to Chinese characters at all. they just make my characters look very stiff & rigid.
i'd rather use a regular "ball tip" FP. maybe because i also do brush Chinese calligraphy & enjoys its greater freedom.

the only FP that is acceptable (to me) to emulate brush stroke effect is a Sailor calligraphy FP which has an unusal tip. Has anyone used it?

bye for now,

Hello Pam and welcome aboard to the FPN! I have two Chinese friends in Singapore who have used this pen, and they love it. However, it does take some time to get use to it, but afterwards it writes very nicely.

I do know one person who writes with a Sailor that has a Zoom nib. He uses it to write Chinese and Japanese characters, and really loves the pen. Have you tried the Zoom nib before?

I was thinking along the lines of Sailor Profit nibs for chinese writing, the italics nib doesnt really fit the bill it seems. maybe jsut me.

Hello, Ron & Dudley,

i just recently have 2 of my FPs ground to cursive italic.
i write English better with italic. but the same italic nibs that write Western alphabets so smoothly all feel scratchy & stiff to me for Chinese. beats me.

I have not seen a Sailor Zoom nib. could you show me a picture? Sailor caligraphic nib does take a little getting used to. i also have an el cheapo Japanese "Fountain brush pen" that writes well.

(Can you tell i am a sucker for "fine writing instruments" --- of all kinds? either East or West) so perhaps you should not show me Sailor Zoom. cause i'd want one.

For Chinese brush caligraphy, i use a big brush to write big characters (> 10 cm) , due to short attention span cause the paper fills up more quickly if i write big.

don't know if it's anyone's interested in these non-FP issues,
i can show some of my (mediocre) brush writing. also my ink stones, after i learn to post images. our caligraphy class started with "big seal script" recently moved on to "clerical script", next would be "standard script". then perhaps "wild crazy cursive".

bye now,

Here's some examples of zoom nibs:

http://www.nibs.com/SailorNibPage.htm

http://www.penseller.com/pages/sailornibs.htm

Thanks. it looks like similar concept to the "calligraphic nib" that the line thickness changes with angle.

i wonder if flex nib or semi-flex would also works even better.
(i have never tried one)

bye now,