essay on art of calligraphy

Chinese calligraphy, an introduction

Main text of a Tang Dynasty copy of Wang Xizhi's Lantingji Xu by Feng Chengsu (馮承素). Throughout Chinese history, many copies were made of the Lantingji Xu, which described the beauty of the landscape around the Orchid Pavilion and the get-together of Wang Xizhi and his friends. The original is lost, however some believed that it was buried in the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong of Tang. This Tang copy made between 627-650 is considered the best of the copies that has survived. Located in the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Main text of a Tang Dynasty copy of Wang Xizhi’s Lantingji Xu (Orchid Pavilion Preface) by Feng Chengsu (馮承素). Throughout Chinese history, many copies were made of the Lantingji Xu , which described the beauty of the landscape around the Orchid Pavilion and the get-together of Wang Xizhi and his friends. The original is lost. This Tang copy made between 627–650 is considered the best of the copies that has survived (Palace Museum in Beijing)

Art of the line

Calligraphy is the world’s oldest abstract art—the art of the line. This basic visual element can also hold a symbolic charge. Nowhere has the symbolic power of the line manifested itself more fully than in Chinese calligraphy, a tradition that spans over 3,000 years. The aesthetics of calligraphy are important to the history of art in East Asia, where during much of its premodern era classical Chinese was the lingua franca (or common language).

Chinese calligrapher at Lunar New Year event, Trammell & Margaret Crow Collection of Asian Art, Dallas, Texas, 2 February 2013 (photo: Joe Mabel , CC BY-SA 3.0)

Knowing how to read and write Chinese characters is not a prerequisite for appreciating the unique charm of calligraphy. The characters are fundamentally ideographic in nature, meaning they can symbolize the idea of a thing rather than transcribe its pronunciation. A calligrapher wields a pliant brush, dips its tip fashioned with animal hair into ink made from grinding on an ink stone with water, and writes on paper or silk that could have different absorbency rates depending on how it has been treated. Brush, ink, ink stone, and paper are collectively referred to as the “Four Treasures of the Study” 文房四寶 .

A capable calligrapher can achieve a surprisingly wide and rich array of artistic effects that eloquently convey the personality of the artist and the ambience of the moment of inspiration. The responsiveness of the pliant brush lends itself to registering the subtle changes in pressure, direction, and speed in the force transmitted from the shoulder of the calligrapher, to his arm, wrist, and finally fingertips. This accounts for calligraphic brushstrokes’ unique facility in capturing with great vividness and immediacy the kinetic energy that coursed through the calligrapher’s body during the creation process.

The 5 major calligraphic scripts that developed in China. This diagram shows the character for dragon ( long ) ( Asian Art Museum )

The vocabulary of calligraphy

There are five major script types used today in China. In the general order of their appearance, there are: seal script, clerical script, cursive script, running script, and standard script. Each script type has its own defining visual traits and lends itself to different kinds of textual content and function. Being able to recognize these five script types constitutes the first step in understanding Chinese calligraphy and its nuanced visual vocabulary. As the calligrapher chooses the script type that best suits the occasion of writing and his mood, being able to discern the differences between these types amounts to possessing the key to deciphering the calligrapher’s mind at the moment of creation. An additional reason is that calligraphies had been historically categorized by script type rather than by the content of the text, a fact that highlights the primacy of the visual form in the critical conversations associated with this art.

It is also possible to have more than one script type in the same work of art, usually in the form of colophons (on handscrolls) or inscriptions (on hanging scrolls), as the calligrapher who appended his comments to the original work felt compelled to use a particular type of script.

Title in seal script of the handscroll (detail) The Night Revels of Han Xizai 韓熙載夜宴圖 by Gu Hongzhong 顧閎中. Five Dynasties period, 10th century (Palace Museum, Beijing)

Seal script title at the start of The Night Revels of Han Xizai 韓熙載夜宴圖, handscroll by Gu Hongzhong 顧閎中. Five Dynasties period, 10th century ( Palace Museum , Beijing)

Seal script —the first script type to emerge in this sequence—was solidified during the Qin dynasty (221–207 B.C.E.). The seal script signified authority, permanence, and orthodoxy, qualities befitting of the first imperial dynasty that unified China and standardized the writing system. Arranged in orderly columns, each character fits in an imaginary square. The strokes are of relatively even thickness, and the speed of execution is steady and slow. The solemnity of the seal script made it (and still makes it) a popular choice for commemorative titles carved onto the head of stone steles for public display or in frontispieces that announce the title of a handscroll painting. Even though this script type was most associated with the short-lived Qin dynasty, it served as the script of choice for titles of artworks such as a 10th-century masterpiece, called T he Night Revels of Han Xizai, that documented a sumptuous party at a court minister’s house.

Rubbing of Cao Quan stele (Cao Quan bei 曹全碑), detail. Eastern Han dynasty, 185 C.E. (National Library of China)

An example of clerical script. Rubbing of the Cao Quan stele (Cao Quan bei 曹全碑), detail, Eastern Han dynasty, 185 C.E. ( National Library of China )

Clerical script reached its height in the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 C.E.). The character in general has a squatter silhouette when compared to its predecessor the seal script, introducing the possibility for greater rhythm in the composition. The strokes start displaying modulations and inflections (note the elegant flaring brush movement in the horizontal strokes), reflective of the different amount of pressure in the brush. This marks the calligrapher’s conscious exploration of the brush’s expressive potential. Clerical script takes less time to write than seal script, and it likely emerged out of a need for more efficient record keeping demanded by an expanding empire (the territory of the Han dynasty was much larger than that under the Qin). The name for the script also suggests that it was initially used by government clerks. The clerical script is popular for commemorative texts carved into stone steles, such as we see on the Cao Quan stele.

Autobiography (Zixu tie自敘帖). Huaisu 懷素. Tang dynasty, 8th century. National Palace Museum of Taipei. Detail.

An example of cursive script. Huaisu 懷素, Autobiography (Zixu tie自敘帖), detail, Tang dynasty, 8th century (National Palace Museum of Taipei)

Cursive script is the most expressive of all five script types; it affords a calligrapher remarkable freedom thanks to this script’s relaxation of the orthographic constraints of the seal and clerical scripts. Essentially an informal shorthand of the more complex forms of characters, cursive script was widely seen in epistolary writing (correspondence by letter), due to the expedient nature of its execution . Because the characters are more simplified, more freedom is allowed on the calligrapher’s part to improvise and to take more liberty with the shape of the character. Since its maturation in the 4th century, the cursive script has been the choice for many master calligraphers to demonstrate their individuality. Calligraphy done in cursive script readily reveals the speed in which each character was brushed, sometimes so fast that two or more characters are interconnected by ligatures (the fusion of the final stroke of the first character into the first stroke of the second). Some of the most renowned cursive calligraphers were Buddhist monks who often were most inspired in a state of inebriation. Historically, some of the most famous cursive calligraphers were Chan monks, as the expressivity of the cursive script lends itself well to the unrestricted spirit associated with Chan Buddhists. Buddhist monasteries were important centers of learning in premodern China.

Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅, detail of scroll for Zhang Datong (Zhang Datong tie 張大同帖), (1045–1105), Northern Song dynasty (Princeton Art Museum Collection)

A example of running script. Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅, detail of scroll for Zhang Datong (Zhang Datong tie 張大同帖), (1045–1105), Northern Song dynasty ( Princeton Art Museum Collection )

Running script combines the legibility of standard script and the expressivity of cursive script. The Song dynasty (960–1279 C.E.) with its literati calligraphers (scholar officials who obtained government posts after passing the civil service examination) saw a flowering of calligraphy in running script. This script became the preferred one for the greatest Song calligraphers because it lends itself to the trend at the time towards more personal—even idiosyncratic—styles. Calligraphy in this script type allows a wide range of speed in the execution of the strokes, and gives the calligrapher an opportunity to demonstrate familiarity with great calligraphers of the past. The Chinese calligrapher derives artistic legitimacy by demonstrating mastery of a repertoire of calligraphic styles that constitute the canon of Chinese calligraphy.

Erh-ya, annotated by Kuo P’u (Chin Dynasty) Southern Song (1127-1279) (Imprint by the Directorate of Education National Palace Museum, Taipei)

An example of standard script. Erh-ya , annotated by Kuo P’u (Chin Dynasty), Southern Song (1127-1279) (Imprint by the Directorate of Education, National Palace Museum, Taipei )

Standard script —the script type that most learners of Mandarin today encounter first during their studies—appeared the latest in the evolutionary sequence of Chinese calligraphy. Standard script reached its zenith during the Tang dynasty (618–907 C.E.) and it is associated with the moral uprightness of the calligrapher, due to its emphasis on the balance around a central axis in its form. It is the ubiquitous script for almost all kinds of printed media in the Chinese language, because it is the most legible of all five script types. Each character can be assembled using a standardized repertoire of brushstrokes that consist mainly of orthogonal (at right angles) strokes, making it fairly easy to reproduce texts in this script type using woodblock printing technology. The world’s earliest extant example of this technology was printed in China in the 7th century, and later during the 11th century (in the Northern Song dynasty) movable-type printing was invented. It is fair to say that the standard script made a unique contribution to the dissemination of knowledge in premodern East Asia.

An important distinction needs to be made between the script type and the style, as within each script type calligraphers further formulate their distinct personal styles.

The Crown Jewel of Chinese Calligraphy: Wang Xizhi’s 王羲之 Ritual to Pray for Good Harvest (Xingrang tie 行穰帖 )

Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303–361) is the most revered calligrapher in the history of East Asia. His works have been venerated since his lifetime. The Ritual to Pray for Good Harvest , currently in the collection of Princeton University Art Museum, is a 7 th -century traced copy of a 4 th -century letter by Wang Xizhi. The calligraphy (the central two lines) has been long celebrated as the crown jewel of Chinese calligraphy: done in cursive, the characters are rhythmic, fluid, and dynamic. The inscriptions in running script that flank Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy were brushed by the Qianlong Emperor (1711–1799), a Manchu ruler of China who upheld these two brief lines of fifteen characters as one of the three best works of calligraphy in his massive and prestigious collection of Chinese art. In so doing, the Qianlong Emperor joined the long list of Chinese emperors who treasured Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. By endorsing Wang’s calligraphy and the immense cultural capital that this work represents in Chinese history, the Qianlong Emperor, as someone who was ethnically non-Han (he was Manchu), asserted the legitimacy of his rule over China.

Ritual to Pray for Good Harvest (Xingrang tie 行穰帖), undated. Wang Xizhi 王羲之(303–361). 7th century traced copy of the 4th century original. Princeton University Art Museum. Detail.

Wang Xizhi 王羲之(303–361), detail of Ritual to Pray for Good Harvest (Xingrang tie 行穰帖), 7th-century traced copy of the 4th-century original (Princeton University Art Museum)

Similar to the French saying “Le style c’est l’homme même” (“The style is the man himself”), Chinese have long believed that a man’s calligraphy is capable of revealing his moral qualities and temperaments. An important reason why the Ritual to Pray for Good Harvest has been so treasured in China by generations of collectors is the reputation of Wang Xizhi as an upright scholar and virtuous statesman with a good pedigree. In a world before Instagram and Facebook, a public figure’s image is strongly intertwined with how his calligraphy looks. This is clearly demonstrated by the abiding fascination with Wang Xizhi’s works shared by both Chinese and Japanese emperors, whose unrelenting promotions elevated the Wang Xizhi style as a model with which all later calligraphers felt the need to reckon.

Stone slab with Mao’s calligraphy, China (photo: Xaiohan Du)

On a hiking trip near my hometown in China a few summers ago I encountered this heavy stone slab on which calligraphy has been incised. The calligrapher did not include his name; however, it would not have been necessary—any educated Chinese person would be able to recognize at first glance that this powerful calligraphy in the wild cursive script is brushed by none other than Chairman Mao, thanks to the ubiquitous reproduction of Mao’s calligraphy in textbooks and on major public monuments throughout China. Mao’s unbridled calligraphy could not be further away from the elegant and balanced style of Wang Xizhi, befitting perhaps of his larger-than-life persona and overly romantic vision for China in mid-20 th century. The expressive power of this ancient art of the line continues to occupy a very special place in the visual environment in East Asia.

Appreciating Chinese Calligraphy, Asian Art Museum (2008)

Additional resources.

Link to Wang Xizhi’s Ritual to Pray for a Good Harvest (Princeton University Art Museum).

Fu Shen et al., Traces of the Brush: Studies in Chinese Calligraphy .

Lothar Ledderose, Mi Fu and the Classical Tradition of Chinese Calligraphy ( Princeton University Press, 1979).

Robert E. Harrist, JR. “A Letter from Wang Hsi-chih and the Cultures of Chinese Calligraphy,” in The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection ( Princeton University in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1999).

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The art of calligraphy in asia.

Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, was long considered the supreme art form in China, Japan, and Korea. This elevated status reflects the importance of the written word in East Asian cultures. In ancient China, early emperors asserted their power by engraving edicts or pronouncements on stone in their own calligraphic script. The elite members of society were scholarofficials, whose status was attained by their command of the written word. In addition to the central role played by writing in Chinese culture, the visual form of the language also contributed to the distinctiveness of the calligraphic tradition. The vast number and complexity of the characters that make up the Chinese script presented artists with a unique platform on which to explore the creative possibilities of design. The writing of Chinese characters-which was then widely adopted in Korea around the fourth century and in Japan in the mid-sixth century-was thought to be the purest visual manifestation of the writer's inner character and level of cultivation. It was the medium through which a person's thoughts, feelings, and artistry were best conveyed. In looking at a piece of calligraphy, we may admire the way a calligrapher manipulated the brush to create an object of beauty in which rhythmic energy is conveyed through strokes and dots done with ink. Changes in ink gradation, the relationship between characters, and the elegance of a single line can entice viewers regardless of the legibility of the text. The calligraphy on display in this installation, dating from the fourth century to the present day, demonstrates the written language's lasting appeal as a vehicle for creating highly individualized works of art.

Essay on Calligraphy

Students are often asked to write an essay on Calligraphy in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Calligraphy

What is calligraphy.

Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. It’s a skill where people use pens or brushes to create fancy letters on paper. This art has been around for a very long time. Different countries have their own styles.

To do calligraphy, you need special tools. These include pens with different tips, brushes, and ink. The paper also matters; it should be smooth and thick so the ink won’t spread.

Learning Calligraphy

Anyone can learn calligraphy. It starts with practicing basic strokes and then forming letters. With time and practice, your writing will get better and more artistic.

Importance of Calligraphy

Calligraphy is important because it makes writing special. It’s used for invitations, signs, and art. It shows that words are not just to read, but can also be beautiful to look at.

250 Words Essay on Calligraphy

Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. It’s a way of making letters not just readable, but also pretty to look at. People use special pens or brushes to make these fancy letters. This art has been around for a very long time and is found in many different parts of the world.

Tools Used in Calligraphy

To practice calligraphy, you need some tools. These include pens with different tips, called nibs, and brushes that can be dipped in ink. The ink can be of various colors to make the writing even more special. Special paper is also used so the ink won’t spread and the letters will stay nice and clean.

Types of Calligraphy

There are many styles of calligraphy. Some come from countries like China or Japan, where they use characters instead of letters. Others come from the Middle East, where the writing flows like a ribbon. Western calligraphy often uses the alphabet we are familiar with, but with extra swirls and lines to make it fancy.

Anyone can learn calligraphy. It starts with learning how to hold the pen correctly and how to move it to make thin and thick lines. With practice, you can write your name, a friend’s name, or even make art with words. Calligraphy can be a fun hobby and a way to make writing special.

Why Calligraphy Matters

Calligraphy is more than just writing; it’s a form of expression. It can make words look happy, sad, strong, or gentle. It’s also a way to keep history alive, as we can see how people from long ago wrote and what their writing looked like. Calligraphy connects us to the past and lets us create beautiful things in the present.

500 Words Essay on Calligraphy

Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. It’s like drawing but with letters. People use special pens or brushes to make the letters look pretty and artistic. This art has been around for a very long time, and it is used all over the world. In calligraphy, every letter is made with care and often looks like a small piece of art.

The Tools of Calligraphy

To make calligraphy, you need some tools. The most important one is a pen or a brush that is special for calligraphy. These pens have different tips, called nibs, which can be changed to make different styles of letters. There’s also special ink that flows smoothly and paper that is thick so the ink won’t spread out and ruin the letters.

There are many types of calligraphy. Some come from the way people in certain parts of the world write. For example, in China, they use brushes and have a style that looks very flowing and has lots of curves. In the Middle East, they have a style called Arabic calligraphy, which has lots of lines and shapes that connect in beautiful ways. In the West, calligraphy often looks like the fancy writing you might see on old documents or wedding invitations.

Anyone can learn calligraphy, but it takes practice. When you start, you learn how to hold the pen and make basic strokes. These strokes are like the building blocks for letters. As you get better, you start making letters, and then words. It’s important to go slow and pay attention to each stroke. Over time, your hands get used to the movements, and your writing starts to look more and more beautiful.

Why People Love Calligraphy

People love calligraphy for many reasons. It’s fun to learn, and it’s a way to make writing special. Some people like to use calligraphy for making art, like writing a poem in a fancy way. Others use it to make things like cards or signs look nicer. Calligraphy can also be relaxing. When you focus on making each letter perfect, you can forget about other things and just enjoy the art.

Calligraphy in the Modern World

Even though we have computers and printers, calligraphy is still popular. It’s special because it’s made by hand, and each piece is unique. Today, people use calligraphy for logos, to design fonts, and for special events. It’s a way to add a personal touch that machines can’t copy.

Calligraphy is more than just writing; it’s a form of expression that turns words into art. With its various styles and tools, it offers a creative outlet for people of all ages. Whether you use it for fun, to create art, or to make everyday things more beautiful, calligraphy is a skill that combines tradition with personal creativity. It’s an art that reminds us of the beauty that can be found in the written word.

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6 The Relationship of Calligraphy and Painting to Literature

Stanford University

Published: 05 April 2017
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Calligraphy and painting have a long and rich history of association with literary composition, especially poetry. These three “arts of the brush” share not just materials and tools of production but also a critical vocabulary and certain aesthetic ideals. The pronounced attention in the early history of each art to the world of nature as a source of verbal imagery, subject matter, and even graphic design bound these arts together in the formative stage of theoretical writings about each. As the practice of these arts matured in medieval times, it became common for them to appear together in a single, composite work: a painting inscribed with a poem, written as a calligraphic display. This composite form became a hallmark of Chinese visual and literary culture. Thus even when they were used separately, the aesthetic values of the others often remained in the minds of the poet-artist and reader or viewer.

It is widely recognized that calligraphy and painting have a special relationship to the literary arts in the Chinese tradition. It would eventually become commonplace to speak of poetry, painting, and calligraphy as the “three excellences” ( sanjue 三絕) or the three arts that the person of refinement ideally would master. Even if it was rare for an individual to excel at all three, the idea that a single person might cultivate them jointly speaks to the intimate connections and shared aesthetic that were perceived among the three. The pairing of painting and poetry (the “sister arts”) is one that is familiar to us in Western aesthetics and can be found already in ancient Greece. It is calligraphy in the Chinese scheme of artistic expression that is apt to strike us as unexpected, so that the place of calligraphy in China, as well as its relationship to the other arts, requires special attention and explanation.

Calligraphy: Conceptual Background

From early in the imperial period, by the first and second centuries of the Common Era, there was already the practice and appreciation of calligraphy as an art. By that time, writing with the brush had become well established, and paper had been invented and was widely available. (On these developments, see Chapter 4 .) It was of course the adoption of the brush, which replaced various instruments of incision previously used for writing, that made possible the distinctive traits of later calligraphy in China; the early invention of paper was also important for providing a flat, smooth, and dimensionally large medium to which writing could be applied. If the Chinese had continued to write on bamboo slips, metal, or silk, or had been forced to write, even with a brush, on papyrus or parchment (as did their Roman contemporaries), the art of calligraphy would never have developed as quickly or reached such heights as it did.

To account for the recognition of calligraphy as a major art form in China, one naturally thinks of the special features of the Chinese writing system. There are the astounding quantity of unique graphs (more than fifty thousand of them), the complexity of their form (with many individual characters requiring more than ten separate brush strokes), and the minute graphic variations that often distinguish one character from another. Surely all of these must have played a part in the elevation of writing into a high art. Yet Chinese characters can be analyzed into a rather small number of distinct stroke types. Viewed in that light, the writing system is not all that different from many others in which calligraphy never became a major art. It is possible that the formal characteristics of the Chinese writing system are not the sole reason that calligraphy developed as it did, and that cultural factors also played a part. These may include the early prestige of writing, owing largely to its centrality in ancient ritual and the operation of the bureaucratic state, and even its role in differentiating the Chinese from the peoples who lived beyond their borders.

In the Later Han period, there also appeared the earliest essays about calligraphy. These were important for setting forth notions of the art that proved to be enormously influential upon later calligraphy theory and criticism. They were also instrumental in linking the art to older ideas about the origins and nature of writing itself as well as to early philosophy and metaphysics. Here is a representative passage found in Cui Yuan’s 崔瑗 (78–143) essay “Caoshu shi” 草書勢 (“The Configuration of Draft Script”):

When we observe its models and images, there is propriety wherever we look. The rectangular forms do not match the carpenter’s square; the round ones do not accord with the compass. Lowered on the left and raised to the right, from far away it looks like a leaning precipice. A bird stretches its neck, standing erect, intent on flying off. A wild animal recoils with fear, poised to race away. Here, there are dots and dabs that resemble a string of pearls which, though broken, remains intact. With anger and frustration contained inside, they display themselves with abandon and create marvelous forms. There, there are tremulous strokes perilously elongated, like a withered tree that stands on the edge of a cliff. The slanting strokes and dots off to the side are like a cicada clinging to the branch. Where the brush stroke ends and the configuration is terminated, the dangling threads are tucked in a knot, and it resembles a scorpion that has inflicted its venomous bite and darts to a crack or crevice, or a hunting snake that dives down a hole, its head disappearing but its tail trailing behind. Consequently, when you look at it from afar it resembles a peak that has collapsed or a bluff that has caved in. But when you examine it close at hand, you find that not a single stroke could be altered. Its workings are supremely subtle and its essentials are marvelous, always right but never the same. Here, I have just given an approximation of its general appearance; such is its configuration, more or less. ( Cui 1974 : 36.1066)

This passage has features that are typical of writings about calligraphy from all periods: the exuberant list of analogies with natural forms, the stress upon the restless changeability of the brushwork, and the assertion that ultimately the calligraphy defies description and partakes of something that can only be called “supremely subtle” and “marvelous.”

It is important to understand that this is not simply rhetorical flourish, although to be sure there is ingenious wordplay here bordering on the bombastic. In describing calligraphy this way, Cui Yuan and others after him were drawing upon a store of earlier philosophical thought about writing, “images,” nature, and the cosmos. Readers of their time would not have failed to perceive echoes of that earlier body of writing in Cui Yuan’s passage, and these echoes would have filled Cui’s passage with implications of claims of deeper significance for the “draft script” he is writing about, just as Cui intended they would.

The passage calls to mind statements in the Classic of Changes and commentaries on it about the invention of the trigrams in high antiquity by the legendary sage Fu Xi 伏羲. He created them, we are told, by gazing up at the sky and observing the “images” ( xiang 象) of the heavenly bodies there and looking down at earth and observing the “models” or “patterns” ( fa 法) in the terrain. The trigrams, from which the sixty-four hexagrams were derived, are thus inspired by natural forms but, representing human values and cosmic principles, embody more abstract and higher meaning than physical forms could ever convey. Later, it was asserted that Chinese characters were derived in much the same way. In the postface to his dictionary Shuowen jiezi 說文解字 ( Explanation of Simple Graphs and Analysis of Composite Characters ), Xu Shen 許慎 (d. ca. 149) tells us that the ancient sage Cang Jie 倉頡 invented characters by following Fu Xi’s lead and modeling them on the tracks of animals and birds he observed: “According to their category he made images of the natural forms, and so called it ‘pattern/writing’ ( wen 文)” ( Xu 2002 : 15.997). Thus, the images ( xiang ) that are symbolized by the trigrams and hexagrams are based on natural forms but also embody abstract and eternal principles of change and constancy, and characters themselves are derived from patterns found in nature. When Cui Yuan looks at draft script calligraphy, what he sees is informed by this history of thinking about the natural and cosmic derivation of “images,” “patterns,” and “models” that humans make and manipulate. (For more on early Chinese thinking about the origin of the writing system and its relation to astrological and worldly “patterns,” see Chapter 3 .)

A salient feature of prose accounts of calligraphy, seen in the Cui Yuan passage, is that the images and analogies keep changing. Not only do they change, they range through a great variety in form, tone, and affect: violent, intimidating, delicate, sublime, etc. This is because the writer is recreating a particular way of viewing the brushwork (or imagining it, in Cui Yuan’s case). The calligraphed page is not viewed as a single entity, however complex, or holistically. Instead, it is “read” as the words would be read if they were ordinary writing, not calligraphy: from top to bottom of each vertical column, and the columns left to right. Through this “reading,” the viewer reenacts the movements of the brush as it was wielded down and across the page or scroll. Calligraphy is created as a linear process, and it is viewed that way too. This is reflected in the linear string of images and analogies in Cui Yuan’s prose.

Yet there is a sense, in Cui Yuan’s passage and other early writings on calligraphy, that calligraphy also lies beyond description and partakes of “the marvelous.” No single analogy or metaphor works for long. And all of them are ultimately just that: likenesses or mere approximations. The language that writers use to evoke this quality of mystery they perceive in the brushwork varies, but they keep returning to it: “The rectangular forms do not match the carpenter’s square, the round ones do not accord with the compass”; “But when you examine it close at hand, you find that not a single stroke could be altered. Its workings are supremely subtle and its essentials are marvelous, always right but never the same” ( Cui 1974 : 36.1066); “When you examine it close at hand, the ends and junctures cannot be distinguished, and the ideographic components cannot be traced” (Cai Yong 蔡邕 [133–192], “Zhuan shi” 篆勢 [“On the Configuration of Seal Script”], Cai 1974 : 36.1064); “When you look at it closely, the mind is confused and the eye dazzled” (Wei Heng 衛恒 [d. 291], “Li shi” 隸勢 [“On the Configuration of Clerical Script”], Wei 1974 : 36.1065). Cai Yong’s essay “Bi lun” 筆論 (“On the Brush”) says that calligraphy “must partake of physical forms” and goes on to say that it must resemble walking, flying, lying down and standing up, etc. Only then, he asserts, can it be considered calligraphy (as opposed to ordinary handwriting) ( Cai 2007 : 8–9). But the operative word is “resemble” ( ruo 若). Calligraphy resembles the movements of animate and inanimate things in the world, but it is not that movement. Calligraphy as it is described in these writings hovers between the physical world that it resembles and something higher, and the latter is something words cannot fully capture. This reminds us of the “images” spoken of in the Classic of Changes , which are inspired by physical things but are not those things and were believed to represent cosmic principles.

But what is it, exactly, that calligraphy captures or expresses? Cai Yong makes the unexpected statement that “calligraphy is dispersion” ( shuzhe san ye 書者散也) and proceeds to elaborate on this alliterative equivalence this way:

One who wants to do calligraphy must first disperse everything in his heart, trust his feelings and indulge his nature, and then express them in calligraphy. If someone feels pressed upon by external affairs, then even with a rabbit-hair brush from Zhong Mountain, the brushwork will not be good. To do calligraphy, you must sit quietly and still your thoughts, make the intent appropriate to the occasion, refrain from speaking, vacate some breath, and collect and concentrate your spirit and demeanor, as if appearing before the ruler. Then whatever you produce will be outstanding. ( Cai 2007 : 8–9)

We see, then, that “diffusion” (or “scattering”) does not refer to a complete emptying of the emotions and self, but rather purging the heart/mind of mundane external cares, so that one’s inner self can be expressed without distortion. This is a conception of calligraphy as something profoundly expressive of the calligrapher’s character, a notion that would become a cardinal principle of thinking about the art.

Cai Yong alludes to the calligrapher’s “intent” only in passing. Later, in the writings of Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303–361), the man conventionally considered China’s supreme calligrapher, the role of yi 意 (“idea, intent, meaning, import”) becomes a fundamental component and value. But whose or what yi is it? In Wang Xizhi’s letters to friends, we find such statements as these: “The yi [in your calligraphy] has gradually become more profound”; “There is yi among all the dots and strokes”; “the insufficiency [of inferior calligraphy] lies in its yi ”; “I am yet unable to make my ‘flying white’ script superior, but at least its yi is truly excellent” ( Li 1984 : 2.419). In such comments, the yi in calligraphy is not simply the calligrapher’s “intent” that he had in mind as he wielded the brush. It is a quality that has become intrinsic to the brushwork itself and can be discovered there presumably by any viewer, even those who have no connection with the calligrapher and no idea what he was “thinking” or “intended” when he picked up his brush. In other words, this yi has become separate from the calligrapher. It has also become, in Wang’s view, the single most important criterion for evaluating calligraphy. It is distinct from technical proficiency. Yi may be lacking when technique is excellent, and it may be present when technique is lacking. This is, then, an aestheticized and objectified yi . It is the “import” or “meaning” or even “style” that we appreciate in art. Calligraphy is no longer simply a projection of the calligrapher’s person or self. It has become an art that may be evaluated by objective aesthetic standards (although, naturally, not all viewers will arrive at the same judgment). One more point is crucial: the yi that Wang Xizhi is finding (or not finding) in the calligraphy he examines has little or nothing to do with the semantic or literal meaning of the words written on the page. Apropos of this, we should note that many of surviving examples of Wang Xizhi’s own calligraphy (or more probably copies of the same) are fragments of personal letters on utterly quotidian subjects, so that their literary or intellectual content is actually very slight. Yet such is Wang’s stature in calligraphic history that the aesthetic yi of these compositions is perceived to be weighty indeed.

The historian of aesthetic thought Li Zehou plausibly suggests that such thinking is heavily influenced by the statement in the “Xici zhuan” 繫辭傳 (“Appended Words”) section of the Classic of Changes that “the sage established the ‘images’ ( xiang ) in order to fully express his ideas.” Moreover, closer to Wang Xizhi’s time, the philosopher Wang Bi 王弼 (226–249), in his commentary on the Changes and elsewhere, wrote extensively on the complex relationship between “words,” “images,” and “meaning.” It is likely that Wang Xizhi’s thinking about calligraphy and his perception of yi “meaning” in its forms owed much to Wang Bi and other participants in the “arcane learning” ( xuanxue 玄學) movement.

There is much in common between these early writings on calligraphy and pre-Tang writings about literary writings, whether poetry or literary prose. Literary theory is discussed in other essays in this volume (see Chapters 1 and 23 ); here we simply note in passing some of the common ground between the two. There is, first, a common vocabulary of key terms and concepts regarding the artist, his inspiration, and how that is channeled into artistic expression. Key terms in the discourse on calligraphy, including “idea/meaning” ( yi ), “breath” ( qi 氣), “spirit” ( shen 神), “thought” ( si 思), and “image” ( xiang ), are likewise the central terms used in texts that discuss the act of writing, such as Cao Pi’s 曹丕 (187–226) “Lun wen” 論文 (“Discourse on Literature”), Lu Ji’s 陸機 (261–303) “Wen fu” 文賦 (“Rhapsody on Literature”), and Liu Xie’s 劉勰 (ca. 460s–520s) Wenxin diaolong 文心雕龍 ( The Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragon ). Second, there is much overlap between the processes of preparation and artistic creation described for the two arts. The dual focus on inner quiescence and outward gaze or exploration that we have seen in Cai Yong’s description of the calligrapher is later replicated and expanded in Lu Ji’s description of literary production. Shared as well between the two is the assumption about what the external gaze focuses upon, that is, what it is in the external world that the calligrapher mimics and what the poet derives his inspiration from; primary among these is the world of nature—specifically, seasonal floral imagery and marked faunal patterns, as well as dynamic processes in nature (animal movements, swirling waters, etc.).

Finally, there is, even at this early stage in writing about these arts, candid avowal of mysteries involved concerning both inspiration and the way in which the arts affect their audience. In fact, this takes the form of more than passing acknowledgment or reluctant admission; it is something emphasized and featured, as we have seen earlier regarding calligraphy. Later, Lu Ji would famously stress the inexplicability of the ebb and flow of literary inspiration. Liu Xie, in turn, would stress the disconnection between “word,” “thought,” and “meaning,” and how often, for better or worse, there is an imperfect match between them. Moreover, despite his exhaustive attempt to describe all aspects of both the “literary mind” and the intricacies of what it produces (“dragon carving”), Liu Xie despairs that no critic can ever fully explain the “subtleties” of the best literary work and finally comes to the point where he must “put down his brush.” The early essays on calligraphy quoted above may be said to anticipate such admission of the limitations of criticism and analysis. Still later, what has been called the cardinal principle and ideal of Chinese poetics, that there must be a “meaning” (or “affect”) that surpasses the words, outlasts them, and cannot ever be described by them, may be viewed as an extension of this early awareness of the key transcendent aspect of all arts. Naturally, there are likewise themes in the writings about the arts that are not held in common, such as the pervasive insistence in writings about writing that it serve moralistic and state-centered purposes. Such a demand would be more difficult to make for calligraphy (although some much later writings about this art do make this claim, albeit indirectly, for example in the “uprightness” perceived in the calligraphy by the Tang statesman and martyr Yan Zhenqing 顏真卿 [709–785]).

We will have more to say later about the conjunction of calligraphy with poetry (and painting) in artistic production and transmission. But here we have seen that in the early thinking or theoretical writings about these visual and literary arts there is already considerable common ground in terminology, concept, and beliefs about inspiration and the “meaning” of the two arts.

Painting: Conceptual Background

We turn now to the other visual art that is closely connected with poetry in the Chinese tradition. Painting had been practiced in China since antiquity, but in the early imperial period it was generally considered secondary to the “higher” visual art of calligraphy. Critical and theoretical writings on painting likewise lagged behind those on calligraphy, discussed above. When painting theory did emerge during the Northern and Southern Dynasties and Tang periods, the art was often said to share a common origin with calligraphy. In such statements, we may glimpse a deliberate effort to elevate the status of painting by connecting it with the form whose stature as a major art form, rather than a mere craft, was already secure.

Painting is conventionally thought in China to be comprised of a few conventional subjects or genres: landscape painting, birds and flowers, and portraiture (Buddhist or Daoist painting may be counted as a subgenre of the last of these). There are other subjects that are also painted, but these are the major ones. Of these three, it is landscape that is by far the most intimately connected with poetry. Yet as a painted subject, landscape was somewhat slow to develop. Its first flourishing occurred in the fourth and fifth centuries, although we usually think of it not reaching full maturity until the Five Dynasties and Song periods (10th–13th c.). In any case, the number of “landscape paintings” that have been survived from earliest times through the Tang (or even the number of paintings that contain a landscape component) is so small that it is difficult to generalize about its history and development.

We begin, then, with some remarks about concepts related to portraiture. We know from surviving works (inscribed on stone, painted on silk, etc.) as well as the textual record that early portraiture had a strong didactic element: often it was legendary cultural heroes, emperors, exemplary ministers, clan ancestors, etc. whose likenesses were recorded in portraits. For our purposes, a key aspect of early thinking about such painting was the notion that as important as formal elements may have been, there was, beyond form, something else looked for in a portrait that was considered essential. That something was usually called the shen 神, which was understood as the “spirit,” “soul,” or inner essence of the person. The belief that every person is endowed with such a “spirit” was already widespread by the Han dynasty. A dichotomy of xing/shen 形/神 was thus posited for portraiture: xing (“form, shape”) designated the formal elements of the person depicted, and shen designated the inner nature of the person as captured in the image. One way of thinking about the dichotomy was that both elements were equally important and needed to work as a complementary pair. But the dominant way of thinking about them gave some priority to shen , the understanding being that no matter how skillfully the formal elements might be depicted, if in the end the more intangible “essence” of the person’s character—what made him, after all, who he was—was not captured, the portrait could not be considered successful. The complementarity of the two and the primacy of shen as the portraitist’s ultimate goal are aptly suggested by the pithy dictum coined by the early master Gu Kaizhi 顧愷之 (ca. 345–ca. 406) in an essay on portraiture: yi xing xie shen 以形寫神 (“use form to depict the spirit”).

Writings about landscape painting extended this notion of there being something beyond form, the transmission of which was the painter’s ultimate goal, to that subject as well. But other terms and concepts were introduced to add to and complicate the concept of “spirit” applied to persons. In doing this, critics writing on landscape painting drew upon rich bodies of philosophical thought, both classical and contemporary.

Classical Daoist thought had long before established the idea of Nature as being the embodiment of the Way (Dao) and the closest analogue to its ultimate principles. The Way cannot be described in words, but it can be glimpsed in the great pageant of Nature as evoked in countless passages in the Laozi and Zhuangzi . Closer to the time of the first seminal essays on landscape painting, of the fourth and fifth centuries, the Daoist revival of that time, the spread of Buddhist conceptions of the universe, and the school of Arcane Learning, which drew variously upon strands of Daoist and Buddhist thought, provided new impetus for a spiritualized apprehension of landscape. The “You Tiantai shan fu” 游天台山賦 (“Rhapsody on an Outing to Tiantai Mountain”) by the Arcane Learning thinker Sun Chuo 孫綽 (314–371) refers repeatedly to the transcendent qualities of the mountains, using a range of roughly synonymous terms (e.g., ling 靈 “numinous,” miao 妙 “marvelous,” xian 仙 “the godly, divine,” and xiangwai 象外 “beyond image”) in describing the mountain landscape and its purifying effect upon him as he contemplates it mystically ( yi xuan dui shanshui 以玄對山水). In a series of rhymed panegyrics on a painting on the theme of “The Shadow of the Buddha” ( foying 佛影), the Pure Land Buddhist monk Huiyuan 慧遠 (334–417), patriarch of the Donglin 東林 Monastery on Lu Mountain, strongly implies that the Buddha’s shadow is not just the image famously discovered on a cave wall in India but may be found manifest in the Lu Mountain landscape itself (“Wanfo yingming” 萬佛影銘 [“Inscriptions on Shadows of Ten Thousand Buddhas”]). Accounts of excursions into the mountains by Huiyuan and his followers likewise speak of the landscape as possessing “divine beauty” and “mystical sounds.” It was not a coincidence that the monasteries themselves were situated deep in mountain landscapes: it was precisely because such settings verged on the “ineffable” ( buke ce 不可測) truths of their religion.

Two seminal essays on landscape painting give prominence to such thinking, now applied not to nature but to painted representations of it. Zong Bing’s 宗炳 (374–443) “Hua shanshui xu” 畫山水序 (“Preface to Landscape Painting”) is the earliest extant general account of landscape painting. In the opening, he boldly posits an analogy between the relationship that landscape has to the Dao and the insight into the Dao that was possessed by the ancient sages (who invented the trigrams, writing, etc.): “The ancient sages patterned their inner spirit on the Dao, and the worthies, after them, comprehended it; landscape gives pleasing expression to the Dao with its forms, and the humane man delights in it. Are the two not similar?” ( Zong 1973 : 583). The statement about the “humane man” delighting in landscape comes from the Lunyu 論語 (the Analects ). But no such explanation for that person’s delight in landscape is given there. The linkage with landscape’s embodiment of the Dao is Zong Bing’s invention. Later in his essay, Zong Bing makes a remarkable claim for landscape painting: in terms of the beneficial effect it has upon the viewer (purifying and calming his mind), it surpasses real landscape. The reason is that real landscape is so vast that the eye can only take in fragments of it. A person viewing a painting, by contrast, can apprehend an entire mountainscape in all its complexity.

Before Zong Bing, Gu Kaizhi had already written the numinous into a description of landscape painting. It is true that Gu’s “Hua Yuntai shan ji” 畫雲台山記 (“Record of Painting Cloud Terrace Mountain”) concerns a particular painting rather than presenting a generalized statement about the art (as Zong Bing was to do). It is important, nevertheless, as the earliest detailed account of a landscape painting by the painter himself. This was a landscape painting that depicted religious persons situated in the landscape: Zhang Daoling 張道陵, the Han dynasty Daoist and founder of the Five Pecks of Rice School, and two of his known disciples. Gu Kaizhi identifies these men in his prose description of the painting (though they are not referred to in the title of the painting and might not have been recognized by a viewer of the painting). We do not know if this painting was based on experience of the mountain or came from Gu’s imagination. Regardless, it is not just that this landscape features religious persons. The landscape itself is rich with mystical meaning and was deliberately drawn that way, according to the artist himself. He tells us, for example, that Zhang Daoling is depicted in front of two sheer cliffs. The space between the cliffs, which Zhang must be gazing into, is drawn to appear “forbidding and undefiled: a place inhabited by gods” ( Gu 1973 : 582). Of course, the gods are not depicted in the painting, but their domain in that empty space is what Zhang Daoling is concentrating on.

This overtly religious background to early landscape painting is significant for several reasons. First, even when the subject matter becomes conventionalized and aestheticized in the later history of painting, and even after the explicit connection with religion becomes muted in the process, that connection retains a residual presence. It is always there, at least in the background, and keeps getting evoked in writings about painting even if not explicitly asserted. It would be impossible to understand the dominance of landscape in Chinese painting history without some awareness of this dimension. Second, this religious aspect of landscape painting constitutes an important link with landscape poetry of the same early period (the Jin and Southern Dynasties). This common spiritual grounding draws the two arts together. As different as were the dynamics and course of development within each form of artistic expression, they also shared aspects of their conceptual underpinning.

Third, and most important for our interests here, this early shared conceptual orientation helps us to understand a crucial later commonality in aesthetic values: it was expected that each art would express something beyond what meets the eye (brushed likenesses of nature’s forms, words written on the page). To be outstanding, a composition, whether poem or painting, was required to convey some “meaning” beyond the formal features of the art, and that “meaning” (or “beauty,” “feeling,” “flavor,” etc.) necessarily lay beyond whatever could be fully described in the words of the reader or viewer (or critic). Critics often referred to some kind of “vitality” or “liveliness” to evoke the quality that was expected. This is what we find in the first of Xie He’s 謝赫 (479–502) “Six Laws” ( liufa 六法): qiyun shengdong 氣韻生動 ( Xie 1973 : 355). The precise interpretation of this “law” has been endlessly debated, but it clearly indicates that a “vitality” ( shengdong ) must be present in the perceived “aura” ( qi ) and “bearing” ( yun , or “resonance”) of the painted subject. Once formulated, Xie He’s law was regularly invoked as an ideal for calligraphy and poetry as well.

To a certain extent, the demand for something beyond mere form, mechanical representation, or literal meaning may be understood as an aestheticized transformation of the spirituality that poet and painter had first perceived in nature. We encountered this aesthetic value earlier, when discussing conceptual values shared by calligraphy and poetry. There too the world of nature played a prominent role, whether in the affinities that were perceived between calligraphic and natural forms or in the wandering forth of the poet’s mind through the external world. The subject matter of landscape as treated in painting and poetry, with its deep roots in the religious contemplation of nature, was readily reconciled with and further reinforced the same aesthetic preference.

The Convergence of the Three Arts in Practice

With the conceptual background in mind, now we turn to the convergence of poetry, calligraphy, and painting in practice. Here, we must first acknowledge that the heyday of that convergence really comes in the later imperial period, which chronologically falls outside the scope of this volume. It was in the Song through Qing dynasties that the coordinated use and interplay of the three arts reached its height. But before that, in the Tang period, there was already a considerable amount of interaction among the three, which has its own interest and also anticipates future developments.

When we mention the convergence of these arts, we think first of poems inscribed on paintings ( tihua shi 題畫詩). The practice of adding a poetic inscription on the surface of a paper or silk painting will, for most of us, best epitomize the interplay of the three “arts of the brush,” for there we have, on a single surface, the painted image, the words of a poem, and the brushwork of the calligrapher who inscribed the poem onto the painting. This came, of course, to be a dominant way that the three arts coalesced in China and eventually throughout Asia as the Chinese practice spread. It should be noted at the outset that there are various possibilities concerning the provenance, order, and identity of the compositions and artists involved. The poem may be composed by the painter or by someone else (either contemporary with the painter or later). The calligrapher may be the painter, the poet, or a third person. Sometimes, it is the poem that is written first, and the painting is done to “illustrate” the literary work. In other cases, the poem that is inscribed onto a painting predates the painting but the painter did not have it in mind when he executed his work: it was a later owner or aficionado who recalled an apt poem and added it to the painting, in effect transforming the painting retrospectively into a visualization of the earlier poem.

The practice of adding a poem to a painting is already well attested in the Six Dynasties period. But in that early and formative stage of tihua shi , the painting tended to be a mural on a wall, or a painting on a screen, or a painted fan. It was easy for such an artwork to be damaged or lost, so that many of the inscribed poems would be lost (if a copy of them had not been separately preserved). So far as we know, the habit of inscribing a poem on a silk or paper painting became widespread only in the Tang, and with that the survival and transmission of such poems, if not the original paintings themselves, increased dramatically.

Several factors may be adduced to account for this increase in the production of poems inscribed on paintings. Painting itself enjoyed new attention and prestige at the Tang courts. The emperors of the early and High Tang periods were themselves fond of painting, and they conspicuously collected it and favored painters at their courts. A few painters, such as Yan Liben 閻立本 (ca. 601–673), came from powerful families and rose to high office themselves. Other painters, like Li Sixun 李思訓 (ca. 651–ca. 716), were even members of the imperial clan. The early Tang emperors were also collectors and devotees of calligraphy. Many stories relate Emperor Taizong’s 唐太宗 (r. 626–649) obsession with Wang Xizhi’s fourth-century masterpiece, “ Lanting ji xu” 蘭亭集序 (“Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection ”), the years he spent searching out the original, and his infamous command, after he finally procured the work, that it be placed in his tomb when he died. Developments in the aesthetics of painting also played a part. Before the Tang, writings about painting consistently emphasize the importance of “life-likeness” ( xingsi 形似) even as they also give attention to qualities that transcend formal likeness. But as we move into the Tang, distinctly more attention is given to nonformal qualities perceived in painting, variously referred to as “spirit,” “meaning,” “breath,” etc. Formal likeness is de-emphasized as a painterly ideal. This made it easier to think of painting as an analogue of poetry, in which qualities that likewise transcended what was explicitly presented (in the medium of words rather than brushstrokes) were held to be the mark of the highest achievement. The aesthetics of the two arts, visual and verbal, grew to share more in common, and the arts themselves thus converged. It began to seem more natural for poetry to occupy space on a painting, since the ideals of the two coincided so closely. Indeed, a particular painting was sometimes singled out as a set theme in Tang civil service examinations. This was not done regularly, but that it was done at all must have encouraged literati to become accustomed to thinking poetically about painting.

Tang poets became fond of adopting paintings as the subjects of their poems. They wrote about all manner of paintings: landscapes, Buddhist and Daoist murals, sacred mountains, portraits of exemplary sages and statesmen, imperial ladies, horses, birds, and trees. Their poems are often richly descriptive of the painted images, but just as often are not confined to such description. The greatest master of poems on paintings was Du Fu 杜甫 (712–770), who wrote some twenty-five poems in this subgenre, his favorite subjects being landscape, horses, and birds of prey. One of the strengths of Du Fu’s poetic treatment of painting is the unpredictability of his exposition. Typically, he begins with the painted image or with the painter (who in several cases was someone he knew), but then moves on to a different topic. In poems on landscape paintings, Du Fu is apt to “enter into” the world of the painting, treating it fancifully as an alternative and idealized space that stands in contrast to the world the poet (and others) actually inhabit. His poems on horses or birds of prey tend to juxtapose the painted image as one of virility and strength with its counterpart in the real world, which by contrast is timid or weakened. These are poems that are infused with Du Fu’s celebrated vexation over the condition of the empire, wracked as it was by rebellion and incompetent leadership. Whatever the subject and direction of the exposition, Du Fu’s poems, several of which are lengthy and complicated in their structure, feature reflections on a few enduring issues: the relation of the artistic image to its counterpart in reality; the creative process itself, that is, the dynamic between the painter and the art of painting; the effect of art upon the viewer (usually the poet); and the meaning and value of art. As a group, Du Fu’s poems on paintings mark a new stage in thinking about painting and its larger cultural significance and also bring the two arts together as never before. These poems were a powerful inspiration for and influence upon the later development of poems on paintings in the Song and later dynasties.

What was the relation of the calligraphy of the inscribed poem to the painting on which it was inscribed? This question assumes, first, that “poems inscribed on paintings” were actually written on the painting, or on a piece of paper (or silk) added to the original painted scroll. We cannot be sure that this was always so. In some cases, probably even with some of Du Fu’s “poems on paintings,” the poem may simply have taken the painting as its subject rather than actually have been written for inscription on the painting. The number of authentic Tang paintings with poetic inscriptions that have survived is so tiny, if there are any at all, that it is impossible to generalize about the practice. We know from later periods that the calligraphy of such inscriptions on paintings was sometimes executed in such a way as to interact visually with the style of the brushwork in the painting, either as a close stylistic complement or, in rare cases, a deliberate and eye-catching contrast to the painter’s brushwork. But we do not know if this kind of interplay was cultivated as early as the Tang.

It was not only in poetic inscriptions on paintings that the “arts of the brush” converged. Calligraphy itself was often poetic; that is, the text that was written out on a calligraphic page or scroll might well be that of a poem, composed either by the calligrapher or some earlier writer and then selected by the calligrapher as a text. Even when the text was not a poem, it was likely to be a piece of literary prose (e.g., a preface to a poetry collection, a dedicatory inscription for a temple, an encomium for a person, a sutra, or a selection of a classic), so that the finished work would likewise present to the viewer a text of some literary or historical interest together with brushwork of aesthetic appeal. When the Tang monk Huaisu 懷素 (737–799) composed his “Autobiography”—which, written out in his “wild draft” ( kuangcao 狂草) calligraphy, would become his most iconic work—he filled it with quotations of poems and couplets descriptive of his own incomparable brushwork. There is also the special case of essays or treatises on calligraphy that are themselves prized for their brushwork. The Shupu 書譜 ( Treatise on Calligraphy ) composed by Sun Guoting 孫過庭 (646–691) is such a composition. What is believed to be the preface to the work written out in Sun Guoting’s own hand, in a style derived from the draft script of Wang Xizhi, is one of the premier examples of Tang-period draft script (now held in the collection of the Palace Museum in Taipei). Such calligraphic masterworks inspired their own succession of later colophons and inscriptions, appended to them by collectors and other aficionados, much as paintings did.

We have been concerned here with the elite and scholarly tradition of inscribing poems or other writings onto paintings, which helped to give Chinese painting its distinctive “literary” look and meaning. It should be mentioned that more popular traditions of painting also frequently featured the addition of written inscriptions. Religious paintings, for example the Daoist and Buddhist paintings from the medieval period discovered in the caves of Dunhuang, also often have inscriptions, whether they are passages from religious texts or poems or colophons. The elite painting tradition may be the best known today, but elite artists did not have a monopoly on the impulse to combine visual images with textual inscriptions.

It may be prudent to conclude with some cautions regarding how we think about the convergence of the three arts of the brush. There is no question that poetry, calligraphy, and painting share much in common in the Chinese tradition, including the same tools of writing brush, ink, and paper (often this is the case, but not always, because there are, indeed, special brushes for painting and calligraphy, not to mention colored pigments); a vocabulary used to describe the practitioner’s state of mind, relation to the material, inspiration, and the moment of artistic execution; certain aesthetic values; reverence for the natural world and the idea of artistic inspiration drawn from nature; and grounding in a shared background of Confucian-Daoist-Buddhist thought. Still, it is easy to overstate the closeness of the three arts. This is especially apt to happen when “Chinese art” is invoked as a foil or contrast to artistic expression elsewhere (as in “the West”) or when diachronic change within the Chinese tradition is ignored in favor of the construction of overarching generalizations. We may consider the case of the Tang figure Wang Wei 王維 (701–761). Wang Wei is known, above all else, for his quietist nature poetry. He was also an occasional painter, and a long scroll of his famous mountain estate, Wangchuan Villa, depicts scenic sites on the grounds that, in some versions of the scroll, are inscribed with Wang Wei’s well-known quatrains on those same sites. The scroll exists in numerous later engravings and copies that are supposed to derive from an original painting by Wang Wei himself. Ever since the Song dynasty poet and critic Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101) declared that “there is poetry in his painting and painting in his poetry,” Wang Wei has epitomized the supposed “interchangeability” of painting and poetry in China, that is, their shared aesthetic and common purpose. One problem with this approach to Wang Wei, however, is that he was not thought of this way until some three centuries after his death. Tang dynasty sources take very little note of Wang Wei’s activity or achievements as a painter. Furthermore, the idea that he excelled equally in the two arts, as well as the assertion that his work in one form was essentially equivalent to his work in the other—these are both Song dynasty inventions that have little currency in his own day.

This habit of thinking about Wang Wei is part of a larger tendency to reduce poetry and painting to replicas of each other. The impulse to do so may be understandable, traceable perhaps more than anything else to the ubiquity of inscribed landscape paintings from the later dynasties, which are so familiar in museums and publications around the world. The truth is that as much as the two arts did share, there were always important aspects of each that had no counterpart in the other. This is clearest with poetry. The ballad tradition in Chinese verse, narrative poetry, much of occasional poetry as well as the verse of social exchange, poems on historical sites, frontier poetry, romantic songs—nearly every subject category, subgenre, and mode of poetic expression aside from nature poetry and poetry on certain “objects” (e.g., fans, birds, flowers, etc.), is sparsely represented in Chinese painting. Once we throw calligraphy into the mix, the expressive uses and purposes of the three arts of the brush are seen to be even more scattered. Actually, the enduring high stature of calligraphy in China, which seems to have no close parallel in most major cultures, and which clearly fulfilled expressive purposes that neither poetry or painting could approach, may serve as a reminder of just how diverse is the range of artistic forms and aesthetic effects in the native context.

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Wei Heng 衛恒. 1974 . “Li shi” 隸勢. In Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 et al., comp., Jin shu 晉書. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 36.1065.

Xie He 謝赫. 1973 . “Gu hua pin lu” 古畫品錄. In Yu Jianhua 俞劍華, ed., Zhongguo hualun leibian 中國畫論類編. Hong Kong: Zhonghua shuju, 355–367.

Xu Shen 許慎. 2002 . Shuowen jiezi xinding 說文解字新訂, collated by Zang Kehe 臧克和 and Wang Ping 王平. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju.

Zong Bing 宗炳. 1973 . “Hua shanshui xu” 畫山水序. In Yu Jianhua 俞劍華, ed., Zhongguo hualun leibian 中國畫論類編. Hong Kong: Zhonghua shuju, 583–584.

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History of Calligraphy art

Calligraphy involves the design and writing of lettering using writing materials such as ink brush and pen. In more modern times it is defined as the art of giving shape to signs in a skilful, expressive and harmonious manner. Calligraphic works are made on artistic displays and vary from fine art pieces to hand lettering and functional inscriptions. Calligraphy art is a sacred form of art and has played an important role in the history of many cultures, religions and languages, for example, the Islamic scripture (The Koran) which was written first in Arabic. Calligraphy was the central role of Islamic architecture , and it can be seen displayed in mosques with different calligraphy techniques. They hold a great spiritual value among the Muslims and are written in immense detail. Calligraphy was essential in Mosques due to the prohibition of visual pictures. It is therefore used as a means to transmit a text, although an ornament one due to its aesthetic appeal. Calligraphy displays the history and cultural heritage of a particular society. It shows the cultural variation of the heritage and materials of each society shown by the quality of writing materials, the society’s attitude to writing and the importance and value of text within the culture. While calligraphy is learnt, intuition and individuality are required, but with pre-arranged boundaries. Calligraphy is used in the present day for logo designs, event invitations, typography and calligraphic art.

East Asian Calligraphy | Calligraphy Art

Calligraphy possesses a strong history in East Asia ( China , Korea , Vietnam , and Japan ) and is a key influence on many of the art styles in this region. The Chinese calligraphy dated back to the Xia Dynasty culture, which was the first dynasty in Chinese historiography. Han Dynasty laid the foundations of Chinese calligraphy through a series of articles published towards the end of this dynasty. Calligraphy attained the status of an art form during the Wei and Jin Dynasty. This was through the publication of several theoretical studies on calligraphy such as the principles of the ink container, the law of calligraphy and different ink and brush techniques. The number of calligraphers increased during the Tang Dynasty, as well as techniques and theories of calligraphy. The popularization of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty decreased the status of calligraphy writing in China. The Qing Dynasty brought back interest in Calligraphy through archaeological excavations and pre-Tang calligraphic scripts. Xuanzhi paper was originally used by Chinese calligraphers and must have a constant rate of absorption and be of high quality.

Persian, Indian, Nepalese, and Tibetan Calligraphy

The Persian calligraphy is in three main forms which are Naghashi-khat script, Shekasteh-Nasta’liq script and Nasta’liq script and this calligraphy were since the pre-Islam era. The Farsi alphabet which is an adaptation of the Farsi Language and the Arabic alphabet was developed after the “Nasta’liq” which was a rigid structure -based calligraphy style and the most popular contemporary style.

Indian calligraphy was influenced by Arabic and Persian script and also the holy book of Sikhism, which was originally handwritten. The legacy of calligraphy continued due to the unavailability of modern printing knowledge. Nepalese calligraphy was used to write the Nepal Bhasa and also as a primary form for the Ranjana script. This calligraphy is also used in Hindu scriptures and had a huge impact on Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism. Tibetan calligraphy was derived from Indic scripts, and it was central to the Tibetan culture. Chisel-tipped markers and pens are now used by Tibetan calligraphers.

Islamic Calligraphy

This calligraphy was created by a fusion of the Arabic language and the Islamic religion. Calligraphy is the most recognized form of Islamic art , as it provides a link between the Muslim Languages (Arabic and Persian calligraphy) and the Islamic religion. This calligraphy is also valued by Muslims due to their belief that only Allah could create images of animals and people.

Western Calligraphy

Western calligraphy is the art of penmanship and writing as practised in the majority of Europe , North America, and Oceania, using the Latin alphabet. The copying of the Bible by the Christian churches also promoted the development of western Calligraphy. Gothic was used from the twelfth to the fifteenth century by the northern European scribes, while the Spaniards and Italians chose the Rotunda. The Italians embraced the Carolingian and Roman models of writing and created the Italics hand.

Calligraphic Materials | Calligraphy Art

The calligrapher originally used ink, ink stone, brush, and paper. The ink was originally made from soot with water added to an ink stone during use. The brush was the original writing implement for calligraphy, using wood together with hair. Pens, desk pads and light boxes are a few new instruments adopted by modern calligraphers.

Calligraphy in Architecture

“Calligraphy is aesthetic, not only in terms of how you see but how you think and feel and understand because the form is elemental in the formation of culture and its association with language. Calligraphy contains a structure that represents a coherent, intelligible world. Can architecture confirm that?” Eric Owen Moss

Expression through Calligraphy: Museum of the Future | Calligraphy Art

The  Museum of the Future was opened on the 22 nd of February 2022 and is meant to provide a space for exhibitions of futuristic and innovative products, services, and ideologies. This museum is made up of a green hill, building and void which create the main elements of this museum . It was created by the Dubai Future Foundation and is located in Dubai Financial District. The Museum of the Future was built to promote technological innovation and development.

The building is a centrepiece of Arabic calligraphy, with the Matar Bin Lahej engraved quotes from Sheikh Mohammed. This building shell is shaped like a torus and made of one thousand and twenty-four composite panels which had a distinctive 3D shape to make the Arabic script. The message was represented in a 0.9 m tall Arabic calligraphy which covered over fourteen thousand metres on the structure. The calligraphy indentations created windows in the building façade, allowing illumination within the building during the daytime. The Museum of the Future also incorporated LED lighting around the calligraphy to display it during the nighttime.

References:

Wikipedia contributors (2022) Calligraphy , Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia . Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Calligraphy&oldid=1094699415 .
Wikipedia contributors (2022) Western calligraphy , Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia . Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_calligraphy&oldid=1065955584.
Lawrence, R. (1942) “CALLIGRAPHY,” Lancet , 240(6223), pp. 684–685. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(00)89278-8.
Calligraphy: History of Chinese Calligraphic Art (no date) Visual-arts-cork.com . Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/calligraphy.htm (Accessed: July 3, 2022).
calligraphy (no date) Etymonline.com . Available at: https://www.etymonline.com/word/calligraphy (Accessed: July 3, 2022).
Wikipedia contributors (no date) Museum of the Future , Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia . Available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_the_Future.
Ravenscroft, T. (2021) Calligraphy-covered Museum of the Future nears completion in Dubai , Dezeen.com . Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2021/03/30/museum-of-the-future-dubai-killa-design-buro-happold-arabic-calligraphy/ (Accessed: July 3, 2022).
A Staff Reporter (2022) “Dubai Museum of the Future: What does Arabic calligraphy on structure say?,” Khaleej Times , 3 February. Available at: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae-attractions/dubai-museum-of-the-future-what-does-arabic-calligraphy-on-structure-say (Accessed: July 3, 2022).
Bedirian, R. (2022) Mattar Bin Lahej on designing the calligraphy that wraps around the Museum of the Future , The National . Available at: https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art/2022/02/25/mattar-bin-lahej-on-designing-the-calligraphy-that-wraps-around-the-museum-of-the-future/ (Accessed: July 3, 2022).
Belcher, D. (2022) “In Dubai, the Museum of the Future Conveys a Message,” The New York Times , 27 March. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/27/fashion/museum-of-the-future-dubai.html (Accessed: July 3, 2022).

Chukwuebuka is an architecture student and an amateur writer using his skills to express his ideas to the world. He has written a few articles for DAPC Uniben and he is adventuring to become a popular writer.

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Chinese Calligraphy Essay

Introduction, understanding chinese calligraphy, history of chinese calligraphy, key tools in chinese calligraphy, principles of chinese calligraphy, determining good calligraphy.

Calligraphy refers to the art of writing letters beautifully. This type of art dates back many years ago but has evolved over the years so that modern calligraphy is even more attractive. In today’s world, calligraphy is mainly used in events like weddings, anniversaries and other entertainment events.

Calligraphic writing is always striking and more conspicuous because it is different from other kinds of writing. Calligraphy is of different types and one types of calligraphy that seems to have gained popularity over time is Chinese calligraphy.

Unlike other types of calligraphy, the Chinese calligraphy is more of painting where characters are used as a tool of communication and to express what the artists’ spiritual world is like. This discussion looks at what Chinese calligraphy is all about and how different it is from other types of writings.

Calligraphy writing as already mentioned is a form of communication where an artist is able to express their feelings, cultures, integrity, emotions and character. This is done so artistically well that it appeals to the readers in terms of emotions and beauty.

While others types of calligraphy are taught in schools as general art, Chinese calligraphy is classified as branch on its own which a student in school may opt to specialise in (Portal 2004, p. 99). When one is learning Chinese calligraphy, there is so much content to learn including how different styles of writing have evolved over time, how calligraphy came about, the renowned calligraphers and examining greatly what makes calligraphy part of art. In the culture of China calligraphy is highly regarded being very wide and varying and forms an integral part of this highly traditional country.

Just as the name suggest, Chinese calligraphy was a concept that originated from China and it was exclusively from this country. However just as is the nature of cultures to spread, Chinese calligraphy which is part of the culture of the people of China later spread to Japan, Singapore Vietnam and Korea and was classified as part of Oriental art (Chiang 1973, p.97).

With time, even artists from the west have now come to appreciate the uniqueness and beauty describing this kind of writing a flourishing flower. Most students fro western countries like America have gone to China to gain a better understanding of Chinese calligraphy.

There are key elements which help artists come up with great and beautiful writing (Guo 1995, p.171). Without these tools, Chinese calligraphy would not be as popular as it is today. These tools include brush, ink stone, ink and paper commonly referred to as four treasures of Chinese calligraphy.

As already mentioned, Chinese calligraphy is more of painting than actual writing. It is for this reason why the brush is the fundamental toll in Chinese calligraphy. Usually the handle and the main body of this brush is made of either silver, glass, bamboo or gold depending on the readily available material.

The bristles of the brush are made from feathers or hair from various animals like goat, chicken, wolf or rabbit. China, deeply rooted in its culture also believes in obtaining the bristles of a brush from the hair of a newborn child, as it is believed that this will bring good luck to the artist (Ouyang 2008, p. 56).

As calligraphy continued to evolve and advance some artists are now resorting into using pens. While equally beautiful writing can be made using the pen, there is some prestige that is lost which an artist enjoys when using the brush.

Paper is the other key element of Chinese calligraphy. The kind of paper that is used in this kind of art is no ordinary paper. Instead, a special paper made of a combination of items like paper mulberry and rice. When selecting the right paper to use in Chinese calligraphy, it is important to also get a paperweight which is used to ensure that paper is held down firmly when the writing is being done. Paperweights also prevent the paper from slipping and sliding when the artwork is being done. Paperweights are of different types and the kind of paperweight chosen will be dependent on the kind of paper that is being used.

Desk pads are equally important in Chinese calligraphy. The pad has a grid on each side and is normally placed under a paper which is translucent. The pad therefore acts as a guide to the artist and ensures that the artist in accurate when placing the characters and that their sizes are in order. Desk pads are mainly used be people who are still in the learning process, but for an artist who has mastered well the art of Chinese calligraphy, the desk pads are not necessary.

Ink also forms an integral part of Chinese calligraphy. The ink used in this artistic writing is made from soot from a lamp together with binders. This ink is put in what is known as ink sticks and before it can be used, the ink sticks must be rubbed against ink stone using water (Long 2001, p.71). This is an essential procedure which is used to ensure that ink has the required consistency needed for good results to be achieved. Today, instead of having to go through lengthy procedure, artists are now going for inks that have already been mixed and having the right consistency they are put in bottles (Chiang 1973, p.198). Since the ones contained in bottles have some chemicals that have been used for purposes of preservation, ink sticks are more preferred as they are of higher quality and are more durable than the bottled inks. While bottled inks are an easy option for many artists, those who are still learning are encouraged to use stick so that they can master the art of mixing inks and achieving the correct consistency. Back when Chinese calligraphy was started, artists would only use black ink, however with time artists are beginning to incorporate other colors making the writing even more attractive.

Ink stone is a hard substance which could either be clay, stone or ceramic used for purposes of helping disintegrate the ink stick and grind it to become ink in liquid form which is the used for calligraphy. In China, ink stones are very expensive as they have become very popular yet they are very rare to find.

Once an artist has finished his calligraphic work, the last thing to do is to put a seal which is done using an ink that is red in color. This is an official signature of the artist to show that a certain piece of work belongs to him. As Chinese calligraphy continues to advance, it is becoming increasingly popular in America and other countries of the west with artists from this region beginning to appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of Chinese calligraphy (Chiang 1973, p.67). Most artists have been going to China to study this type of calligraphy in greater details

The end results of Chinese calligraphy are determined by a number of factors. The first factor is the brush that you are using. Every aspect of the brush plays a key role on determining the end results. The size, shape and the kind of bristles on the brush determine how the image will be like.

The concentration or density of the ink as well as the colour used also contributes to the final results of calligraphy (Chen 2011, p. 356). Other techniques that artists use to influence the final results include the amount water and ink that he allows to be absorbed by the brush and the pressure that he used when writing. The direction of the brushing normally determines the size of the strokes with some coming out as bold while others are thin.

It is said that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. This is the same case when it comes to calligraphy so that how nice the writing looks varies with different readers. There are however basic standards must be maintained for an artist to be said to have come up with good calligraphy.

To begin with, all characters must be written in a manner that is deemed correct by all calligraphers Legibility is another important aspect so that all writings must be readable. The writing must be concise with ink being the acceptable colour in Chinese calligraphy

Chen, T. (2011) Chinese Calligraphy. London: Cambridge University Press

Chiang, Y. (1973) Chinese Calligraphy: An Introduction to its Aesthetic and Technique. New York: Harvard University Press

Guo, B. (1995) Gate to Chinese Calligraphy. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.

Long, J. (2001) The Art of Chinese Calligraphy. London: Courier Dover Publications

Ouyang, Z. (2008) Chinese Calligraphy . California: Yale University Press

Portal, J. (2004) Chinese Calligraphy: Standard Scripts for Beginners . London: Art Media Resources.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, November 29). Chinese Calligraphy. https://ivypanda.com/essays/chinese-calligraphy/

"Chinese Calligraphy." IvyPanda , 29 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/chinese-calligraphy/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Chinese Calligraphy'. 29 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Chinese Calligraphy." November 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/chinese-calligraphy/.

1. IvyPanda . "Chinese Calligraphy." November 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/chinese-calligraphy/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Chinese Calligraphy." November 29, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/chinese-calligraphy/.

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An Essay on My Hobby Calligraphy [PDF Available]

I had seen there are several people love handwritten documents they preferred that too much, in that contrary in this essay presentation we are going to cover an essay on Calligraphy!

Essay on My Hobby Calligraphy feature image

In modern days when digital fonts have occupied most of the reading materials on our screens – the art of calligraphy has somehow lost its glory and lustre with time.

But the use of calligraphy is still prevailing, and many bloggers use the concept of brush lettering, boutique businesses to give the organic and handmade touch to their lines. I stumbled upon remarkable penmanship in my grandfather’s old letters inside some dusty drawers from my childhood.

Then I started my journey of finding fountain pens, brushes, inks, and handmade papers – instruments which means a world to anyone practising calligraphy. It is like a forgotten art composition which held great value in past times when most of the books, prints were handwritten.

Many calligraphers are working in many print shops to compose handwritten books and novels priced by sellers according to their beauty. Illustrators produce even now handwritten books, but the numbers have far reduced.

They are a sight to see and behold: the pages are filled with painstakingly made illustrations and golden letters will make any art appraiser’s heart flutter.

It may not seem very interesting to uptake calligraphy as a hobby, but there are many reasons which make it my favourite past time hobby. We generally write in cursive to increase our speed, but if we hold some patience and take probably one more moment to write a section – it will turn into a much more clear hand lettering.

Hand lettering and longhand writing are technically different. There are many specifications like different turns and angles that are used to draw out a letter which makes it a hand lettering. In my case, calligraphy gives me peace of mind and feeling of content on seeing the final written script.

I believe there are many other pros to it. It is like a window to a world of exquisite fountain pens, Chinese brush and ink. Moreover, you can always be extra to express your gratitude to someone by a thank you note, which is handwritten in excellent calligraphy.

Or provably impress your friends with a note or memo. On the occasions of celebrations, festivities or birthdays you get to gift them the best greetings cards.

Another plus point is that, you can write school projects and assignments, headings beautifully, and you also get to exhibit your skills. And you can always boast about your elegant writing any other day on social media.

Calligraphy has many scripts, and it’s not necessary to be an improvised cursive one. Many other forms of handwriting styles exist which uses paintbrushes and have a different aesthetic feeling. People also prefer many grunge styles.

People nowadays starting to maintain bullet journals and calligraphy skills make it all the more worthwhile. Not only calligraphy is unique but it also enhances the creativity quotient and artistic side of an individual.

Learning calligraphy does not have any age limitation; one can start imbibing it anytime. Research shows that calligraphy as skill increases one’s self-esteem and generates a reward circuit in our brains. What more is an escape from all the digital world and technology to a setting which is medieval and satisfying.

For starters, one only needs good quality papers and if possible handmade sheets are going to be an excellent choice for this experience. Next comes the tool of calligraphy which I would love to discuss in detail and finally the color of ink.

Alright, one more thing is a guide book which can be some calligraphy book, your own creative style or a simple google search and lots of time to spend on. And then yes you are equipped to start.

Let’s discuss the instrument for the calligraphy. It can be any fountain pen which is chisel-shaped or fine-pointed or thick ones whichever you prefer. Or brushes; one can choose the wooden animal hair paintbrushes or brush pens readily available in stationery shops.

Or you can be more explorative and go for novelty like glass pens. Following is the ink from regular blue-black to fancy silver or gold-colored can be found in shops and online stores too. There are options like washable ink to permanent non-smudge ones also.

All in all, there are endless possibilities in something so ancient practice, which I like to say as my hobby – Calligraphy.

I hope you like the essay on Calligraphy. Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

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Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History Essays

Painting formats in east asian art.

Viewing plum blossoms by moonlight

Quatrain on spring’s radiance

Empress Yang Meizi

Illustrated Legends of the Kitano Tenjin Shrine (Kitano Tenjin engi emaki)

Illustrated manuscript of the Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing), Volume 2

Unidentified artist (mid-14th century)

Mandala of Kumano Shrine

Unidentified artist

Kshitigarbha

A Long Tale for an Autumn Night (Aki no yo nagamonogatari)

Unidentified artist Japanese

Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden

After Xie Huan

Windblown bamboo

Garden of the Inept Administrator

Wen Zhengming

Gathering of government officials

Poem by Kamo no Chōmei with Underpainting of Cherry Blossoms

Calligraphy by Hon'ami Kōetsu

The Sixth Patriarch of Zen at the Moment of Enlightenment

Kano Tan'yū

Kano Sansetsu

Irises at Yatsuhashi (Eight Bridges)

Ogata Kōrin

Landscapes in the styles of old masters

Persimmon Tree

Sakai Hōitsu

Birds and Flowers

Department of Asian Art , The Metropolitan Museum of Art

October 2004

While the earliest known paintings in East Asia were painted on the walls of tombs, during the last two millennia, a variety of distinctive portable formats for viewing and storing paintings and calligraphy were developed and are common, with certain nuances, to all three countries of China, Korea , and Japan. Typically, paintings and calligraphy are created by an artist on sheets of paper or silk laid on a flat surface. The finished work is then mounted on a support system in the suitable format. Because a water-soluble glue is traditionally used to adhere the picture to the mounting, the two can be separated and the latter replaced from time to time to help preserve the work of art. In all cases, it has never been the tradition in East Asia to display works of art for long periods of time. They are shown for short occasions and then put away in storage.

Album —Albums are comprised of relatively small square, rectangular, or fan-shaped paintings or calligraphy mounted onto individual pages and then assembled in a booklike structure (viewed from right cover to left). Collections such as this can be assembled by artists or collectors and are organized according to a specific artist, period, or subject matter.

Fan —Traditionally, oval fans made of stiffened silk mounted on a bamboo stick were used in China. Folding fans, made of folded paper braced by thin bamboo sticks, are thought to have been developed in Japan and Korea and then exported to China, probably during the Ming dynasty . The surfaces of these fans were often decorated with small-scale paintings or calligraphic inscriptions. To better preserve the work of art, fans are often removed from their bamboo frames and mounted onto album leaves.

Handscroll – Handscrolls are used for horizontal paintings and calligraphy. Although often displayed fully opened in modern museums, this format was traditionally viewed section by section, unrolling and rerolling a portion at a time, moving from right to left. Separate pieces of paper are often appended to the mounting after the work of art (which can be on numerous sheets of paper or silk arranged end to end) to provide space for later viewers to inscribe commentaries. The entire mounting is attached to a wooden dowel at the end on the far left, on which the handscroll is wound. The right edge of the handscroll typically has a length of woven silk to serve as a wrapper when it is closed, as well as a ribbon and clasp to secure the roll.

Hanging scroll —This format is used for vertical compositions. The completed image is mounted onto a paper backing, then framed with decorative silk borders. The silk mounting is attached to a wooden rod at the bottom to provide the necessary weight, so that the whole will hang smoothly on a wall. This rod also helps to roll up the painting for storage. A hanging scroll is suspended from a cord tied to a thin wooden strip attached to the top of the silk mounting. In Japan, paintings are traditionally mounted with more borders of different colored material than in China. Furthermore, two hanging silk streamers are suspended from the tops of the hanging scroll mountings, a practice that is probably an archaic holdover derived from early banners.

Screen —Fixed screens, typically of a single large panel, were a popular method for displaying large paintings in China. The use of these screens can best be glimpsed in paintings of interiors decorated with them. While both fixed and folding screens were imported to Japan and Korea from the Asian mainland, the latter format has become closely associated with Japanese art. Folding screens have been used indoors and outside in Japan since at least the Heian period , although they did not become widely used among the upper classes until the Momoyama period . Folding screens usually are produced in pairs and can have up to eight panels, although six-paneled screens are most common. They are typically made of a light wood frame holding a lattice of thin wood strips. Layers of paper are fixed to the lattice to create a support onto which the paper or silk painting is attached. The individual panels of the screen are connected with a complex assembly of paper hinges. An outer frame, frequently covered with black lacquer, completes the assembly. Related in structure, visual appearance, and function are sliding doors, used to provide decorative wall surfaces as well as architectural versatility.

Department of Asian Art. “Painting Formats in East Asian Art.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/pfor/hd_pfor.htm (October 2004)

Additional Essays by Department of Asian Art

Department of Asian Art. “ Mauryan Empire (ca. 323–185 B.C.) .” (October 2000)
Department of Asian Art. “ Zen Buddhism .” (October 2002)
Department of Asian Art. “ Chinese Cloisonné .” (October 2004)
Department of Asian Art. “ Chinese Gardens and Collectors’ Rocks .” (October 2004)
Department of Asian Art. “ Landscape Painting in Chinese Art .” (October 2004)
Department of Asian Art. “ Nature in Chinese Culture .” (October 2004)
Department of Asian Art. “ Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–220 A.D.) .” (October 2000)
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Calligraphy Inscription in Islamic Architecture and Art

This essay about the significance of Islamic calligraphy in both traditional and modern contexts. It highlights how calligraphy transcends its religious origins to become a symbol of cultural identity, artistic innovation, and spiritual expression. From its roots in the Quran to its adaptation in contemporary art forms, Islamic calligraphy serves as a bridge between past and present, tradition and innovation. The essay explores how calligraphy weaves through the fabric of daily life, adorning architectural landmarks and everyday objects with its timeless beauty and profound meaning. Ultimately, it underscores the enduring relevance of calligraphy as a reflection of the rich heritage and ongoing creativity within Islamic culture.

How it works

In the vibrant mosaic of Islamic culture and creativity, calligraphy emerges as a luminous thread, weaving through the tapestry of time with elegance and purpose. Beyond its ornamental allure, calligraphy embodies a profound narrative of spirituality, innovation, and cultural identity, resonating across continents and generations.

At its essence, Islamic calligraphy is a symphony of ink and intention, crafted to illuminate the sacred verses of the Quran. From the intricate geometries of Kufic to the fluid grace of Naskh, each script is a testament to the reverence and devotion with which it is imbued.

Through the deft strokes of the calligrapher’s pen, the divine word is brought to life, inviting contemplation and awe.

Yet, the influence of Islamic calligraphy transcends its religious origins, permeating every facet of artistic expression and daily life. It is etched into the arches of grand mosques and delicately woven into the fibers of textiles, serving as a tangible reminder of the interconnectedness of faith and culture. With each flourish and curve, calligraphy becomes a vessel for storytelling, preserving the narratives of a diverse and dynamic civilization.

Moreover, in the digital age, Islamic calligraphy finds new avenues for innovation and exploration. Artists harness the power of technology to experiment with new mediums and techniques, breathing fresh life into this ancient art form. From digital renderings to interactive installations, calligraphy evolves to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world while remaining rooted in tradition and reverence.

In the global landscape, Islamic calligraphy serves as a bridge between past and present, tradition and innovation. It speaks a universal language of beauty and spirituality, transcending linguistic and cultural barriers to inspire and uplift. As we marvel at its intricate beauty and timeless grace, we are reminded of the enduring power of art to unite, enrich, and transform our world.

In conclusion, Islamic calligraphy stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of creativity and craftsmanship within Islamic culture. It is a living tradition, constantly evolving yet deeply rooted in history and heritage. As we journey through its intricate patterns and luminous forms, we are invited to contemplate the mysteries of existence and celebrate the beauty of the human spirit.

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Computer Science > Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition

Title: few-shot calligraphy style learning.

Abstract: We introduced "Presidifussion," a novel approach to learning and replicating the unique style of calligraphy of President Xu, using a pretrained diffusion model adapted through a two-stage training process. Initially, our model is pretrained on a diverse dataset containing works from various calligraphers. This is followed by fine-tuning on a smaller, specialized dataset of President Xu's calligraphy, comprising just under 200 images. Our method introduces innovative techniques of font image conditioning and stroke information conditioning, enabling the model to capture the intricate structural elements of Chinese characters. The effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated through a comparison with traditional methods like zi2zi and CalliGAN, with our model achieving comparable performance using significantly smaller datasets and reduced computational resources. This work not only presents a breakthrough in the digital preservation of calligraphic art but also sets a new standard for data-efficient generative modeling in the domain of cultural heritage digitization.

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Chinese Calligraphy
Calligraphy, or the art of writing, was the visual art form prized above all others in traditional China. The genres of painting and calligraphy emerged simultaneously, sharing identical tools—namely, brush and ink. Yet calligraphy was revered as a fine art long before painting; indeed, it was not until the Song dynasty, when painting became closely allied with calligraphy in aim, form, and ...
Calligraphy
calligraphy, the art of beautiful handwriting.The term may derive from the Greek words for "beauty" (kallos) and "to write" (graphein).It implies a sure knowledge of the correct form of letters—i.e., the conventional signs by which language can be communicated—and the skill to make them with such ordering of the various parts and harmony of proportions that the experienced ...
Chinese Calligraphy
Calligraphy, literally "beautiful writing," has been appreciated as an art form in many different cultures throughout the world, but the stature of calligraphy in Chinese culture is unmatched. In China, from a very early period, calligraphy was considered not just a form of decorative art; rather, it was viewed as the supreme visual art form ...
Smarthistory
Calligraphy is the world's oldest abstract art—the art of the line. This basic visual element can also hold a symbolic charge. Nowhere has the symbolic power of the line manifested itself more fully than in Chinese calligraphy, a tradition that spans over 3,000 years. The aesthetics of calligraphy are important to the history of art in East ...
Calligraphy
Calligraphy (from Ancient Greek καλλιγραφία (kalligraphía) 'beautiful writing') is a visual art related to writing.It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument.: 17 Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner".
Ancient Chinese Calligraphy
Calligraphy established itself as the most important ancient Chinese art form alongside painting, first coming to the fore during the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE). All educated men and some court women were expected to be proficient at it, an expectation which remained well into modern times. Far more than mere writing, good calligraphy exhibited an exquisite brush control and attention to ...
The Art of Calligraphy in Asia
Calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, was long considered the supreme art form in China, Japan, and Korea. This elevated status reflects the importance of the written word in East Asian cultures. In ancient China, early emperors asserted their power by engraving edicts or pronouncements on stone in their own calligraphic script. The elite ...
Essay on Calligraphy
Calligraphy is the art of beautiful writing. It's like drawing but with letters. People use special pens or brushes to make the letters look pretty and artistic. This art has been around for a very long time, and it is used all over the world. In calligraphy, every letter is made with care and often looks like a small piece of art.
Entanglements and Exchanges: Calligraphic Abstraction's ...
Our newly opened fourth-floor collection exhibition Calligraphic Abstraction focuses on artists from around the world who turned to the expressive possibilities of calligraphy in abstract art in the 1950s and '60s. Calligraphy invoked tradition, having existed in various styles in many cultures for millennia. But it was also an opportunity ...
The Relationship of Calligraphy and Painting to Literature
It is widely recognized that calligraphy and painting have a special relationship to the literary arts in the Chinese tradition. It would eventually become commonplace to speak of poetry, painting, and calligraphy as the "three excellences" (sanjue 三絕) or the three arts that the person of refinement ideally would master.Even if it was rare for an individual to excel at all three, the ...
History of Calligraphy art
Calligraphy art is a sacred form of art and has played an important role in the history of many cultures, religions and languages, for example, the Islamic scripture (The Koran) which was written first in Arabic. Calligraphy was the central role of Islamic architecture, and it can be seen displayed in mosques with different calligraphy techniques.
Chinese Culture: Chinese Calligraphy Art
Chinese Culture: Chinese Calligraphy Art Essay. Exclusively available on IvyPanda. Culture constitutes the basis upon which the existence of human society is founded. Being the phenomenon that distinguishes human beings from all other animal species, culture encompasses such spheres of activity as painting, sculpture, architecture, cinema, etc.
Calligraphy Inscription in Islamic Architecture and Art Essay
Calligraphy as a form of writing and art was adopted. It is a significant form of visual art in Islamic architecture. This is due to its simplicity in conveying messages such as the Quran and Mohammed's sayings and teachings. It is used to express the Muslims' faith and identity and brings forth a great type of decorative art.
Words and Images: Chinese Poetry, Calligraphy, and Painting
In May of 1985, an international symposium was held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in honor of John M. Crawford, Jr., whose gifts of Chinese calligraphy and painting have constituted a significant addition to the Museum's holdings. Over a three-day period, senior scholars from China, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, and the United States expressed a wide range of perspectives on an issue central to ...
Chinese Calligraphy
Key Tools in Chinese Calligraphy. There are key elements which help artists come up with great and beautiful writing (Guo 1995, p.171). Without these tools, Chinese calligraphy would not be as popular as it is today. These tools include brush, ink stone, ink and paper commonly referred to as four treasures of Chinese calligraphy.
Essay About Calligraphy
The branch of art which deals with written words in a certain beautiful manner is called Calligraphy. The word calligraphy is derived from the Greek word "kaligraphia", which is a combination of two words that mean "fair and beautiful" and "to write". Calligraphy was first attempted by The Sumerians, around 7,000 to 8,000 years back ...
An Essay on My Hobby Calligraphy [PDF Available]
An Essay on My Hobby Calligraphy [PDF Available] I had seen there are several people love handwritten documents they preferred that too much, in that contrary in this essay presentation we are going to cover an essay on Calligraphy! In modern days when digital fonts have occupied most of the reading materials on our screens - the art of ...
Painting Formats in East Asian Art
Typically, paintings and calligraphy are created by an artist on sheets of paper or silk laid on a flat surface. The finished work is then mounted on a support system in the suitable format. Because a water-soluble glue is traditionally used to adhere the picture to the mounting, the two can be separated and the latter replaced from time to ...
Calligraphy Inscription In Islamic Architecture And Art
The essay explores how calligraphy weaves through the fabric of daily life, adorning architectural landmarks and everyday objects with its timeless beauty and profound meaning. Ultimately, it underscores the enduring relevance of calligraphy as a reflection of the rich heritage and ongoing creativity within Islamic culture.
[2404.17199] Few-shot Calligraphy Style Learning
View PDF Abstract: We introduced "Presidifussion," a novel approach to learning and replicating the unique style of calligraphy of President Xu, using a pretrained diffusion model adapted through a two-stage training process. Initially, our model is pretrained on a diverse dataset containing works from various calligraphers. This is followed by fine-tuning on a smaller, specialized dataset of ...

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