Nature 自然
shizen2 characters18 strokes
自然 (shizen) means nature: mountains, rivers, seas, sky, trees and grass, the world as it is, not made by human hands.
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Meaning 意味
What 自然 means
The Japanese word for nature, written with 2 kanji and read shizen.
Shizen is the natural world: mountains, rivers, the sea, the sky, trees and plants. It means everything that exists as it is, without being made by people.
When people write it in Japan. In Japan, shizen is a common word for summer and autumn pieces and for seasonal practice.
Japanese children know every kanji here by 4th grade.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 自然
Three things to watch
- 自 is a tall, narrow character. Space its horizontal strokes evenly.
- At the bottom of 然 are four dots, the fire radical (rekka). Point the leftmost dot to the left and the other three to the right.
- 自 has 6 strokes and 然 has 12. Write 然, the character with more strokes, a little larger.
Stroke order
Follow the vermilion stroke, frame by frame.
Stroke order data: KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0.
How to practice 練習
Trace first, then copy
- PrintPrint both pages at actual size, on US Letter or A4. Page 1 is the model. Page 2 is the tracing sheet.
- TraceTrace the outlines with a brush pen. Or lay thin hanshi paper over the page and trace with brush and ink.
- CopySet the model beside your paper and copy it stroke by stroke. Look at the model more than at your own paper.
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Japanese Calligraphy for Beginners takes you from holding the brush to writing whole words, step by step, in English. Every model inside was brushed by our teachers.
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