Today, I would like to introduce “Cultural History of the Character,” written by Akira Fujieda.
Beginning from hieroglyphs to the birth of kanji, and up to printing, the history and transition of typefaces are described in this book. There are also extensive illustrations that are valuable, including hand-copied sutras.
Learning about typefaces created in the past, such as the characters an emperor writes, the characters of a retainer, etc. that have been used for what types of people in different positions and how they became used by everyone from a limited number of people are very interesting.
The shape of the characters and the brush technique are focused on, as well as descriptions of tools, such as brushes, etc., the material with which the characters are written, and the transition of the format of books. Therefore, this book is recommended to those who want to learn about the background of how characters are created and read about them in a cross-sectional manner.
Related to “Cultural History of the Character,” here’s a comment from Mr. Suzuki of our company regarding the selected book.
As “Explanatory Illustrations: Chinese History of Calligraphy” is appropriate in its selection of illustrations and length, it is ideal to have it on hand as a guidebook. The flowcharts of graphical illustrations of the transition of typefaces help the reader understand the long, massive, and complex history of the kanji typeface.
Book Information:
“Cultural History of the Character”
Author: Akira Fujieda
Publisher: Iwanami Shoten, Publishers
Purchase Information:
https://www.iwanami.co.jp/book/b270004.html
The book is out of stock, but the used book can be purchased.
Book Information:
“Quarterly Issue: Sumi Special No. 9: Explanatory Illustrations: Chinese History of Calligraphy for Calligraphy Learners”
Publisher: Geijutsu Shinbunsha Co., Ltd.
Purchase Information:
The book is out of stock. A used book can be purchased, but it may be difficult to obtain.
(RK)
Series archive Recommended Book / From TP’s Stack
- From TP’s Stack: “Creation of Typefaces That Open a New Era”
- From TP’s Stack: “The Kawaraban of Edo – Identity of Media That Enfevered the Common People”
- From TP’s Stack: “Creation of Typefaces”
- From TP’s Stack: “Cultural History of the Character”
- From TP’s Stack: “The History of Mincho Typeface”
- From TP’s Stack: “Characters of Prayers” and “Characters of Cities”
- From TP’s Stack: “The World of Edo Books: Publishing Situation in Edo Read by Kibyōshi”
- From TP’s Stack: “Portrait of 34 Great Craftsmen”
- From TP’s Stack: “The History of Japanese Lettering”
- From TP’s Stack: “Johnston’s Underground Type”
- From TP’s Stack: “The Beauty of Characters and the Power of Characters”
- From TP’s Stack: “It’s Still Railroad Letters”