Artficial Intelligence
CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY 248-201
TAO TAO
1/JUNE/2016
Chinese calligraphy is form of writing or artistic expression of human language in way that can be used for future reference. In Chinese tradition calligraphy was ranked above all other traditions. The genres of calligraphy and painting came out together with sharing of identical tools that are brush and ink. Calligraphy was identified as fine art earlier long before the coming of painting until song dynasty when painting became closely associated with calligraphy in form, purpose and technique, making it to be ranked as mere craft thus joining the level of the fine arts. The Chinese calligraphy has existed for several thousands of years caring it painting, poetry, music and dance all being full members of arts (.Chiang, Y. (1973).
Calligraphy is available everywhere in china the Chinese connect it with daily life where it brings about other arts in the number of people who exercise it. In shops and trading center, it’s very rare not find signboards with inscriptions by famous figures adding an antique elegance to busy trading areas. Decoration is also part of calligraphy, people use it to decorate sitting rooms, bedrooms and also motor vehicles. when doing this they use Xuan papers which is good at absorbing inks then paste the work in a piece of thick paper with a silk edge then put in a picture frame ready to be displayed on the wall. Usually calligraphic work contains a theme, motto or poem depending on what the host prefers most but if the host is doing the calligraphic work himself it will demonstrate his assuipuiration and his or her artistic talent. When it comes to a white wall calligraphic work brings great vitality pleasing the guest and comrades. When it comes to spring festival the most important traditional event of the Chinese people, springs festival (Chiang, Y. (1973 ). Unlike a rigid instrument such as a stylus or a ballpoint pen, a flexible hair brush allows not only for variations in the width of strokes, but, depending on whether one uses the tip or side of the brush, one can create either two-dimensional or three-dimensional effects depending on the piece of work , design to be used and the location. When one starts writing by loading the brush in ink, sometime more sometime with less depending on the type of art, he creates characters that resemble showers of rock her or the wonder of dew drop. The brush brings about myriad possibilities.
At pavilions, towers and buildings’ calligraphic work is very clear; this makes them a tourist destination center. These types of calligraphic inscriptions on wooden boards or rocks integrate harmoniously with the environment and add beauty to it also. The gate tower of Shanghai pass at the end of the great wall, about three thousands kilometers from the city Beijing, built at around 1381. at this tower tourist can have bird’s eye view of the sea and magnificent mountains .under the gate tower is the horizontal plaque inscribed with the five huge Chinese characters meaning The first Pass under heaven that was written by the famous calligrapher Xiao Xian of the miang Dynasty (1368-1644). The plaque stands for the magnificent scenery around. On mount taishan in Shandong province you can visit the sultra stone valley on a flat square rock a calligrapher carved a text of the Buddhist diamond sultra where each character me3asure thirty five square centimeters however the only legible characters are 1067 of the 3017 those other have deleted due to geographical actions. In shaoxing Zhejiang province there you find the orchid pavilion a Mecca for the great calligraphers in china .wang xingi was among the forty calligraphers who gathered the o0rchid pavilion to come up with three hundred and twenty four characters making it one of the most famous.(Chiang, Y. (1973).
The forest of steles in the ancient capital city of xian is one of the oldest and marvelous collection in china and one of the best treasure house of the ancient Chinese calligraphy , art , classic and stone engraving. In the exhibition hall more than two thousand inscribed tablets from the tomb an pavilions of the hand and tang dynasties are displayed there .the forest of steles was first built in 1087 as part of the shaainxi provincial museums and a cultural site under state protection(.Chiang, Y. (1973). Many tourists from all over the world visit these museum to witness the great calligraphic work done by the world calligraphers.
When it comes to calligraphic work and skills various standards are to be observed. This skills demonstrate the cultural background and sentiments if the calligrapher. Through the years a lot of the great famous calligraphers have been great politicians, poets, thinkers, and scholars. When it comes to personal achievements in calligraphy his great achievements in other different fields are also in record .Excellent calligraphic work are used to demonstrate outstanding ability and great learning skills. Calligraphy is the first subject Chinese people were taught, children, parents and teachers not only show interest in this great subject but also try to come up with their artistic judgment and creation of which is very helpful to their lives.
People refer to calligraphy as the painting without images, music without sound, a stage without actors and actress, building without material this because calligraphy involve writing only and therefore speechless art. It also ex presses various essential and sensitive factors like beauty , balance maintain ace , movement , contrast and harmony through special forms of the lines ,their combination and movement ways. Calligraphy also has rhythm as it maintains element where the writing sticks and light ink or in round or square shapes demonstrate obvious rhythms like changing and moving musical rhythms expressing emotions of the calligrapher and musician alike. This is the reason why calligraphy theorist praise calligraphic works like the music in the air. Mostly the Chinese from the east refer to calligraphy as speechless tones but with sweet dance just because when designing their houses using calligraphy and other objects everyone comes to like it.
When it comes to the calligraphy work the brush becomes the extension of the writers arm but the physical gestures produced by the brush by the wielding of the brush reveal much more than physical motion , they reveal much of the writers himself . As it sounds the word calligraphy more readily conveys emotion and something of the individual artist than all the other Chinese visual arts except of those landscaping painting which became closely allied with calligraphy. In tradition Chinese text letters and words are arranged in vertical columns that are lead from right to left. Rational words have no punition nor are proper nouns visually differentiable from other words. The arrangement of characters in order is inherent in each individual character. An established stroke order is used to ensure that characters are not written in haphazard manner but are written exactly the same way each time. These ensure that demoralization become easier and make each character to be written with a sense of balance and proportion, this makes it easier for one to be able to write with an interrupted manner rhythm and flow. Calligraphers and dancers have much thing in common, each must understand the choreographed movements, and each must level the composition order. When all these rules are adhered each may break free within certain boundaries to express a personal vitality.
Three thousand years ago the Chinese language began to develop and eventually evolved into five basic types that still exist to date. The earliest writing took the pictograms and ideographs forms that were incised on to the surfaces of jades and bones of oracle (Chiang, Y. (1973). . As the written language began to take form it involved in to seal script and remained the script type used on personal seals. By the second A.D a new form of script known as lishu was discovered and the government clerks used it in their duty, it was then when the Han flexible hair brush came to regular use, its fine tip produced effects such as the final wavelike diagonal strokes of few characters that were not attainable in regular characters (Chiang, Y. (1973). .cursive form of writing known as the running script and the cursive script were also developed around that era, both as a response to the potential of the ink and brush. In these script individual character s are written in abbreviated format while two or more characters are linked or joined together but written in single flourish of the brush. Most Chinese people highly respect the art of calligraphy since it is their tradition that has been passed from one decade to other others takes it just because their grandparents embraced it while others just Take it as daily life function and can’t do without it in life. Over the years, calligraphers were not restricted to write in any of the five script styles depending on the purpose of the text. Starting by emulating the styles of earlier masters and later on their models so as to achieve their own personal manner. Calligraphic style remains alive today in many Chinese artists.
Chinese calligraphy is one of the world’s most memorable and oldest art works which is still embraced up to date. Its existence has reality benefited the people of china in many ways. Being a tourist attraction site Chinese government has earned revenue helping the country in development sector. Many of its citizens have earned their daily bread by selling their calligraphy work and designing of different types of objects. Preservation of the Chinese culture is one of the key benefits of these of calligraphy (Chiang, Y. (1973). Calligraphy has also helped the young generation to understand about their culture, their ancestors and the history of their country .i It has also helped the world to understand different facts about the continent since some of the calligraphers wrote about the world.
Works cited:
Chiang, Y. (1973). Chinese calligraphy (Vol. 60). Harvard University Press.
