Caozihui 草字彙

Caozihui 草字彙 is a kind of character dictionary that assembles the individual interpretations of characters written in grass-script style (caoshu 草書) by 87 famous calligraphers from the Han 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) to the Ming period 明 (1368-1644). It was compiled during the high Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Shi Liang 石梁, courtesy name Zhennan 鎮南, style Shuan 豎菴, from Zhuji 諸暨, Zhejiang.

It was first printed in 1786 by the Tongwenhui Association 同文會. A second publication appeared two years later, printed by the Jingyi Studio 敬義齋. It was reprinted in 1825 and 1886 (lithography) by the Tongwen Shuju 同文書局 in Shanghai. The Shangwu Yinshuguan 商務印書館 published the book in 1912, and two further lithographic editions were created by the Zhongyuan Shuju 中原書局 (1926) and the Saoye Shanfang 掃葉山房 (1934), both in Shanghai. There are many reprints of these editions.

The book is divided into twelve sections (named by the Terrestrial Branches), and the characters arranged according to radicals (bushou 部首), and below that level, according to the number of residual strokes.

Figure 1. Double-page of the Caozihui 草字彙

Characters with the radical "bamboo" (zhu 竹). For some characters, more than one example of famous calligraphers is presented. The regular forms of characters are written on the top right of the grass-script forms (first column from the right 竹, 竺, second column 竽, 竿, 笈, 笋, 笏, third column 笑, 笙, etc.). The names of calligraphers are added as sigla, representing their courtesy names or epithets, e.g., Youjun 右軍 "Commander to the Right" (Wang Xizhi 王羲之), Su 素 (short for Monk Huaisu 釋懷素), Dongpo 東坡 (Su Shi 蘇軾) and Zi'ang 子昂 (Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫). Zhonghua Shuju 中華書局 edition of 1972.

The general arrangement follows the dictionary Zihui 字彙 of Mei Yingzuo 梅膺祚 (fl. 1615). The dictionary includes 5,295 reproductions of calligraphic realisations of characters. Shi Liang made use of a compilation of calligraphies, Caosheng huibian 草聖彙辨 (c. 1655) by Zhu Zongwen 朱宗文 which is better than Guo Shen's 郭諶 Caoyun bianti 草韻辨體 (1584) or Tao Nanwang's 陶南望 Caoyun huibian 草韻彙編 (1750).