View source for Ming typefaces

{{Short description|Category of typefaces}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2022}}
<!--{{Expand Chinese}}
{{Expand Japanese}}-->
{{Expand language|langcode=zh|otherarticle=宋体|langcode2=ja|otherarticle2=明朝体}}

{{Infobox Chinese
| t = 明體
| s = 明体
| p = míng tǐ
| bpmf = ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄊㄧˇ
| tl = bîng-thé
| l = [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] typeface
| altname = Song
| float = left
| t2 = 宋體
| s2 = 宋体
| p2 = sòng tǐ
| bpmf2 = ㄙㄨㄥˋ ㄊㄧˇ
| l2 = [[Song dynasty|Song]] typeface
| kanji = 明朝体
| kana = みんちょうたい
| romaji = Minchōtai
| hanja = 明朝體
| hangul = 명조체
| rr = Myeongjoche
| j = ming4 tai2
| w = ming2 ti3
| w2 = sung4 t‘i3
| j2 = sung3 tai2
}}

[[File:齊書11.jpg|thumb|260px|right|A page from a [[Ming dynasty]] edition of the [[Book of Qi]]]]
{{Table Hanzi}}
'''Ming''' or '''Song''' is a category of [[typeface]]s used to display [[Chinese character]]s, which are used in the [[Chinese language|Chinese]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and [[Korean language|Korean]] languages. They are currently the most common style of type in print for Chinese and Japanese. For Japanese and Korean text, they are commonly called '''Mincho''' and '''Myeongjo''' typefaces respectively.

== Name ==
The names ''Song'' (or ''Sung'') and ''Ming'' correspond to the [[Song dynasty]] when a distinctive printed style of [[regular script]] was developed, and the [[Ming dynasty]] during which that style developed into the Ming typeface style.<ref name=kinkido>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kinkido.net/Chinese/resume-kanji.html|website=Kinkido Type Laboratory|title=漢字書体の歴史|trans-title=History of Kanji Typefaces|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130094829/https://www.kinkido.net/Chinese/resume-kanji.html |archive-date=2023-11-30 |lang=ja |access-date=2024-02-20}}</ref> In Mainland China, the most common name is ''Song'' (the Mainland Chinese standardized Ming typeface in [[Microsoft Windows]] being named ''SimSun''). In [[Hong Kong]], [[Taiwan]], [[Japan]] and [[Korea]], ''Ming'' is prevalent. In Hong Kong and Taiwan, "''Song'' typeface" ({{lang|zh-Hant|宋体}}) has been traditionally used, but "''Ming'' typeface" ({{lang|zh-Hant|明體}}) has gained popularity since the advent of [[desktop publishing]] (the Traditional Chinese standardized Ming typeface in [[Microsoft Windows]] being named ''MingLiU''). Some [[Type foundry|type foundries]]<ref>[http://www.dynalab.com/language/en-US/Products/DynaFont_2010/Samples.aspx DynaComware typeface list] which calls standardized Ming typefaces "Song" and other Ming typefaces "Ming"
</ref>  use "Song" to refer to this style of typeface that follows a standard such as the [[Standard Form of National Characters]], and "Ming" to refer to typefaces that resemble forms found in the ''[[Kangxi Dictionary]]''.

== Characteristics ==
Characteristics of Ming typefaces include the following:
* The basic structure of [[regular script]]
* Thick vertical strokes contrasted with thin horizontal strokes
* Triangles at the end of single horizontal strokes, called {{lang|ja-Latn|uroko}} ({{lang|ja|鱗}}, literally "fish scales") in Japanese, comparable to [[serif]]s. These are a print analog of the slight dot caused by pausing one's brush ({{lang|zh-Latn|dùn}} {{lang|zh|頓}}), the "pause technique", used to reinforce the beginning or ending of a stroke, which is characteristic of [[regular script]].
* Overall geometrical regularity

Possessing variable line weight and characteristic decorations at the end of lines similar to [[serif]]s, this type style is comparable to Western [[serif typeface]]s, as opposed to [[East Asian gothic typeface]]s which are comparable to Western [[sans-serif]].

=== Variations ===
Often there are different ways to write the same Chinese character; these are collectively referred to as [[variant Chinese character]]s. Some of the differences are caused by character simplification, while others are purely [[orthography|orthographic]] differences such as stroke styling. The styling of the strokes used in old Ming typefaces came from the style used in the ''[[Kangxi Dictionary]]''.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} 

In mainland China, the modern standardized character forms are specified in the ''[[List of Commonly Used Characters in Modern Chinese]]''. Some characters in the list differ from the Kangxi forms solely because they are [[Simplified Chinese characters|Simplified]] while others differ because they use a different variant or orthography.

In Taiwan, the [[Standard Form of National Characters]] specifies the modern standardized forms. Unlike the mainland standard, the Taiwan standard uses mostly preexisting character forms but reference back to the style of [[regular script]] and reform Ming typefaces based on regular script style extensively, which had attracted criticism from many peoples.<ref>{{Cite web|title=說文:臺標之害 [刻石錄]|url=http://founder.acgvlyric.org/iu/doku.php/%E8%AA%AA%E6%96%87:%E8%87%BA%E6%A8%99%E4%B9%8B%E5%AE%B3|access-date=2020-06-20|website=founder.acgvlyric.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=為甚麼不推薦新細明體 {{!}} 許瀚文 {{!}} 立場新聞|url=https://thestandnews.com/art/%E7%82%BA%E7%94%9A%E9%BA%BC%E4%B8%8D%E6%8E%A8%E8%96%A6%E6%96%B0%E7%B4%B0%E6%98%8E%E9%AB%94/|access-date=2020-06-20|website=立場新聞 Stand News|language=en}}</ref>

After the postwar [[kanji#Orthographic reform and lists of kanji|kanji reforms]] in Japan, most of the Kangxi style characters were called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[kyūjitai]]}} (old style), while the reformed characters were called {{lang|ja-Latn|[[shinjitai]]}}, causing newer dictionaries to either incorporate both styles or omit the Kangxi styles. In Korea, most typefaces use the Kangxi forms.

There are differences between print and script forms of many Chinese characters, just as there are differences between [[copperplate script|copperplate]] and most people's handwriting. Some of these differences are persistent and specific to a style, but others may be no more significant than variations between individual typefaces. None of these variations usually hinder reading.

== History ==

===China===
The [[printing]] industry from the [[Tang dynasty]] reached an apex in the [[Song dynasty]],<ref name=kinkido /> during which there were three major areas of production:
*[[Zhejiang]], where publications imitated the [[regular script]] of [[Ouyang Xun]]<ref name=kinkido />
*[[Sichuan]], where publications imitated the regular script of [[Yan Zhenqing]]<ref name=kinkido />
*[[Fujian]], where publications imitated the regular script of [[Liu Gongquan]]<ref name=kinkido />

When Song lost control of northern China to the [[Jin dynasty (1115–1234)|Jin (金) dynasty]], its capital was moved to [[Hangzhou|Lin'an]] (modern [[Hangzhou]]), where there was a revival of printing, especially literature from Tang left in what was conquered by the Jin dynasty. Many publishers were established in Lin'an, including ''Chén zhái shūjí pù'' ({{lang|zh-hant|陳宅書籍鋪}}) established by Chen Qi ({{zh|t=陳起}}),<ref name=kinkido /> from which publications used a distinct style of regular script with orderly, near-constant-width, straight strokes, simplifying carving. Modern typefaces imitating this style this style are called [[imitation Song typeface]]s ({{zh|t=仿宋體|s=仿宋体|p=fǎng Sòng tǐ}}).

In the [[Ming dynasty]], the straightening of strokes in a reprint of a publication from Lin'an started a shift to what became the basis of the Ming style.<ref name=kinkido />

<gallery mode="nolines" class="center" widths="220px" heights="280px">
File:浙江姓解1.jpeg|A page of a publication from [[Zhejiang]] in a [[regular script]] typeface which resembles the handwriting of [[Ouyang Xun]].
File:菊澗小集終頁.jpg|A page of a publication from ''Chén zhái shūjí pù''.
</gallery>

=== Japan ===
[[File:Mintyotai.svg|thumb|left|80px|The characters {{Nihongo krt||明朝體|Minchōtai}}, literally "Ming Dynasty form", in a reimpression of old Ming typeface in 1912 by Tsukiji Type Foundry]]
{{nihongo|Ming typefaces|明朝|Minchō|extra=lit. "[[Ming Dynasty]]"}} are the most commonly used style in print in Japan. There are several variations in use, such as the textbook style and the newspaper style.

The creator of modern Japanese movable-type printing, [[Motoki Shōzō]] (or Motogi), modeled his sets of type after those prevailing in China, having learned an electrolytic method of type manufacturing from the American [[William Gamble (printer)|William Gamble]] in 1869. Motoki then created, based on Gamble's frequency studies of characters in the Chinese [[Bible]], a full set of type with added Japanese characters; in addition to Chinese and Latin characters, Japanese text uses the syllabaries [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]].

=== Korea ===
In Korean, a similar category of typefaces for the Korean alphabet [[hangul]] was called ''myeongjo'' (the Korean reading for the same Chinese characters "{{lang|ko|明朝}}") until recently, influenced by the Japanese term. A Ministry of Culture-sponsored standardization of typography terms in 1993 replaced ''myeongjo'' with ''batang'' ("{{lang|ko|바탕}}"), the Korean word for "foundation" or "ground" (as opposed to "figure"), and is the current term for the typeface.
{{clear|left}}

== Ming typefaces in computing ==
{{See also|List of CJK fonts#Ming}}
Technically, only [[Chinese characters]] can be printed in a Ming typeface. However, most modern typefaces (that is, digital typefaces) often also include [[kana]] glyphs in a matching style, usually in a precise style resembling handwriting with a brush. Modern Ming typefaces also incorporate [[Roman type]] glyphs for Latin characters, letterlike symbols, and numbers. In its modern role comparable to that of western serif typefaces, both kana and Latin characters are usually part of a complete typeface.

Ming typefaces are used officially by the governments of China, Japan, and Korea.

== See also ==
* [[East Asian gothic typeface]]
* [[Chinese calligraphy]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.nihongoresources.com/language/writing/typefaces.html Nihongo resources: Japanese typefaces]
* [http://www.sljfaq.org/afaq/shotai.html sci.lang.japan FAQ list of Japanese writing styles]
* [http://www.yale.edu/chinesemac/pages/fonts.html <nowiki>[chinese mac]</nowiki> Fonts]typefaces included with Mac OS and Windows {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205234859/http://www.yale.edu/chinesemac/pages/fonts.html |date=2007-02-05 }}
* [http://cle.linux.org.tw/~edt1023/tmp/font-diff.pdf differences between some Ming typefaces]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120521075835/http://www.kinkido.net/home.html www.kinkido.net] Information on Chinese typefaces, including Ming typefaces. {{in lang|ja}}

{{Chinese script styles}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ming (Typeface)}}
[[Category:Chinese type styles]]