Imitation Song
# Imitation Song

Chinese characters :

Scripts

Precursors

Oracle-bone

Bronze

Seal (bird-wormlargesmall)

Clerical

Regular

Semi-cursive

Cursive

Flat brush

Simplified characters

Type styles

Imitation Song

Ming

Sans-serif :

Properties

Strokes (order)

Radicals

Classification :

Variants

Character-form standards

Kangxi Dictionary

Jiu zixing/Inherited form

Xin zixing

General Standard Chinese Characters (PRC)

Graphemes of commonly-used Chinese characters (Hong Kong)

Standard typefaces for Chinese characters (ROC Taiwan)

Grapheme-usage standards

Graphemic variants

General Standard Characters (PRC)

Jōyō kanji (Japan)

Other standards

Standardized Forms of Words with Variant Forms (PRC)

Previous standards

Commonly-used Characters (PRC)

Tōyō kanji (Japan) :

Reforms

Chinese

Clerical reforms

Traditional characters

Simplified characters (first roundsecond round)

Debate

Japanese

Old (Kyūjitai)

New (Shinjitai)

Ryakuji

Sino-Japanese

Differences between Shinjitai and Simplified characters

Korean

Yakja

Singaporean

Table of Simplified Characters :

Homographs

Literary and colloquial readings :

Use in particular scripts

Written Chinese

Zetian characters

Slavonic transcription

Hokkien

Nüshu

Kanji (Kokuji)

Kana (Man'yōgana)

Idu

Hanja (Gukja)

Chữ Nôm

Sawndip :

vte :

Imitation Song is a style of Chinese typefaces modeled after a type style in Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty. They are technically a type of regular script typeface. It is the standard typeface used in official government documents texts in China, civil drawings in both China and Taiwan.

## Name

The name of this kind of typeface varies across regions that use Chinese characters.

* In Chinese, it is called fǎng Sòngtǐ (仿宋體/仿宋体, "imitation Song form").
* In Japanese, it is called Sōchōtai (宋朝体, "Song Dynasty form").

## Characteristics

Characteristics of imitation Song typefaces include:

* The basic structure of regular script.
* Relatively straight strokes, with horizontal strokes slanting up slightly.
* Low stroke width variation between horizontal and vertical strokes, with strokes usually being relatively thin.
* Overall geometrical regularity.

## History

The printing industry from the Tang Dynasty reached an apex in the Song Dynasty, during which there were three major areas of production:

* Zhejiang, where publications imitated the regular script of Ouyang Xun
* Sichuan, where publications imitated the regular script of Yan Zhenqing
* Fujian, where publications imitated the regular script of Liu Gongquan

When Song lost control of northern China to the Jin (金) dynasty, its capital was moved to Lin'an (modern Hangzhou), where there was a revival of printing, especially literature from Tang left in what was conquered by the Jin Dynasty. Many publishers were established in Lin'an, including Chén zhái shūjí bù (陳宅書籍鋪) established by Chen Qi (Chinese: 陳起; pinyin: Chén Qǐ), from which publications used a distinct style of regular script with orderly, straight strokes. Modern typefaces of this style are classified as imitation Song typefaces (Chinese: 仿宋體).

