A spectacular achievement of eastern Asian art, Chinese calligraphy is almost as old as Chinese characters. As one of the three “essential skills” required to master for ancient Chinese scholars, its development throughout China’s history was characterized by repeated appearances of unique, revolutionary styles centered around several time-honored, well-developed models. Even nowadays, the mastery of this art is considered a sign of erudition which can gives a person high status in Chinese society. In Beijing, a Beijing tour guide can take you on a Beijing city tour to shop for exquisite Chinese calligraphy works in the city’s amazing local shops.
Chinese calligraphy is as beautiful as it is mysterious and profound. Characters on a work, especially those written in cursive or semi-cursive script, usually represent a calligrapher’s personality, aspiration, outlook of life, and inner state of mind. Novices in this art usually find the exercise excruciating and restrciting, since there are many strict rules to follow. But it is generally agreed that if a calligrapher succeeds in reaching a certain level of proficiency, he/she will be able to freely express his/her ideas in almost every style.
Chinese characters were already written in a stylistic way on oracle bones dating back to the Xia dynasty, about 3,000 years ago. 6000-year-old pottery items unearthed from Yangshao culture site show simple patterns believed to be symbols with meanings, which are regarded by some as the origin of Chinese characters and calligraphy. 2,000 years ago, Qin Shi Huang Di, the first emperor of Chinese empire, standardized the Chinese characters and implemented their use throughout China. This period was immediately followed by a new era where Chinese calligraphy developed in a more predictable way, with artists and scholars coming up with new styles in each dynasty.
Chinese calligraphy, like ink and wash painting, is done by using four basic tools collectively called the “Four Treasures of Study”: brush, ink, inkstone, and paper. Each one of these tools is an art in itself that has been developed for thousands of years. Used expertly by a master calligrapher, these four items can produce great, exquisite works with excellent quality.
New styles of writing Chinese characters kept springing up throughout China’s history, but most of them could be traced back to the five major scripts: regular script, seal script, clerical script, cursive script, and semi-cursive script.
Regular script: This is a standard form of script for Chinese characters. Great calligraphic works written in this script are the popular exemplary works for the beginners of Chinese calligraphy, who like to copy them to improve their skills. Developed from a semi-cursive form of clerical script, it was invented later than most other scripts in this art’s history.
Seal script: One of the oldest styles of Chinese calligraphy, it was imposed by Qin Shi Huang Di as the standard script in the Qin dynasty. Nowadays only a few people, mainly scholars and seal experts, can read this script. But it remains a popular script used on Chinese seals. Hence its English name.
Clerical script: A style that appears flat and wide with a tendency toward a square form, clerical script is believed be have been invented during Warring States period or Qin dynasty as an alternative style to seal script. As a type of writing with a heavy focus on the artistic aspect of characters, it is generally used in advertisement and artistic calligraphy.
Cursive script: Cursive script is a way of fast writing that developed in the Han dynasty. A style known for its omission of parts and lack of complicated strokes, it is popular with experienced calligraphers who wish to fully express their ideas and emotions in an unrestrained way. A high level of proficiency in the art of Chinese calligraphy is required for anyone to read such script, and a person without sufficient training will not be able to read any character.
Semi-cursive script: Of all styles of writing, semi-cursive scripts bears the most resemblance to normal hand writing. A style that is thought to be between regular script and cursive script, it can generally be read and understood by people with sufficient knowledge of Chinese characters.
In the fantastic local shops of Beijing, there are excellent, beautiful Chinese calligraphy works done by some of the best artists in all of China. Go with a Beijing travel guide to discover these wonderful, high-value products.
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