I am sitting in my art studio in Tokyo in front of a computer screen, performing final corrections and editorial touches to the text of of my upcoming book - "The etymology of Japanese kanji - in-depth analysis of selected characters". Once I am done, the book will be sent off to my Japanese and Chinese language editor here in Tokyo, and I estimate it should be out there for purchase in November. The book discusses 50 Japanese kanji, in historical context. It is rich in illustrations, and contains well over 400 ink rubbings of characters, found in ancient Chinese and Japanese calligraphy masterpieces. Each of those illustrations has a very detailed description, including the name of the classic, name of the calligrapher, era, and some interesting trivia or details about it. The book itself is packed with names in Chinese or Japanese, and all of those are explained and have readings in Roman letters. I also added useful Japanese phrases for each of the discussed characters, so you will have 250 Japanese words to learn as well. In addition, I wrote a short chapter on the history of Chinese characters, Chinese calligraphy scripts, and explained the issue of classification of Chinese characters, which should assist in a better understanding of the subject. The book is aimed at all and any readers, but it will be appreciated by language students, historians, linguists, calligraphers, and enthusiasts of the Chinese writing system. As a Japanese calligrapher and Chinese calligraphy scholar, I put a great stress on the historical evolution of characters. This book is not only a travel in time, but also a story of art, occult, beliefs and politics of ancient China and Japan, and their influence over what we know today as Chinese characters or Japanese kanji.
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AuthorPonte Ryuurui (品天龍涙) Archives
August 2020
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