Early Spring 早春
sōshun2 characters15 strokes
早春 (sōshun) means early spring: the first part of the season, when hints of spring begin to appear while the air is still cold.
Free practice sheet
Print at 100%, actual size. Enter your email once and every free sheet downloads right away.
Meaning 意味
What 早春 means
The Japanese word for Early Spring, written with 2 kanji and read sōshun.
Sōshun is the very beginning of spring. It is the time after risshun, the traditional start of spring in early February, when you can feel spring coming little by little through the cold.
When people write it in Japan. Sōshun suits a piece written around February, when the sunlight slowly grows brighter and people look forward to spring.
Japanese children know every kanji here by 2nd grade.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 早春
Semi-cursive script (gyōsho)
- In the 日 at the top of 早, round off the upper right corner. End the middle horizontal stroke with a thin tail toward the lower left, leading into the next stroke.
- In 早, make the lower horizontal stroke long, rising to the right. Bring the vertical stroke straight down and let it taper to a fine point.
- In 春, make the lowest of the top horizontal strokes the longest and spread the sweeps to the left and right freely. Keep the 日 at the bottom fairly small.
Stroke order
Follow the vermilion stroke, frame by frame. Shown in regular script. Semi-cursive follows the same order, with strokes joined.
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.
Free for personal practice and classroom use. Please do not sell or re-post the files. Share a link to this page instead.
While the sets are on their way
The book is out now.
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.
Starter Set, $72.99 with the book, brush, ink and paper: coming soon.