The Beauty of Brush Calligraphy: Techniques and Styles
Multiple examples of four-character compounds and four-letter words are presented on one page with examples of four-character compounds displayed by various designs focusing on four-character compounds and four-letter words.
We express four-character idioms in various designs, such as Mincho, Gyosho, Gothic, and Sosho styles. These can serve as general examples for lettering in Japanese, posters (handmade signs), and calligraphy assignments like the New Year's calligraphy tradition.
 Comparison Samples of Four-Character Idiom Designs. |
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 Mincho Font |
Textbook Font |
Gyousho Font |
Gothic |
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| Maru Gothic |
Anxiety |
Brush Pen |
Sosho Font |
We have put together a one-page sample of such a design for one four-character phrase.
Kanji characters may be missing if they are old or special characters (Unicode).
The Aesthetics of Shūji: Crafting Beautiful Characters
| Character Illustration | four-character idiomatic compounds |
 161 喪旗乱轍 162 痩躯長身 163 蒼狗白衣 164 叢軽折軸 165 蔵形匿影 166 壮言大語 167 糟糠之妻 168 宋弘不諧 169 糟糠不飽 170 草行露宿 171 送故迎新 172 痩骨窮骸 173 操觚之士 174 相互扶助 175 桑弧蓬矢 176 走尸行肉 177 相思相愛 178 造次顛沛 179 増収増益 180 荘周之夢 |
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 181 塞翁失馬 182 塞翁之馬 183 斎戒沐浴 184 才華蓋世 185 才華爛発 186 才気横溢 187 才気煥発 188 猜疑嫉妬 189 歳月不待 190 罪業消滅 191 最後通牒 192 砕骨粉身 193 在在所所 194 歳歳年年 195 再三再四 196 才子佳人 197 在邇求遠 198 再思三考 199 再思三省 200 才子多病 |
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| Character Illustration | four-character idiomatic compounds |
 201 載舟覆舟 202 采色不定 203 砕身粉骨 204 駟介旁旁 205 爾雅温文 206 事過境遷 207 四角四面 208 四角八方 209 事過情遷 210 止渇飲鴆 211 歯豁頭童 212 止渇之梅 213 歯牙余論 214 徙家忘妻 215 自家撲滅 216 自家薬篭 217 紫幹翠葉 218 士気高揚 219 自棄自暴 220 色相世界 |
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 221 色即是空 222 士気阻喪 223 時機到来 224 識途老馬 225 事急計生 226 自給自足 227 自行化他 228 至恭至順 229 子虚烏有 230 史魚黜殯 231 史魚之直 232 至緊至要 233 四弘誓願 234 四衢八街 235 四苦八苦 236 舳艫千里 237 四絃一声 238 四絃一撥 239 子見南子 240 子建八斗 |
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Significance of Font Design
They play an important role in the communication and visual presentation of information. First, fonts can greatly affect the impression of a message depending on the shape and style of the letters. For example, serif fonts give a traditional, formal impression, while sans-serif fonts create a modern, clean look.
They also contribute to readability and legibility and are designed to aid visual attraction and understanding, especially in advertising and publications. In addition, fonts can serve as part of a brand identity, a means of expressing the personality of a company or product.
About precautions How to write and read four-character phrases |
This homepage introduces how to write various four-character phrases.
Some kanji characters may be garbled because they are not supported in the font-based character design. We have also taken care to ensure that there are no mistakes in the kanji and reading notations, but there may be kanji mistakes or conversion errors.
The introduction of typefaces is only shown as an example as a sample of typeface design. Even similar fonts may differ in minor details. It is not intended to indicate superiority or inferiority of any typeface.
The font and cursive typefaces shown on this page are not necessarily correct, as they often reflect the individuality of the person actually writing them.
When accuracy is required for school assignments, exams, work, etc., please confirm the correctness of the kanji, readings, and meanings of 4-kanji compounds with a Japanese dictionary, idiomatic expression dictionary, or other reliable source. Text and images on this site may not be reproduced or redistributed.