Triple ABCs Concept
Use Your Imagination
Before we can understand how Chinese characters work, we need to expand our imagination on 'strokes', the most basic component of Chinese characters. We need to enter their world . . .
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Performers
Imagine strokes as performers and their job is to work as a team to create a beautiful piece of art—a Chinese character—within the limited space of a box stage. Each stroke has its unique characteristics and vie for your attention to notice its talents.
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How will the strokes work with one another? To put up a good performance, they need to meet some requirements such as being able to work in teams, knowing the limitations and requirements of a stage. If we can understand the behind-the-scenes secrets of churning out good 'performances', we will be able to write Chinese characters correctly and beautifully. This ability to recognise and distinguish characters will form the groundwork for your next stage of learning.
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Triple ABCs Concept
The life and work of strokes can be explained using the ‘Triple ABCs Concept’ which consists of three sets of ABC:
1. Angles, Bends, Curves
2. Apart, Bonding, Crossing
3. Adapt, Balance, Centre
The first set of ABC explains the characteristics of strokes; the second set is on how the strokes combine with one another to create characters and the last set reveals the aesthetic requirements of characters.
