Law, Rules or Methods

Law, Rules or Methods

hō (pō)

Law and acts are hō. It suggests Japanese people cannot distinguish laws from acts. Can you? Here are some laws.

• The constitution of a country is kenpō. The “ken” of kenpō means fundamental rules.
• Legislation is rippō.
• Civil law is minpō.
• Penal law is keihō. The “kei” of keihō means punishment.
• Muhōmono is an outlaw. Something illegal is ihō. The “i” of ihō means wrongness.

Today’s character also means rules or methods.

• Grammar is bunpō, in which pō means rules.
• A grammar is bunpōsho, in which sho means a book.
• A method is hōhō. A technique is gihō.
• How to draw calligraphy is shohō.

You cannot find some kanji we mentioned above in our archives. To see kanji for the words, visit here.

Very comprehensive methods of drawing calligraphy are known as “ei ji happō.” Eight basic strokes are included in the character, ei. Wikipedia explains about eijihappō.

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1. Draw the dot in the upper-left corner of the character.
2. Draw the dot below it.
3. Draw the upward stroke in the lower-left corner. This stroke is heading toward the next stroke.
4. Draw the shorter horizontal stroke.
5. Draw the vertical stroke crossing the previous stroke.
6. Draw the longer horizontal stroke.
7. Draw the rotated chevron.
8. Draw the dot in the lower right corner of the character.

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