Chinese Calligraphy Art

The term calligraphy derives from the Greek work ‘kalligraphia’ which means beautiful writing. For the Chinese, the same high standards of brushwork apply to this art as apply to painting, for calligraphy is an art form in itself.

The connection between the art of writing Chinese characters and the art of painting is easier to understand when you consider that these characters were, at one time, actually pictures. The earliest mode of written communication was in the form of pictographs rather like the Egyptian hieroglyphics. When a more complex system of combining pictures evolved, it became ever more necessary to condense the pictorial forms into symbols or characters, where each one stood for a particular word.

The historical evolution of the written language explains the variety of styles found during the different dynasties. The earliest pictographs were found carved on bones and shells and were from the Shang Dynasty(1766-1122 BC). A more formalized large seal script developed during the Chou Dynasty(1122-256 BC) and was inscribed in bronze and stone. During the Ch’ in Dynasty (221-207 BC) the small seal style, which is still used in seals today, was introduced by the calligrapher Li Ssu. Then followed the more formalized official style, sometimes called ‘clerical’, in use from the Han Dynasty (207 BC –AD 220) to the beginning of the Sui Dynasty (AD 588).

Within the period AD 588 to the present day, there have developed three types of writing which are used appropriately to their context:

To be able to write some Chinese characters on a painting – the date or a good luck symbol, or perhaps a small poem – is the easiest way to begin to attempt Chinese calligraphy. Later it may be possible to make the calligraphy the whole focus and main element of the composition but, of course, it is always very difficult to write with confidence in a foreign language.

The importance of Calligraphy in Chinese life cannot be underestimated. Scrolls of calligraphy are traditionally offered as gifts and they are used as wall-hangings, hand scrolls and album leaves in the same manner as paintings. The two arts share a common origin and each evolved as a means of making an aesthetic statement, expressing the underlying principles of nature.

The Chinese characters, the written symbols of the Chinese language, are usually made up of several parts. Each part of the character is called ‘a component’. (Some ‘components’ are characters in their own right.) Each component is composed of a number of basic strokes and the following are the seven most elementary ones. The arrows show the direction of the brush movement:

The main strokes involved in Calligraphy

Hook stroke
Angle the brush handle away from yourself at approximately 45度. Point the brush tip to the top left corner of the paper. Put brush to paper, then drag from left to upper right, gradually lifting off.

Teardrop stroke
Hold the brush vertically, press quickly to lower right, pause and rotate.

Bone Stroke
This stroke is the Hook and Teardrop combined, but lengthened in between.

The basic structure of each character is balanced and logical and each stroke follows the other in a precise and rhythmic order. The general rule is to work from the top down, and from left to right within each character. The successive characters are place in vertical rows, starting at the top of the paper and at the right hand side. Each new row begins at the top and is placed to the left of the previous one.

Although everyday Chinese writing is now done horizontally, it is still eminently acceptable for poems, couplets or decorative writing on paintings, to retain the old format of vertical lines.

The individual strokes already described should be practiced first, with the painter sitting in a very erect position, or standing, if the work is to be particularly large. The brush should be kept upright and, to allow for totally free movement of the arm, the wrist should not be allowed to rest on the surface of the paper.

The ink used should be a rich, strong black. The brush loaded thoroughly but without being super-saturated. Remember to increase the pressure to broaden the stroke and release it to obtain a narrower line. Try to develop graceful hooking strokes, carefree but strongly formed sweeping strokes and well-proportioned but self-contained long strokes. Boldness is required for the dots and short strokes.

As with all the Chinese brushwork, confidence has to be developed by practice. A bold, sure to touch is a necessity for successful calligraphy. No possibility of erasing, altering or obliterating is available for the Chinese calligrapher, but constant practice using the brush will eventually develop the expertise required. Unlike other areas of Chinese painting, where individual stroke practice is not encouraged, calligraphy does need special attention to be paid to the basic strokes of the character component.

Developing from this, the quality of the brushwork is judged, not only by the length and thickness of the individual strokes, but also by how the strokes meet each other as they are written in sequence to from each character.

The rules of stroke order in writing Chinese characters are as follows:

Most of these rules and the basic stroke elements are contained within the much used character for ‘long life’. This character, shou(pronounced show) is to be found as a single decorative piece of calligraphy on a acroll, as an embroidery motif, on pottery and contained within many written expressions of general goodwill on Chinese New Year cards. It can most usefully be tried as the first calligraphic painting motif, after the individual strokes have been practised.

Follow the arrow directions and paint the strokes in the order as shown. It often helps to vary the size of the character to find which particular format suits you best for practice purposes.

Another popular character is ‘luck’ which is Fu (pronounced foo). Again, the arrows give both direction and order of stroke, so that the character will develop rhythmically as it is painted.

If one stroke does not quite join on to the next, it is much better to leave the slight gap, than to attempt to add and extra piece to the character, and of course, as always with traditional Chinese painting, strokes cannot be successfully ‘tidied up’ if the brush technique has caused an incorrect stroke to be formed. No amount o description can substitute for the marvelous feeling of accomplishment when, after many faulty practice pieces, one character, or even one stroke, appears faultlessly on the absorbent painting surface.

the addition of the character for ‘happiness’ to the two already described, will enable the painter to write ‘All Good Wishes – luck, happiness and long life.

Another small but useful series of characters are the set of Chinese numbers, plus the characters for month and year necessary to enable the date to be written. A painting seems to be more finished if it is dated and the small number of characters necessary to achieve this are as follows.

Written characters in their pictorial form were the forerunners of today’s calligraphy and also of traditional painting. They appeared on bronze vessels and probably at about the same time as embroidery motifs, with particular attention being paid to the character of the silk cocoon. Chinese embroidery pieces have examples of Chinese script worked on them, from single characters to full length poems, producing designs rich in symbolism as well as pleasing aesthetically and intellectually. Since most ancient embroidery was made as an adornment for the robes of make officials, the longevity character – shou- appeared frequently, but the most popular character on old embroidered pieces was ‘the double his’ – double happiness:

One ‘good wish phrase’ also popular on embroidery, seems to sum up the far-ranging influence of calligraphy as an art form, embodying, as it does, a wealth of ancient philosophy in a minimum of writing. The seal character inscription shown reads ‘Wu fu chin ju’.. ‘May you have the five blessings and embody the nine similarities (in your person)’. The ‘five Blessings’ are long life, wealth, health, many sons and a natural death. On the right is the modern form.

The ‘nine similarities’ are embodied in the following wish: ‘Like high hills, like mountain masses, like top-most ridges, like huge bulks of rock, like streams, like the morn, like the sun, like the age of the southern hills and like the luxuriance of fir and cypress, so may be thy increase and descendants to come.’