jiaguwen
boshu
jiadu
Chinese
calligraphy (Brush
calligraphy) is an art unique to Asian cultures. Shu (calligraphy), Hua
(painting), Qin (a string musical instrument), and Qi (a strategic boardgame)
are the four basic skills and disciplines of the Chinese literati.
Regarded as the most abstract and sublime form of art in Chinese culture,
"Shu Fa" (calligraphy) is often thought to be most revealing of one's
personality. During the imperial era, calligraphy was used as an important
criterion for selection of executives to the Imperial court. Unlike other
visual art techniques, all calligraphy strokes are permanent and incorrigible,
demanding careful planning and confident execution. Such are the skills
required for an administrator / executive. While one has to conform to the
defined structure of words, the expression can be extremely creative. To
exercise humanistic imagination and touch under the faceless laws and
regulations is also a virtue well appreciated.
By controlling the concentration of ink, the thickness and adsorptivity of
the paper, and the flexibility of the brush, the artist is free to produce an
infinite variety of styles and forms. In contrast to western calligraphy, diffusing
ink blots and dry brush strokes are viewed as a natural impromptu expression
rather than a fault. While western calligraphy often pursue font-like
uniformity, homogeneity of characters in one size is only a craft. To the
artist, calligraphy is a mental exercise that coordinates the mind and the body
to choose the best styling in expressing the content of the passage. It is a
most relaxing yet highly disciplined exercise indeed for one's physical and
spiritual well being. Historically, many calligraphy artists were well-known
for their longevity.
Brush calligraphy is not only loved and practiced by Chinese. Koreans and
Japanese equally adore calligraphy as an important treasure of their heritage.
Many Japanese schools still have the tradition of having a student contest of
writing big characters during beginning of a new school year. A biannual
gathering commemorating the Lanting Xu by Wang Xi Zhi (The most famous Chinese
calligrapher in Jin dynasty, ) is said to be held ceremonially in Japan.
There is a national award of Wang Xi Zhi prize for the best calligraphy artist.
Not too long ago, Korean government officials were required to excel in
calligraphy. The office of Okinawa governor
still displays a large screen of Chinese calligraphy as a dominating decor.
In the West, Picasso and Matisse are two artists who openly declared the
influence by Chinese calligraphy on their works. Picasso once said tht if he
was born a Chinese, he would have been a calligraphy artist rather than a
painter.
1)
The History of Calligraphy
Calligraphy has endured for more than 2,000 years, and evolved into five
main ways of writing each with different techniques. Even today, these are
still followed and practiced often as a hobby.
Just as calligraphy is an art practiced in western cultures so Chinese
writing is a leading component in the four traditional arts, namely
lute-playing, chess, calligraphy and painting. With the unification of the
Chinese people by the Qin Dynasty (221 BC –
206 BC) the Prime Minister Li Si actively promoted a unified form of writing
based on inscriptions on bronze wares of previous states. This was the first
example of calligraphy – known as 'seal character' (Zhuanshu). Calligraphers of
seal character stress a slender font, even speed and strength, and even thick
lines and strokes. When seen as a whole, this calligraphy is quite round and
contracted.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220), people tended to simplify the seal
character which had many strokes and created the official script. The new
calligraphy appeared to be much neater and delicate, turning the round style
into a flat one. When beginning to write a horizontal line, one must let the
brush go against the direction of point like a silkworm, and concentrate on
stretching steadily, then end up with warp like a swallow's tail. This is one
of the characteristics – 'silkworm's head and swallow's tail'.
Just as the name implies, the regular script features its regularity and
varies from the flat font to a square one. In Chinese it provides a model that
can be followed by calligraphy lovers. It has developed since the late Han
Dynasty and is today's most popular and influential writing style. The Sage of
Calligraphy, Wang Xizhi led the art of calligraphy to its summit. It is
recorded that when a carpenter was asked to engrave the wooden stele where
there were characters written by Wang Xizhi, he found the ink had filtered into
the wood piece 'three fen' deep (3.3cm
or 1.3 inch)! This demonstrated the magnitude of his force and people admired
him all the more because of it. The period when regular script thrived most was
during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907), when Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan
successively established schools of their own styles noted for their strength
and mellowness.
Cursive script has more flexibility, for it only maintains the essence of
each character and expresses more personal exertion. Therefore its value lies
in appreciation more than practicality. While the running hand makes full use
of connecting lines between two strokes it can be regarded as the
quickly-written form of regular script. These two seem to be more unrestrained
than the previous styles.
2）The Style of
Calligraphy
The are five main styles in Chinese Calligrahy art. They are small seal
scipt/ style, official/clerical script, Semi-cursive script (Running Script),
Cursive script (Grass Script), and Formal/Regular Script (Standard Script).
From the seal script was derived the clerical script; and from the
clerical script were derived both the regular script and the cursive scripts.
Characters are often written in ancient variations or simplifications that
deviate from the modern standards used in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Modern
variations or simplifications of characters, akin to Chinese Simplified
characters or Japanese shinjitai, are occasionally used, especially since some
simplified forms derive from cursive script shapes in the first place.
The Japanese syllabaries of katakana and hiragana are used in calligraphy;
katakana were derived from regular script shapes and hiragana from characters
in the cursive script. In Korea,
the post-Korean War period saw the increased use of hangul, the Korean
alphabet, in calligraphy.
Seal Script
The Seal Script (often called Small Seal Script) is the formal script of
the Qin system of writing, the informal script of which was precursor to the
Clerical Script. Seal script is the oldest style that continues to be widely
practiced. Today, this ancient style of Chinese writing is used predominantly
in seals, hence the English name. Although seals (name chops), which make a
signature-like impression, are carved in wood, jade and other materials, the
script itself was originally written with brush and ink on paper, just like all
other scripts.
Most people today cannot read the seal script, so it is generally not used
outside the fields of calligraphy and carved seals. However, because seals act
like legal signatures in Chinese culture, Korean culture, and Japanese culture,
and because vermillion seal impressions are a fundamental part of the
presentation of works of art such as calligraphy and painting, seals and
therefore seal script remain ubiquitous.
Clerical/Official Script
The Clerical Script (often simply termed lìshū; and sometimes called
Official, Draft or Scribal Script) developed from the Seal Script. In general,
characters are often "flat" in appearance, being wider than they are
tall. The strokes may appear curved and with variations in width. Most
noticeable is the dramatically flared tail of one dominant horizontal or
downward-diagonal stroke, especially that to the lower right. This
characteristic stroke has famously been called 'silkworm head and wild goose
tail' in Chinese due to its distinctive shape.
The archaic Clerical Script of the Chinese Warring States period to Qin
Dynasty and early Han Dynasty can often be difficult to read for a modern East
Asian person, but the mature Clerical Script of the middle to late Han dynasty
is generally legible. Modern works in the Clerical Script tend to use the
mature, late Hàn style, and may also use modernized character structures,
resulting in a form as transparent and legible as Regular (or standard) Script.
The Clerical Script remains common as a typeface used for decorative purposes
(for example, in displays), but it is not commonly written.
Semi-cursive Script
The Semi-cursive Script approximates normal handwriting in which strokes
and, more rarely, characters are allowed to run into one another. In writing in
the Semi-cursive Script, the brush leaves the paper less often than in the
Regular Script. Characters appear less angular and rounder.
In general, an educated person in China
or Japan
can read characters written in the Semi-cursive Script with relative ease, but
may have occasional difficulties with certain idiosyncratic shapes.
Cursive Script
The Cursive Script is a fully
cursive script, and a person who can read the Semi-cursive Script cannot be
expected to read the Grass Script without training. Entire characters may be
written without lifting the brush from the paper at all, and characters
frequently flow into one another. Strokes are modified or eliminated completely
to facilitate smooth writing and to create a beautiful, abstract appearance.
Characters are highly rounded and soft in appearance, with a noticeable lack of
angular lines.
The Cursive Script is the source of Japanese hiragana, as well as many
modern simplified forms in Simplified Chinese characters and Japanese
shinjitai.
Regular Script
The Regular Script (often called standard script or simply kǎishū) is one of the last major calligraphic styles to develop, emerging
between the Chinese Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period, gaining dominance in
the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and maturing in the Tang Dynasty. It
emerged from a neatly written, early period semi-cursive form of clerical
script. As the name suggests, the Regular Script is "regular", with
each of the strokes placed slowly and carefully, the brush lifted from the
paper and all the strokes distinct from each other.
The Regular Script is also the most easily and widely recognized style, as
it is the script to which children in East Asian countries and beginners of
East Asian languages are first introduced. For learners of calligraphy, the
Regular Script is usually studied first to give students a feel for correct
placement and balance, as well as to provide a proper base for the other, more
flowing styles.
In the Regular Script samples to the right, the characters in the left
column are in Traditional Chinese while those to the right are in Simplified
Chinese.
Chinese calligraphy (Brush
calligraphy) is an art unique to Asian cultures. Shu (calligraphy), Hua
(painting), Qin (a string musical instrument), and Qi (a strategic boardgame)
are the four basic skills and disciplines of the Chinese literati.
Regarded as the
most abstract and sublime form of art in Chinese culture, "Shu Fa"
(calligraphy) is often thought to be most revealing of one's personality.
During the imperial era, calligraphy was used as an important criterion for
selection of executives to the Imperial court. Unlike other visual art
techniques, all calligraphy strokes are permanent and incorrigible, demanding
careful planning and confident execution. Such are the skills required for an
administrator / executive. While one has to conform to the defined structure of
words, the expression can be extremely creative. To exercise humanistic
imagination and touch under the faceless laws and regulations is also a virtue
well appreciated.
By controlling the
concentration of ink, the thickness and adsorptivity of the paper, and the
flexibility of the brush, the artist is free to produce an infinite variety of
styles and forms. In contrast to western calligraphy, diffusing ink blots and
dry brush strokes are viewed as a natural impromptu expression rather than a
fault. While western calligraphy often pursue font-like uniformity, homogeneity
of characters in one size is only a craft. To the artist, calligraphy is a mental
exercise that coordinates the mind and the body to choose the best styling in
expressing the content of the passage. It is a most relaxing yet highly
disciplined exercise indeed for one's physical and spiritual well being.
Historically, many calligraphy artists were well-known for their longevity.
Brush calligraphy
is not only loved and practiced by Chinese. Koreans and Japanese equally adore
calligraphy as an important treasure of their heritage. Many Japanese schools
still have the tradition of having a student contest of writing big characters
during beginning of a new school year. A biannual gathering commemorating the
Lanting Xu by Wang Xi Zhi (The most famous Chinese calligrapher in Jin dynasty,
) is said to be held ceremonially in Japan. There is a national award of
Wang Xi Zhi prize for the best calligraphy artist. Not too long ago, Korean
government officials were required to excel in calligraphy. The office of Okinawa governor still displays a large screen of Chinese
calligraphy as a dominating decor.
In the West,
Picasso and Matisse are two artists who openly declared the influence by
Chinese calligraphy on their works. Picasso once said tht if he was born a
Chinese, he would have been a calligraphy artist rather than a painter.
2)
The History of Calligraphy
Calligraphy has
endured for more than 2,000 years, and evolved into five main ways of writing
each with different techniques. Even today, these are still followed and
practiced often as a hobby.
Just as
calligraphy is an art practiced in western cultures so Chinese writing is a
leading component in the four traditional arts, namely lute-playing, chess,
calligraphy and painting. With the unification of the Chinese people by the Qin
Dynasty (221 BC –
206 BC) the Prime Minister Li Si actively promoted a unified form of writing
based on inscriptions on bronze wares of previous states. This was the first
example of calligraphy – known as 'seal character' (Zhuanshu). Calligraphers of
seal character stress a slender font, even speed and strength, and even thick
lines and strokes. When seen as a whole, this calligraphy is quite round and
contracted.
In the Eastern Han
Dynasty (25 - 220), people tended to simplify the seal character which had many
strokes and created the official script. The new calligraphy appeared to be
much neater and delicate, turning the round style into a flat one. When
beginning to write a horizontal line, one must let the brush go against the
direction of point like a silkworm, and concentrate on stretching steadily,
then end up with warp like a swallow's tail. This is one of the characteristics
– 'silkworm's head and swallow's tail'.
Just as the name
implies, the regular script features its regularity and varies from the flat
font to a square one. In Chinese it provides a model that can be followed by
calligraphy lovers. It has developed since the late Han Dynasty and is today's
most popular and influential writing style. The Sage of Calligraphy, Wang Xizhi
led the art of calligraphy to its summit. It is recorded that when a carpenter
was asked to engrave the wooden stele where there were characters written by
Wang Xizhi, he found the ink had filtered into the wood piece 'three fen' deep
(3.3cm or 1.3 inch)! This
demonstrated the magnitude of his force and people admired him all the more
because of it. The period when regular script thrived most was during the Tang
Dynasty (618 – 907), when Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan successively
established schools of their own styles noted for their strength and
mellowness.
Cursive script has
more flexibility, for it only maintains the essence of each character and
expresses more personal exertion. Therefore its value lies in appreciation more
than practicality. While the running hand makes full use of connecting lines
between two strokes it can be regarded as the quickly-written form of regular
script. These two seem to be more unrestrained than the previous styles.
3）The
Style of Calligraphy
The are five main
styles in Chinese Calligrahy art. They are small seal scipt/ style,
official/clerical script, Semi-cursive script (Running Script), Cursive script
(Grass Script), and Formal/Regular Script (Standard Script).
From the seal
script was derived the clerical script; and from the clerical script were
derived both the regular script and the cursive scripts.
Characters are
often written in ancient variations or simplifications that deviate from the
modern standards used in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean. Modern variations or
simplifications of characters, akin to Chinese Simplified characters or Japanese
shinjitai, are occasionally used, especially since some simplified forms derive
from cursive script shapes in the first place.
The Japanese
syllabaries of katakana and hiragana are used in calligraphy; katakana were
derived from regular script shapes and hiragana from characters in the cursive
script. In Korea,
the post-Korean War period saw the increased use of hangul, the Korean
alphabet, in calligraphy.
Seal Script
The Seal Script
(often called Small Seal Script) is the formal script of the Qin system of
writing, the informal script of which was precursor to the Clerical Script.
Seal script is the oldest style that continues to be widely practiced. Today,
this ancient style of Chinese writing is used predominantly in seals, hence the
English name. Although seals (name chops), which make a signature-like
impression, are carved in wood, jade and other materials, the script itself was
originally written with brush and ink on paper, just like all other scripts.
Most people today
cannot read the seal script, so it is generally not used outside the fields of
calligraphy and carved seals. However, because seals act like legal signatures
in Chinese culture, Korean culture, and Japanese culture, and because
vermillion seal impressions are a fundamental part of the presentation of works
of art such as calligraphy and painting, seals and therefore seal script remain
ubiquitous.
Clerical/Official
Script
The Clerical
Script (often simply termed lìshū; and sometimes called Official, Draft or
Scribal Script) developed from the Seal Script. In general, characters are
often "flat" in appearance, being wider than they are tall. The
strokes may appear curved and with variations in width. Most noticeable is the
dramatically flared tail of one dominant horizontal or downward-diagonal
stroke, especially that to the lower right. This characteristic stroke has
famously been called 'silkworm head and wild goose tail' in Chinese due to its
distinctive shape.
The archaic
Clerical Script of the Chinese Warring States period to Qin Dynasty and early
Han Dynasty can often be difficult to read for a modern East Asian person, but
the mature Clerical Script of the middle to late Han dynasty is generally
legible. Modern works in the Clerical Script tend to use the mature, late Hàn
style, and may also use modernized character structures, resulting in a form as
transparent and legible as Regular (or standard) Script. The Clerical Script
remains common as a typeface used for decorative purposes (for example, in
displays), but it is not commonly written.
Semi-cursive
Script
The Semi-cursive
Script approximates normal handwriting in which strokes and, more rarely,
characters are allowed to run into one another. In writing in the Semi-cursive
Script, the brush leaves the paper less often than in the Regular Script.
Characters appear less angular and rounder.
In general, an
educated person in China or Japan can read
characters written in the Semi-cursive Script with relative ease, but may have
occasional difficulties with certain idiosyncratic shapes.
Cursive Script
The Cursive
Script is a fully cursive script, and a
person who can read the Semi-cursive Script cannot be expected to read the
Grass Script without training. Entire characters may be written without lifting
the brush from the paper at all, and characters frequently flow into one
another. Strokes are modified or eliminated completely to facilitate smooth
writing and to create a beautiful, abstract appearance. Characters are highly
rounded and soft in appearance, with a noticeable lack of angular lines.
The Cursive Script
is the source of Japanese hiragana, as well as many modern simplified forms in
Simplified Chinese characters and Japanese shinjitai.
Regular Script
The Regular Script
(often called standard script or simply kǎishū) is one of
the last major calligraphic styles to develop, emerging between the Chinese Han
dynasty and Three Kingdoms period, gaining dominance in the Southern and
Northern Dynasties, and maturing in the Tang Dynasty. It emerged from a neatly
written, early period semi-cursive form of clerical script. As the name
suggests, the Regular Script is "regular", with each of the strokes
placed slowly and carefully, the brush lifted from the paper and all the
strokes distinct from each other.
The Regular Script
is also the most easily and widely recognized style, as it is the script to
which children in East Asian countries and beginners of East Asian languages
are first introduced. For learners of calligraphy, the Regular Script is
usually studied first to give students a feel for correct placement and
balance, as well as to provide a proper base for the other, more flowing
styles.
In the Regular
Script samples to the right, the characters in the left column are in
Traditional Chinese while those to the right are in Simplified Chinese.
