Chinese Calligraphy

1
Chinese Calligraphy

• Chinese calligraphy is an art.
• It dates back to the 13th 14th centuries BCE.

2
What does calligraphy mean?

• Beautiful Writing
• precise, elegant handwriting or lettering done
  by hand

3
In what direction is it written?
4
The first written records were on turtle shells
and blades of oxen.First written with a brush,
then inscribed with an animal bone tool.

• Engraved ox scapula

5
The first books

• Before the invention of paper, documents were
  written in vertical columns on strips of bamboo.
  The strips were then bound together with string.

6

• Original copies of text were traced
• Sometimes they were engraved in stone and rubbed

7
What tools?

• The Chinese writing brush has a unique structure
  that allows it to hold ink in a reservoir (the
  solid black area inside the brush in the diagram
  at left)

The natural hairs are highly flexible and
responsive to slight changes in pressure and
movement of the hand.
8

• The experts say that to learn calligraphy,
  students must begin by copying the handwriting of
  famous masters, using copybooks of rubbings or,
  if possible, original examples.

9
Chinese calligraphy uses ideograms

• Ideogram A simple picture-like sign or graphic
  symbol used in a writing system to represent a
  thing or idea instead of a letter or specific
  word.
• Many of the characters in Chinese writing are
  ideograms

10

• Calligraphy today is practiced by millions of
  Chinese.  The great majority are amateurs who
  find pleasure or artistic fulfillment in
  perfecting their script. 
• But the number of professional calligraphers or
  calligrapher-artists is also substantial.