1.1 Ideocalligraphy and its
ideocalligraphs
Ideocalligraphy
uses radicals, composite ideocalligraphs and symbols. The radicals came first
and the origins of each one of them has its own story. (see 2.1: 'Ideocalligraphy,
its history and sources' ) Radical ideocalligraphs are composed of a limited number
of strokes, any of which can be emphasized or elided with other strokes in order
to modify the basic radical's tone, character or primary meaning.
Composite ideocalligraphs are made up of two or more radicals. When brought together they quickly establish a spatial relationship. Perspective often becomes evident within and between the ideocalligraphy, enhancing the meanings or implications. The same message or statement written by two ideocalligraphers will always differ one from the other as each carries its own personal open-weave basket of ideocalligraphic touches.
Ideocalligraphy has ten groups of structural elements: made up of radicals, composite ideocalligraphs and symbols. The radical's basic shape determines the group it belongs to. For composite ideocalligraphs it is the shape of its primary radical that determines its group. Symbols have their own group and in this ultimate group of composite ideocalligraphs it is the symbols that take precedence.
The time dimension can be implied by the ideocalligraphs chosen, or more directly indicated by variants of the time ideocalligraph and tense or mood symbols.