Chinese Calligraphy Calligraphy, the writing of characters, is one of the traditional four arts and has developed over centu

Chinese Calligraphy
    Good morning, everyone. Today’s lecture is about Chinese calligraphy. In China, calligraphy is one of the four traditional Chinese arts, the other three being guqin, chess and painting. Calligraphy dates back to the earliest days in Chinese history, and is admired and displayed in museums just as paintings are.
    [1] For the Chinese, the ancient art of the written word is not just a method of communication but also a means of expressing the dynamic forces of the natural world. By controlling the concentration of ink, the thickness and absorption of the paper, and the flexibility of the brush, the artist is free to produce an infinite variety of styles and forms. Chinese calligraphy serves the purpose of conveying thought but also shows the "abstract" beauty of the line. Rhythm, line, and structure are more perfectly embodied in calligraphy than in painting or sculpture.
    [2] Calligraphy is an expressive art. According to an old Chinese saying, "the way characters are written is a portrait of the person who writes them", one can "read" the identity of the person through his or her handwriting. Expressing the abstract beauty of lines and rhythms, [2] calligraphy is a reflection of a person’s emotions, moral integrity, character, educational level, and accomplishments in self-cultivation, intellectual tastes and approach to life.
    Calligraphy is also a practical fine art. Calligraphic inscriptions written on paper, wooden plaques or stone tablets serve as decorations of a deep artistic value. Moreover, calligraphy is often used to decorate articles of everyday use. Even on the ordinary, everyday level of life, beautiful writing is appreciated.
    To become an artist or expert in calligraphy, one has to practice word by word and stroke by stroke until the spirit of the practice gets into one’s mind. Calligraphy can temper a person into a state in which one can apply subconsciousness absorbed from daily practice to control the concentration of ink and the compatibility of font and size of each piece or word. [3] To the artist, calligraphy is a mental exercise that coordinates the mind and the body to choose the best styling in expressing the content of the passage. It is a most relaxing yet highly disciplined exercise indeed for one’s physical and spiritual well being. Historically, many calligraphy artists were well known for their longevity.
    Chinese calligraphy, like the script itself, began with the hieroglyphs and, over the long ages of evolution, has developed various styles and schools, constituting an important part of the heritage of national culture. Chinese scripts are generally divided into five categories: the Seal Script (zhuanshu), the Official or Clerical Script (lishu), the Regular Script (kaishu), the Running Script (xingshu) and the Cursive Script (caoshu).
    The Seal Script (often called Small Seal Script) is the formal script of the Qin system of writing. It is the oldest style that continues to be widely practiced. [4] Today, this ancient style of Chinese writing is used predominantly in seals, hence the English name. Although seals, which make a signature-like impression, are carved in wood, jade and other materials, the script itself was originally written with brush and ink on paper, just like all other scripts.
    The Official or Clerical Script developed from the Seal Script. [5] In general, characters are often "flat" in appearance, being wider than they are tall. The strokes may appear curved, and often start thin and end thick. Most noticeable is the dramatically flared tail of one dominant horizontal or downward-diagonal stroke, especially that to the lower right. This characteristic stroke has famously been called "silkworm head and wild goose tail" (cantou yanwei) in Chinese due to its distinctive shape.
    The Clerical Script became mature in the middle of Eastern Han Dynasty and replaced the Seal Script. Modern works in the Clerical Script tend to use the mature, late Han style, and may also use modernized character structures, resulting in a form as transparent and legible as Regular Script. The Clerical Script remains common as a typeface used for decorative purposes, but it is not commonly written.
    The Regular Script (often called Standard Script or simply kaishu) is one of the last major calligraphic styles to develop, emerging between the Chinese Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms period, gaining dominance in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and maturing in the Tang Dynasty. It emerged from a neatly written, early period semi-cursive form of clerical script. [6] As the name suggests, the Regular Script is "regular", with each of the strokes placed slowly and carefully, the brush lifted from the paper and all the strokes distinct from each other. The Regular Script is also the most easily and widely recognized style.
    The Semi-cursive Script (xingshu), also called Running Script, approximates normal handwriting in which strokes and, more rarely, characters are allowed to run into one another. In writing in the Semi-cursive Script, the brush leaves the paper less often than in the Regular Script. [7] Characters appear less angular and rounder.
    The Cursive Script (sometimes called Grass Script, caoshu) is a fully cursive script, and is hard to read. Entire characters may be written without lifting the brush from the paper at all, and characters are highly rounded and soft in appearance, with a noticeable lack of angular lines. [8] Strokes are modified or eliminated completely to facilitate smooth writing and to create a beautiful, abstract appearance.
    Chinese calligraphy was established as a "high art" form well before the Tang dynasty. It has continuously enjoyed a high status among the arts ever since. [9] During the imperial era, calligraphy was used as an important criterion for selection of executives to the Imperial court.
    Like chopsticks, calligraphy was once entirely Chinese, but as Chinese culture spread to Korea, Japan, and Singapore, calligraphy became a unique feature of the Oriental art.
    [10] Widely accepted by the West, many calligraphic elements are being adopted by modern Western art. In the West, Picasso and Matisse are two artists who openly declared the influence by Chinese calligraphy on their works. Picasso even said, "Had I been born Chinese, I would have been a calligrapher, not a painter."
    OK, today we’ve introduced the ancient art of calligraphy, mainly the five basic script types. Next week, we’ll appreciate works of calligraphy masters throughout the history of China, thereby bringing an aesthetic dimension to your understanding of Chinese writing.