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Calligraphy is the art of forming the writing signs of a language. Chinese calligraphy stands out for the originality and richness of Chinese writing 汉字 . Chinese calligraphy thus offers a very broad field of expression.
The best-known Chinese calligraphy is that practiced with a brush. Chinese schoolchildren also learn to write Chinese characters 汉字 neatly with a ballpoint pen or a fountain pen: this calligraphy is called fountain pen calligraphy (not a very surprising name, it must be said!). Those who are good at brush calligraphy generally do not have good fountain pen calligraphy and vice versa, due to the flexibility of the wrist.
In ancient times, Chinese characters 汉字 were carved on ox bones or tortoise shells, then on bronze. Later, books were made from bamboo slats bound together. A bamboo pen and soot ink were certainly used for writing. The bamboo pen is sometimes still used today.
Brush calligraphy is practiced on rice paper or silk (which is more fragile). The calligrapher's tools are called the Four Treasures of the Study 文房四宝 . These are the brush, paper, ink, and inkstone. The ink comes in the form of an ink stick, which is rubbed on the inkstone with water to produce liquid ink. Nowadays, ink is available in small bottles, which is much more convenient and of good quality. However, this method does not allow for all the desired ink densities.
Good calligraphy was traditionally a reflection of a scholar's level of culture. A good doctor had to be a good calligrapher 书法家 (yikes!) and imperial examinations to become an official placed more emphasis on the candidate's calligraphy than on the content of their essay!
The history of Chinese writing 汉字 (over 3,000 years old!) has led to the development of numerous calligraphic styles. To this are added the different ways a character can be written: on average, 3 per character. For example, the character for happiness 福 has over a hundred different forms. The calligrapher therefore already has a vast range of possibilities. They can also vary the thickness and thinness of strokes to express emotions. They can write certain characters in a text differently to reinforce or vary their meaning. In short, the message that Chinese calligraphy can convey is very broad. Some even take it to complete abstraction.
To learn Chinese calligraphy, it is best to know the basics of Chinese writing 汉字 ; otherwise, you will have to learn it as you go. One begins by studying the fundamental strokes, then moves on to writing characters in the regular style 楷书 . Next, one learns the running style 行书 , and finally, the highly cursive "grass" style 草书 . The Chinese say that the regular style is like standing, the running style is like walking, and the grass style is like running.
