Plain Lab · notebook
Tian Zi Ge Notebook
A5 character-practice grid: each square 14.01 millimetres, quartered by a dashed cross, twelve rows to the page.
Specification
- Trim
- 148 × 210 mm · 5.827 × 8.268 in
- Pages
- 120
- Leaves
- 60
- Sheets
- 30
- Signatures
- 6 × 20pp
- Spine
- 6.86 mm
- Paper
- white
- Ruling
- tianzige
- Ruling pitch
- 14.01 mm · 39.70 pt
- Rows per page
- 12
Each square in this ruling is cut twice: once by the solid outline that fixes its edge, and once by a dashed cross running through the centre, both ways. A character written inside the square has something to measure its own proportion against, rather than a blank box where the middle is wherever the hand decides it is.
The square is 14.01 millimetres, twelve rows to a page. A how-to-use page explains the two kinds of line, solid and dashed, before the first ruled page arrives, and one hundred and nine pages of the grid follow it. A short run of plain lined pages closes the book, for a translation or a note that does not belong inside a square.
The cross does not know if the character is correct. It only gives the stroke a centre to be measured against, which is a different thing from being right.
What is inside
- Practice
- 109pp
- Each square quartered by a dashed cross, solid outline, 14.01 mm, twelve rows to the page.
- Reference
- 11pp
- A how-to-use page for the ruling, conversion tables computed from definitions, and the pen test leaf.
The film
Page by page
A vertical film from our own bench — this page contacts nobody's server to play it, and downloads nothing until you press play.
Real pages
Made at the Hibrkraft bindery, Bogor · about the maker
Books that sit alongside it
- Genko Yoshi NotebookAlso in Plain Lab
- Arabic and Jawi Handwriting NotebookAlso in Plain Lab
- Tasting NotebookAlso in Plain Lab
- Guitar Tablature NotebookAlso in Plain Lab
Questions
What is a tian zi ge square?
A square crossed by a dashed line down the middle and across, so a stroke has a centre to measure against.
How big is one square?
14.01 millimetres, with twelve rows to the page.
How big is the book?
A5, 148 x 210 mm, 120 pages, 6.86 mm across the spine.
Is there a plain section for other notes?
Yes, a short run of lined pages at the back.
Is it dated?
No.
A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.
