Chinese Calligraphy

The art of calligraphy originated in China and is locally called Shufa, which means, “the way/method/law of writing.” Chinese calligraphy is practiced as both an art form and as a means of learning self-discipline and control. Highly skilled individuals who focus on the aesthetic principals of the written form practice the art of Chinese calligraphy, or yishu. Students and the elderly practice more basic-level calligraphy. This form of calligraphy is part of learning to be literate and does not hold itself to the high aesthetic standards of the yishu.

History

Ancient Chinese texts have been found made of characters carved into either ox hide or tortoise shells. While there is evidence that paint and brush texts existed along with the carved texts, the painted texts have not survived. The common practice was to paint the script onto shell or bone and later transfer it to the more permanent, carved medium. Another complicating factor in the history of Chinese calligraphy and Chinese characters in general, is that most of the ancient Chinese kingdoms had their own set of characters, and it wasn’t until the Imperial era (200 BCE) when a more universal character system was put into place.

Emperor Qin Shi Huang began a writing reform in 220 BCE that helped create a list of 3,300 standard characters. By this time, the common writing instruments were brush and paper, therefore most of the documents from this time are lost and there are very few examples of the character’s style. It is known, though, that the Lishu style, which is a clerical script that similar to modern character style, began during Quin Shi Huang’s reforms.

In order to make copying of text easier and thus more available to the public, further standardization came under Emperor Mignzong (926 – 933). The Kaishu style, which is still practiced today, came from this era.

Cursive and Printed Styles

The fluid nature of the cursive style creates more opportunity for variation, which allows a large variety of cursive forms.  The Chinese cursive style came from the Lishu style, and was only used for personal uses, such as notes and memos, and never for public texts. With the advent of the printing press and, subsequently, the computer, the Chinese character became more and more standardized. In modern print, the font styles Song and sans serif are used, though they are not seen as traditional styles and are not used in written calligraphy.