Character meaning is a whole topic in itself, but one of the simplest things is keeping the writing RIGHT SIDE UP! I have seen fabrics, tatoos, clip art and more that simply have things upside down - or worse yet - mirror image. In some cases all mixed up. Yes - I know they can be looked at as "artistic" - but if we did the same with English, we would get laughed at!
So to avoid the laughter, I found a quick "guide to writing" that can help you look at your fabric or whatever and perhaps determine if it is upside down. If it does not look like the strokes could be created using the rules below - you are probably looking at it upside down. Flip it over - check again. If it looks more reasonable - then you might have it right.
If you are still not sure - take a picture and email it to me - I will be glad to help out!
(thanks to Wikipedia for this great info)
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1. Write from left to right, and from top to bottom
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This rule applies also to more complex characters. For example, 校 can be divided into two. The entire left side (木) is written before the right side (交). There are some exceptions to this rule, mainly occurring when the right side of a character has a lower enclosure (see below), for example 誕 and 健. In this case, the left side is written first, followed by the right side, and finally the lower enclosure.
When there are upper and lower components, the upper components are written first, then the lower components, as in 品 and 襲.When strokes cross, horizontal strokes are usually written before vertical strokes: the character for "ten," 十, has two strokes. The horizontal stroke 一 is written first, followed by the vertical stroke → 十.
Vertical strokes that "cut" through a character are written after the horizontal strokes they cut through, as in 書 and 筆.
Horizontal strokes that cut through a character are written last, as in 母 and 海.
4. Diagonals right-to-left before diagonals left-to-right
Right-to-left diagonals (ノ) are written before left-to-right diagonals (乀): 文.
5. Centre verticals before outside "wings"
Vertical centre strokes are written before vertical or diagonal outside strokes; left outside strokes are written before right outside strokes: 小 and 水.
6. Outside before inside
Outside enclosing strokes are written before inside strokes; bottom strokes are written last: 日 and 口. This applies also to characters that have no bottom stroke, such as 同 and 月.
7. Left vertical before enclosing
8. Bottom enclosing strokes last
9. Dots and minor strokes last
And just for the record (for those of you still reading) -the fabric pictured above was taken from an eBay auction - and is upside down - not mixed - but truly upside down. Funny that the same seller had the same fabric in a different color - shown the correct way...
6 comments:
I studied Chinese when I was a child and just about the only thing I really remember is how the characters are written! Thanks for the great information!!
That's an interesting lesson! Thanks for sharing.
That is fascinating!!! Thanks!!
I have a good friend who I taught quilting to and she was a Chinese translator for the military and this is something that makes her crazy too. I was happy in my ignorance but she set me straight. Thanks for the lesson!
very interesting...
I never even thought about that before. Good to know....
Regina
Those written characters are so amazing--just beautiful to look at, aren't they? Thanks for the fun lesson!
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