What is lettering? What is special about it

A book carved from the first edition of a manuscript written by a famous writer is called an engraving. After the popularity of block printing, government and folk publications carved books, and hired some craftsmen who could write to copy manuscripts for engraving books. Over time, a font with neat structure, straight and vigorous strokes and neat and plain is formed. Although it is easy to form the style characteristics of book publishing in a period and a region, fonts have no personal calligraphy characteristics.

In order to change the monotony and rigidity of books in font, some booksellers put some famous manuscripts on the basis of retaining their calligraphy style, and wrote down samples to engrave books in the first edition. This kind of engraving has existed in all previous dynasties since the Tang and Song Dynasties, but few have been preserved. For example, Banqiao Collection, a collection written by Zheng Banqiao, a famous painter in Qing Dynasty, is not only a representative of printmaking, but also has its unique artistic characteristics.