Tibetan Calligraphy Copybook in the Uchen, Tsuring and Chuyig Styles

Book excerpt: This is a copybook printed in black and white for adults who wish to learn how to write the Tibetan script in the Uchen, Tsuring or Chuyig style. Uchen is a printed script used throughout Tibet. As a handwritten script it is mostly prevalent in Amdo and Kham, the regions in north-eastern and eastern Tibet. Central Tibet (U-Tsang), on the other hand, prefers Ume handwriting styles, which include Tsuring and Chuyig. People first learn to write in the Tsuring style, for example, before progressing to the Chuyig shorthand style once they have sufficient writing experience. Chuyig is suitable for writing quickly. This copybook contains the 30 letters and four vowel signs that make up the Tibetan alphabet as well as two punctuation marks (the dot and and the simple bar) and all 89 compound characters (ligatures) of the Tibetan script. They are reproduced in the Uchen, Tsuring and Chuyig styles. An entire page is dedicated to each of the 30 letters and the four vowel signs. The punctuation marks and the ligatures are each given half a page. At the beginning of the page is an illustration that shows the order in which the individual strokes of the letter have to be written. The letter is initially printed in a background colour so that it can be traced. The blank lines are designed for independent practice. At the end of the book the characters in the three different writing styles are each summarised on one page. There are also four blank copy templates here four further writing exercises. "