Concepts Related to Character Notation #

Script Styles, Character Standards, and Character Shapes #

The terms “書体” (shotai, script style), “字体” (jitai, character standard), and “字形” (jikei, character shape) as used in this document primarily follow the definitions provided by Ishizuka Harumichi in Zushoryōbon Nihon Shoki Kenkyūhen (Tokyo: Kyūko Shoin, 1984). The following English explanations are translations from Ishizuka’s original Japanese definitions:

• Script Style (shotai): A socially common style existing in the form of Hanzi (Chinese characters). It is often determined by the purpose of the material in which the characters appear (e.g., 楷書 Kaisho [regular script], 草書 Sōsho [cursive script]). (Original Japanese: 書体 — 漢字の形に於て存在する社会共通の様式。多くは其の漢字資料の目的により決まる。楷書・草書等)
• Character Standard (jitai): A socially common standard for each Hanzi (Chinese character) existing within a given shotai (script style). (Original Japanese: 字体 — 書体内に於て存在する一々の漢字の社会共通の基準)
• Character Shape (jikei): The actual written shape itself of each Hanzi (Chinese character) as realized or recognized within a given jitai (character standard). (Original Japanese: 字形 — 字体内に於て認識する一々の漢字の書写された形そのもの)

A key feature of these definitions is their hierarchical understanding of shotai, jitai, and jikei.

The English definitions provided by Ishizuka et al. are as follows¹:

• 書體 (Shotai): Socially common form of the type of a Chinese character. In many instances, the usage of a particular type is determined by the purpose of writing, 楷書, 草書, etc.
• 字體 (Jitai): Socially common standard of writing Chinese character existing within the 書體.
• 字形 (Jikei): Shape itself of a Chinese character as recognized within the standard of the 字體.

Based on these English explanations (from Ishizuka et al., 2003, which are consistent with the translated 1984 definitions), this document will use the following English terms:

• For 「書體（書体）」: script styles (shotai) (書体)
• For 「字體（字体）」: the standard of writing Chinese characters (jitai) (字体)
• For 「字形」: shapes of Chinese characters (jikei) (字形)

Variant Characters (異体字) #

The term variant characters (itaiji) (異体字) is, at the level of character standards (jitai) (字体), a concept corresponding to “standard characters” (正字, seiji). In models of the historical study of Chinese character forms, such as those presented by Ishizuka Harumichi in “Kanji Jitai no Nihonteki Hyōjun” (Japanese Standards of Chinese Character Forms; Kokugo to Kokubungaku 76, no. 5, 1999), the standard for Chinese character forms is considered to have changed according to period and region. The Hanzi Normative Glyphs Database (HNG) was intended to empirically demonstrate this model. Related data, including materials from its predecessor (the Ishizuka Register of Chinese Character Standards of Writing), can be accessed via the Hanzi Normative Glyphs Dataset available at https://www.hng-data.org.

While “variant characters” are generally understood to refer to character forms that are not “standard characters,” Ishizuka’s model posits that the standard for Chinese character forms—that is, the “standard character"—differs by period and region, making it impossible to distinguish a priori between “standard characters” and “variant characters (*itaiji*).” In this document, we consider variant characters (*itaiji*) as variations of Chinese character forms. We judge that a character indicates a variant if it is accompanied by Form Classification Tags (字体注記, jitaichūki, also referred to as 字級, jikyū) such as “正” (standard), “俗” (popular/vulgar), “通” (common), or “或” (alternative).

The practice of calling Form Classification Tags like “正” or “俗” jikyū (字級) follows Lee Kyeong Won in his Zui-Tang Ziyangxue Yanjiu (隋唐字様學研究; A Study of Sui and Tang Dynasty Character Lexicography; PhD diss., National Taiwan Normal University, Graduate Institute of Chinese, 1997).

Graphically Similar Characters (形近字) #

Graphically similar characters (keikinki) (形近字) are distinct characters that have similar visual forms. They are also known as ruikei betsuji (類形別字) or ruikei iji (類形異字) (distinct characters of similar form). In the study of the Kanchiin manuscript of the Ruiju Myōgishō, Sakai Kenji, in his article “Ruiju Myōgishō no Jijun to Bushu Hairetsu” (Character Order and Radical Arrangement in the Ruiju Myōgishō),² identified an “arrangement by similar character forms” (類似字形排列, ruiji jikei hairetsu) within radical sections. This can be rephrased as variant characters (itaiji) and graphically similar characters being listed consecutively.