Signboards to the Chinese, to some extent, is like the coat of arms to the European nobles.  It represents the achievement, philosophy, style, taste, and ideology of a business,  a service, a clan, an association, or a property. Many signboards are commissioned Chinese calligraphy with high artistic value.

Unfortunately these signboards are gradually disappearing from “urban development” or being replaced by computer graphics. While computer and “urban development” are taking the lives of these arts, I do think that computer can also mitigate the damages. Hence we have this website: a collection of signboards of Chinese calligraphy I discovered in the 18 Districts of Hong Kong. (And once a while a good one from the rest of the world.)

攝影的出現，令書法在學術上的碑學回歸帖學。但因文化及生活習慣的改變，大眾接觸書法的機會甚少，帖學在近代學術上的成果，似乎改變不了時代大方向，結果不論碑帖, 書法作品的水平每況愈下，近年更是慘不忍睹。

華人一向重視招牌，一個醒目的招牌，除了代表成就和實力, 更是品味和思想的象徵。香港作為華人的主要商業中心，文人墨客不少，加之潤筆豐厚，政治清平，生活多姿多彩，書法招牌自是千姿百態，而當中不乏古意盎然的作品。

可惜書法招牌的數目正逐漸減少，不是死於自然，就是消失於「市區重建」或被電腦平面設計取代。既然死於自然及「市區重建」無法阻止，那就用電腦科技紀錄我在香港18區發現的書法招牌吧。(偶然也有外地的精品.)

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