The art of calligraphy can be traced back in time, when technology did not provide people with the modern conveniences people of the 21st century enjoy. Calligraphy was considered a means of giving things -and life itself- a meaning because “sound couldn’t travel to another place and couldn’t remain, so writings came into being to act as the track of meaning and sound.” (Qian 36) From the first picture-like calligraphy works found about 4,000 years ago (Lu and Aiken 25) to the so-called Modern Calligraphy of the 1980s and 1990s (Zhuzhong and Desheng 109), a lot has changed.
Evolution of Chinese Calligraphy
- Prehistory-Up to the Xia Dynasty
The first works of calligraphy were symbols that looked like images, whose meaning was rather unclear, and appeared on ceramic vessels, about 8,000 years ago. Later on, it was discovered that these symbols were not real characters, but a sophisticated form of them (Zhuzhong and Desheng 100). About 6,000 years ago, the Yang-Shao Culture introduced color to calligraphy, which is why colored china existed in that era has been found from ruins. The symbols did not have a decorative role anymore and were referred to as the ancestors of current Chinese characters (Zhuzhong and Desheng 101). They were also identified by a clear description of objects, as opposed to the unclear picture-like works of the past. One could say that the works distinguishing that period are indeed works of art and express the essence of it.
- Shang Dynasty-Qin Dynasty (16th century B.C to 206 B.C )
The earliest Chinese written language is believed to be written on tortoise plastrons and shoulder blades, namely ox scapulas, as seem in the scripts during the Shang Dynasty (Lu and Aiken 27). Everything that has been written with a brush has not made it to current years, due to natural fading. However, during the Shang Dynasty the characters were craved on the bone or the shell, after they had first been brush-written during the ceremony of divination (Keightley). Interestingly, the Shangs were believed to be superstitious, which is why they performed divination ceremonies. The details of each divination, such as events and dates, would be written and then carved as previously mentioned on the bones and shells of a tortoise. Characters on the oracle were rectangular and are considered to have set the grounds for the Chinese character. The bones were called oracle bones and were first found in 1889, in the ruins at Xiatun Village, in Henan Province (Zhuzhong and Desheng 101). There, one could read events that had happened thousands of years ago.
The Shang Dynasty was also the bearer of another form of calligraphy, called Bronze script, and was more dominative during the Zhou Dynasty (221 B.C- 206 B.C) and was completely deviant from the Oracle script. The characters were not carved with the use of a sharp tool but created with the help of casting molds (Zhuzhong and Desheng 101). Moreover, during Zhou Dynasty, calligraphy was applied to stones; however, that form of calligraphy was more popular during 221 B.C.–206 B.C., where the Qin Dynasty ruled. Calligraphy on stones had much more powerful strokes than all the other (e.g. Oracle), and different structure. A world known inscription that was stone-carved is the Shiguwen, which is now showcased in Beijing’s Palace Museum (Zhuzhong and Desheng 102).
During the Warring Period, the country was divided into small kingdoms, and each kingdom their own regime, economy, and language. It is the time when Chinese characters are unified under the Small-Seal Script while the aforementioned calligraphy styles (the Oracle, Bronze and Stone-carved) are called the Big-Seal Script (Zhuzhong and Desheng 102). Both Scripts comprise the first calligraphy style, called Seal Script. Unifying characters created a new set of about 3,300 standardized characters (Fazzioli). However, writing with Small-Seal Script was difficult.
- Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties (202 B.C.–589 A.D.)
During the Han Dynasty (202 B.C.-220 A.D.), the first clerical scripts, which were simplifications of Seal Script, came to provide an easier way to create works of calligraphy (Blakney 6). This brought a revolution to Chinese calligraphy. Clerical scripts were characterized by squarer, fuller of twists and turns, wider, and shorter, bamboo, silk, or stone-carved characters. Representative works of Clerical Script are the Shimen Song, in Shanxi province, and Liqi Tablet, which is now on display in Shandong province, at the Confucius Temple (Zhuzhong and Desheng 103).
However, during the period of the Three Kingdoms, Clerical script gave its place to Regular Script, or Kai Shu. Since most calligraphers were found in the Wei Kingdom, calligraphy was named after the kingdom, and for the next 155 years, Wei calligraphy was fully developed (Zhuzhong and Desheng 103).
In Jin Dynasty, calligraphy gained a new perception and was more aesthetically pleasing and was valued more for its esthetics. Right after the Jin Dynasty, the country was divided into the North, and the South and so did calligraphy that was separated in the Northern and Southern Wei Tablet (Zhuzhong and Desheng 104). Regular characters were more commonly found in tablets of northern China, and Running scripts were more common in southern China.
- Sui, Tang, Song, Yan, Ming and Qing Dynasty (581 A.D.- 1911 A.D)
Sui and Tang Dynasties (581–907 A.D.) managed to bring peace to the north and the south, which resulted in the unifying of calligraphy styles, for one more time. Although the Regular script was fully developed then, the two dynasties did not last long enough to make significant contributions to calligraphy (Zhuzhong and Desheng 105).
The Tang Dynasty, China’s greatest historic period, brought great achievements in culture, and calligraphy shone bright. All scripts entered a new era, where Chinese characters were fully matured and standardized, and are the closest the world has to modern Chinese characters (Zhuzhong and Desheng 105).
The calligraphy of the Song Dynasty (960 A.D.-1276 A.D.) is distinguished by gentleness and kindness and will, or Yi, is more stressed, as opposed to calligraphy of the Tang Dynasty that was rather formulistic. The most representative calligraphers include Cai, and Mi (Zhuzhong and Desheng 108).
During Yuan and Ming Dynasty (1271–1644 A.D.) developments in the field of culture and economy were not as rapid as before and calligraphers followed strict rules of writing. However, there were a lot of different great calligraphers that all had different writing styles and gave various aspects of the same thing. Calligraphy changed and completely diverted from its initial conservative forms and pursuits. During the pre-mentioned dynasties, calligraphy was more after making impressions, than anything else (Zhuzhong and Desheng 108).
It was not until 1644, when the Qing dynasty started to rule, that the Guange style of calligraphy prevailed, as a means to fulfil the government’s desire to create a nation of intellectuals. Guange was dark, clear, smooth, and uniform at its most. Scripts are made of ink and are gentle and elegant, and people like Kang Youwei, tried to bring renovation to the world of calligraphy, by inspiring calligraphers to break away from the standards set by the Tangs, during their reign. Youwei wanted calligraphers to be more creative and not be restrained by rules, so to let their mind free to create.
Conclusion
Chinese calligraphy has taken some great steps in time. It started with the Oracle inscriptions, where lines were straight and picture-like images had sharp endings. Followed by the Great Seal style, with the more rounded corners and a blend of thin and thick strokes (Columbia University), and then, by the Small Seal style and the Great Seal style with the evenly thick lines and characters that had a more rectangle shape (Columbia University).
The most popular Clerical style made the work of calligraphers easier and quicker, while its successor, the Regular style is heavier in appearance, with horizontal lines with an upwards slope and strict vertical lines. Finally, the Running style, alongside the Clerical style are two styles most commonly used today. The Running head is characterized by such freedom in movement unmatched with any other style, and more fluidity. The dots and strokes of the brush are “written separately in the Regular Style [and] are joined together in a single sweep of the brush, thus producing a feeling of speed and fluency” (University of Columbia).
Undoubtedly, Chinese calligraphy has changed a lot in the thousands of years that it has been practiced, and the greatest of all is that it has managed to find a way to grow with the times and fit with today’s world.
Works Cited:
Blakney, R. B. (2007), A Course in the Analysis of Chinese Characters. Lulu.com. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-897367-11-7. p.6
Columbia University (n.d), Chinese Calligraphy. Asia for Educators. Retrieved March 17, 2014 from: http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1000bce_calligraphy.htm
Sima Qian, Shi Ji (Records of the Grand Scribe), Vol. 1, San Huang Ben Ji. Yuelu Press, p. 36.
Keightley, David N. (1978), Sources of Shang history: the oracle-bone inscriptions of Bronze Age China. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02969-0.; Paperback 2nd edition (1985) ISBN 0-520-05455-5.
Lu, W and Aiken, M (2004), Origins and evolution of Chinese writing systems and preliminary counting relationships. Accounting History 9 (3), pp. 25–51
Fazzioli, Edoardo (1987), Chinese calligraphy: from pictograph to ideogram: the history of 214 essential Chinese/Japanese characters. Calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko. New York: Abbeville Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-89659-774-7.
Zhuzhong, Qian and Desheng, Fang ( ), Towards Chinese Calligraphy. Macalester International Vol. 18.
