Chinese Calligraphy

NiYin 倪银
December first 2021
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 Calligraphy is the art of writing
Chinese characters and especially refers
to the rules of writing with a brush. The
emergence of calligraphy is closely
associated with the special style of
Chinese characters. When writing
Chinese characters, emphasis is placed
on the change in the stipples and lines as
well as spacing between the characters
and the lines. A beautiful composition
and strong artistic sense are also
important.

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 You will know...
v The brief history of Chinese calligraphy.
v Materials and tools.
v Practice “福”

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The history of Chinese calligraphy
1．Jiǎgǔwén
Chinese characters can be
retraced to 4000 BC signs. In
ancient, China's characters
carved on ox scapulas and
tortoise plastrons around 14th
- 11th century BCE.

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 2．Jīnwén(Bronzeware
script)
Brush-written examples
decay over time and have
not survived so that
characters were carved on
Bronze ware.

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 3. Xiǎozhuàn 
In Imperial China, dating
from 200 BC, the emperor Qin
Shi Huang, the first to
conquer the entire Chinese
basin, imposed several reforms,
and
standardized Xiǎozhuàn charac
ters. The main writing
implement of the time was
already the brush and little
paper survives from this
period.

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 4. Lìshū
The Lìshū style (clerical
script) which is more
regularized, and in some ways
similar to modern text, were
also authorised under Qin Shi
Huang.

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 5. Kǎishū
Kǎishū style (traditional
regular script) — still in use
today — and attributed
to Wang Xizhi (王羲之） and
his followers, is even more
regularized. 

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6. Xíngshū and Cǎoshū 
Cursive styles such as Xíngshū (semi-cursive or
running script) and Cǎoshū (cursive or grass script) are
less constrained and faster, where more movements made
by the writing implement are visible. They are descended
from Clerical script.

王羲之《兰亭序》

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 怀素《自叙帖》

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Materials and tools
The ink brush, ink, paper,
and inkstone are essential
implements of Chinese
calligraphy. They are known
together as the Four Treasures
of the Study. In addition to
these four tools, a water-
dropper, desk pads and
paperweights are also used by
calligraphers.

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v Brush: The body of
the brush can be made
from either bamboo, or
rarer materials like red
sandalwood. The head
of the brush can be
made from the hair (or
feathers) of a wide
variety of animals,
including rabbit, deer,
etc.

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v Paper: Xuan Zhi are the special types
of paper are used in Chinese calligraphy.

v Dependent upon how the paper is

produced, the “Xuan Paper” can be
categorized into three types: “Raw rice
paper(生宣)”, “PiMade Xuan” and
“Sized Xuan”

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v Paperweights : Paperweights are used
to hold down paper. A paperweight is
often placed at the top of all but the
largest pages to prevent slipping.

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 Desk pads
The desk pad is a pad
made of felt. Some are
printed with grids on both
sides, so that when it is
placed under the paper, it
can be used as a guide to
ensure correct placement
and size of characters.

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 Ink and inkstick
The ink is made from
lampblack (soot) and binders.

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 Inkstone
Inkstone is made from stone,
ceramic, or clay. Inkstone is used
to contain the ink. Chinese
inkstones are highly prized as art
objects.

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 Seal and seal paste
Calligraphic works
are usually completed by
the calligrapher putting
his or her seal at the
very end, in red ink. The
seal serves the function
of a signature.

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 How to use the brush?
The brush is held vertically straight gripped between the thumb
and middle finger. The index finger lightly touches the upper part of
the shaft of the brush (stabilizing it) while the ring and little fingers
tuck under the bottom of the shaft, leaving a space inside the palm.

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Practice “福”
Early Study Diary
 Homework
v Please practice what we have learn today,
and write a calligraphy work "福"
v Hand in your homework by taking pictures
or videos. Please send it to the volunteers
after finishing it. Thank you!
THANK YOU !

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