从两分到三分:清代版刻字体的程式与分化

From Dichotomy to Trichotomy:Forms and Divisions of Engraved Fonts in the Qing Dynasty

版刻字体是影响古代书籍形式面貌的重要因素之一。学界通常将明中期以后的版刻字体划分为“宋体”与“写体”两大类,是为两分法。然而在实际的版本鉴定与字体描述中,这种两分法常常显得过于含糊笼统。特别是在版刻字体更加复杂多样的清代,对几种“写体”的命名和描述仍然存在并不准确之处。因此,本文通过对学术史的梳理和相关文献材料的发掘,对清代所存在的几种具有程式化特点的版刻字体加以梳理与分类,尝试打破原有的“宋体”“写体”两分的格局,将“欧字”“软字”从笼统的“写体”中区分出来,并对其进行更为清晰的概念界定与特征描述,以便更深入细致地探讨清代版刻字体在程式化进程中的演变轨迹。

Engraved fonts are critical to the form and appearance of ancient books.In general,the academia divide the engraved fonts after the mid-Ming dynasty broadly into“Song”Style and“Writing”Style,which is a dichotomy.However,in practice,it is often too vague and generalized for edition identification and font description.Particularly in the Qing dynasty when engraved fonts were more complex and varied,the naming and description of several subcategories of“Writing”Style were still not accurate enough.As such,based on a review of past academic research findings and related documents,this paper sorts out and classifies several engraved fonts that existed in the Qing dynasty by their form in an attempt to get rid of the past dichotomy and pick“Ouyang”and“Soft”fonts out of the general“Writing”Style.Further,this paper provides“Ouyang”and“Soft”fonts with more clear definitions and character descriptions in the hope of looking deeply into the evolution of engraved fonts in the Qing dynasty.