The Eight Principles of Yong are used by calligraphers to practice how to write the eight most common strokes in regular script, using the fact that they are all present in the character. It was believed that the frequent practice of these principles as such when beginning one's study could ensure beauty in the Chinese calligrapher's writing. The Eight Principles are influenced by the Eastern Jin-era Seven Powers by Lady Wei Shuo. Publications on the principles include:

Table

CJK strokes

In addition to these eight common strokes in, there are at least two dozen strokes of combinations which enter in the composition of CJK strokes and by inclusion the CJK characters themselves. Many are included in Unicode.

Gallery