East Asian calligraphy

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The art of calligraphy is widely practiced and revered in the East Asian civilizations that use or used Chinese characters. These include China, Japan, Korea, and to a lesser extent, Vietnam. In addition to being an artform in its own right, calligraphy has also influenced ink and wash painting, which is accomplished using similar tools and techniques. The East Asian tradition of calligraphy originated and developed from China, specifically the ink and brush writing of Chinese characters. There is a general standardization of the various styles of calligraphy in the East Asian tradition. Calligraphy has also led to the development of many other forms of art in East Asia, including seal carving, ornate paperweights, and inkstones.

[edit] Styles

Seal	Clerical	Semi-cursive	Cursive	Regular

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, Vietnamese 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.

[edit] Seal Script

Main article: 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, Vietnamese 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.

[edit] Clerical Script

Main article: Clerical 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' (蠶頭雁尾 cántóu yànwěi）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.

[edit] Semi-cursive Script

Main article: Semi-cursive script

The Semi-cursive Script (also called Running Script, 行書) 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. The characters are also more bold and usually written in blue ink.

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.

[edit] Cursive Script

Main article: Cursive script

The Cursive Script (sometimes called Grass Script, 草書) 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.

[edit] Regular Script

Main article: 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.

[edit] Edomoji

Main article: Edomoji

There is also a large family of native Japanese calligraphic styles known as edomoji, characters created in the Edo period of Japanese history, such as sumōmoji (sumo letters) used to write sumō wrestling posters, kanteiryū, used for kabuki, higemoji, and so on. These styles are typically not taught in Japanese calligraphy schools.

Chinese and Korean people can read edomoji, but the style has a distinct Japanese feel to it. It is therefore commonly used in China and Korea to advertise Japanese restaurants.

[edit] Munjado

Munjado is a Korean decorative style of rendering Chinese characters in which brush strokes are replaced with representational paintings that provide commentary on the meaning.[1] The characters thus rendered are traditionally those for the eight Confucian virtues of humility, honor, duty, propriety, trust, loyalty, brotherly love, and filial piety.

[edit] Kaō

Main article: Kaō

The kaō is a stylized calligraphic signature. Many Japanese emperors, shogun, and even modern politicians develop their own kaō.

[edit] Tools

The paper, ink, brush, and inkstone are essential implements of East Asian calligraphy: they are known together as the Four Treasures of the Study (T: 文房四寶 / S: 文房四宝) in China, and as the Four Friends of the Study (HG: 문방사우 / HJ: 文房四友) in Korea. In addition to these four tools, desk pads and paperweights are also used by calligraphers.

[edit] Paper

Special types of paper are used in East Asian calligraphy.

In China, Xuanzhi, traditionally made in Anhui province, is the preferred type of paper. It is made from the Tartar wingceltis (Pteroceltis tartarianovii), as well as other materials including rice, the paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera), bamboo, hemp, etc.

In Japan, washi is made from the kozo (paper mulberry), ganpi (Wikstroemia sikokiana), and mitsumata (Edgeworthia papyrifera), as well as other materials like bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. Sometimes the brush is used to put ink on a pen.

[edit] Ink

The ink is made from lampblack (soot) and binders, and comes in sticks which must be rubbed with water on an inkstone until the right consistency is achieved. Much cheaper, pre-mixed bottled inks are now available, but these are used primarily for practice as stick inks are considered higher quality and chemical inks are more prone to bleeding over time, making them less suitable for use in hanging scrolls. Learning to rub the ink is an essential part of calligraphy study. Traditionally, East Asian calligraphy is written only in black ink, but modern calligraphers sometimes use other colours. Calligraphy teachers use a bright orange or red ink with which they write practice characters for students and correct students' work.

[edit] Brush

Main article: Ink brush

The brush is the traditional writing implement in East Asian calligraphy. The body of the brush can be made from either bamboo, or rarer materials like red sandalwood, glass, ivory, silver, and gold. The head of the brush can be made from the hair (or feather) of a wide variety of animals, including the wolf, rabbit, deer, chicken, duck, goat, pig, tiger, etc. There is also a tradition in both China and Japan of making a brush using the hair of a newborn, as a once-in-a-lifetime souvenir for the child. This practice is associated with the legend of an ancient Chinese scholar who scored first in the Imperial examinations by using such a personalized brush.

Today, calligraphy may also be done using a pen, but pen calligraphy does not enjoy the same prestige as traditional brush calligraphy.

A video showing how to hold a Chinese brush

[edit] Inkstone

A stone or ceramic inkstone is used to rub the solid ink stick into liquid ink and to contain the ink once it is liquid. Chinese Inkstones are highly prized as art objects and an extensive bibliography is dedicated to their history and appreciation, especially in China.

[edit] Paperweight

Paperweights are used to weigh down paper. Paperweights come in several types: some are oblong wooden blocks carved with calligraphic or pictorial designs; others are essentially small sculptures of people or animals. Like inkstones, paperweights are collectible works of art on their own right.

[edit] Desk pad

The desk pad (Chinese T: 畫氈, S: 画毡, Pinyin: huàzhān; Japanese: 下敷 shitajiki) is a pad made of felt. Some are printed with grids on both sides, so that when it is placed under the translucent paper, it can be used as a guide to ensure correct placement and size of characters. These printed pads are used only by students. Both desk pads and the printed grids come in a variety of sizes.

[edit] Seal

Main article: Chinese seal

Works of calligraphy are usually completed by the artist putting his or her seal at the very end, in red ink. The seal serves the function of a signature.

[edit] Study

The Chinese method of holding the brush

How the brush is held depends on which calligraphic genre is practiced. For Chinese calligraphy, the method of holding the brush is more special; the brush is held vertically straight gripped between the thumb and middle finger. The index finger lightly touches the upper part of the shaft of the brush (stabilizing it) while the ring and little fingers tuck under the bottom of the shaft. The palm is hollow, and you should be able to hold an egg within that space. This method, although difficult to hold correctly for the beginner, allows greater freedom of movement, control and execution of strokes. For Japanese calligraphy, the brush is held in the right hand between the thumb and the index finger, very much like a Western pen.

A paperweight is placed at the top of all but the largest pages to prevent slipping; for smaller pieces the left hand is also placed at the bottom of the page for support.

A man practicing calligraphy in Beihai Park, Beijing

In China, there are many people who practice calligraphy in public places such as parks and sidewalks, using water as their ink and the ground as their paper. Very large brushes are required. Although such calligraphic works are temporary (as the water will eventually dry), they serve the dual purpose of both being an informal public display of one's work, and an opportunity to further practice one's calligraphy.

In Japan, smaller pieces of Japanese calligraphy are traditionally written seated in the traditional Japanese way (seiza), kneeling down. In modern times, however, practitioners frequently practice calligraphy seated on a chair at a table. Larger pieces may be written while standing; in this case the paper is usually placed directly on the floor, but some calligraphers use an easel.

Calligraphy takes many years of dedicated practice. Correct stroke order, proper balance and rhythm of characters are essential in calligraphy. Skilled handling of the brush produces a pleasing balance of characters on the paper, thick and thin lines, and heavy and light inking. In most cases, a calligrapher will practice writing the Chinese character yong (永) many, many times in order to perfect the eight basic essential strokes contained within the character. Those who can correctly write the yong character beautifully can potentially write all characters with beauty.

Basic calligraphy instruction is part of the regular school curriculum in both China and Japan.

[edit] Noted calligraphers

Nearly all traditionally educated men (and sometimes women) in East Asia are proficient in calligraphy. The most famous are:

[edit] China

Chinese calligraphy of mixed styles written by Song Dynasty (1051-1108 CE) poet Mifu. For centuries, the Chinese literati were expected to master the art of calligraphy.

Cry for noble Saichō (哭最澄上人), written by Emperor Saga for Saichō's death. Chinese calligraphic influence had weakened after Heian period. This text was one of the few examples of the transformation.

• Wei Shuo 衛鑠 衛夫人
• Wang Xizhi 王羲之
• Wang Xianzhi 王獻之
• Huai Su 怀素 (懷素)
• Qigong (启功)
• Yu Shinan 虞世南
• Zhang Xu 張旭
• Yan Zhenqing 顏真卿
• Liu Gongquan 柳公權
• Ouyang Xun 歐陽詢
• Su Shi 蘇軾
• Emperor Huizong of Song Dynasty 宋徽宗 趙佶
• Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫
• Liu Bingsen 劉炳森
• Mao Zedong 毛澤東
• Chiang Kai-Shek 蔣中正
• Kang Youwei (possibly considered one)
• Zheng Banqiao 鄭板橋
• Huang Ruheng
• Shi Kefa 史可法

See also [2]

[edit] Korea

Buiseonrando, which was written and painted by Kim Jeonghee. This original Korean calligraphy is called Chusache, which was named after his pen name.

• Choi Chiwon 최치원
• Kim Saeng 김생
• Tan Yeon 탄연
• Yi Aam 이암
• Yi Yong 이용
• Bak Jega 박제가
• Kim Jeonghee 김정희
• Kim Myeong-hui 김명회
• Han Seokbong 한석봉
• Sejong the Great 세종대왕
• Grand Prince Anpyeong 안평대군
• Kang Sehwang 강세황
• Yun Sun 윤순
• Yi I 이이
• Yi Hwang 이황
• Yi Sun-sin 이순신
• Shin Saimdang 신사임당
• Jeong Yak-yong 정약용
• Kim Okgyun 김옥균

[edit] See also

• Chinese art
  • Chinese calligraphy (Redirected here)
• Japanese art
  • Japanese calligraphy
• Korean art
  • Korean calligraphy (Redirected here)

• Ink and wash painting
• Songti
• Stroke order
• Chinese character
• Eight Principles of Yong

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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Calligraphy of East Asia

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• The Making of Wishing Brush 1 of 2 12 Steps of Making a Chinese Calligraphy Brush
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• SPECIAL ISSUE OF VIETNAMESE CALLIGRAPHY
• History of Calligraphy in Vietnam