Copying Chinese calligraphy classics is the main way of studying Chinese calligraphy, and it has been practiced for over 3500 years. In this video I am copying a short fragment from a 4th century classic by the calligraphy sage Wang Xizhi. It is a text of Heart Sutra in semi cursive script. If you wish to learn more about Chinese calligraphy, its history, classics, great Masters and masterpieces, feel free to visit learning section on my website. To view my Japanese and Chinese calligraphy portfolio, see here. Photo editing & Chinese and Japanese calligraphy tutorial videos Buy fine art calligraphy prints at my store in my store on Fina Art Amercia. I created this short clip today to show those of you who study Chinese or Japanese calligraphy the brush flow during and in between the brush strokes in semi-cursive script. If you are not acquainted with the concept of unbroken line, I strongly suggest you read and watch my other video tutorials on the subject. It is absolutely essential not only for semi-cursive script studies, but Chinese or Japanese calligraphy in general. The classic I write in this video is composed out of characters written by the calligraphy sage, Wang Xizhi, of the Jin Dynasty in China. Enjoy! For more calligraphy tutorials and information, see the learning section on this website. Photo editing & Chinese and Japanese calligraphy tutorial videos Buy fine art calligraphy prints at my store in my store on Fina Art Amercia. Wang Xizhi (王羲之, 303 - 361) - the Sage of Calligraphy and possibly the greatest Chinese calligrapher that has ever lived. His masterpieces are often a great challenge, as his skills with the brush were unreal. The most striking thing for me is his unbelievable sense of the balance in writing, combined with an extremely intuitive ability of adjusting shape of the characters so they fit together, but at the same time pushing that harmony to the limits of distortion. A true genius artistic indeed. Here is a short video that I captured during my daily Chinese calligraphy studies, I am copying a 興福寺断碑 (Xingfusi duanbei), which is a calligraphy text composed in 721 C.E. out of characters in semi-cursive script (行書) taken from various masterpieces by Wang Xizhi. I have another video of me copying the same classic, but I am using a different brush holding technique, you can see this video on my YouTube channel, here. If you want to learn more about Chinese calligraphy, please see the section of this website with learning materials. Chinese calligraphy of the Northern Wei dynasty (北魏, 386 - 534 C.E.) has one of the most powerful standard script styles in the history. If your calligraphy is lacking the bones and structure, you should definitely study masterpieces of this period. It happens so that from this month my obligatory montly subject for my next year's Master Instructor exams is one of the most famous classics of this period - the 鄭羲下碑 (Jap.: Teigi ka hi). The most characteristic features of this style are the rounded stroke (so called enpitsu in Japanese / 用筆) and the the strokes being between the standard and clerical scripts. The work to the left is my copy of this classic. Since the original is carved in a natural stone, I edited it in photoshop so it resembles characters carved on a hard stone-like surface. This work is available in a print form in my store, here. Here is another photo from a Chinese calligraphy photo shoot with a Japanese model Asuka. They say that picture says a thousand words, so it would seem appropriate to let the photo speak for itself. In addition, here is a translation of the first chapter of this classic, transcribed Nathan Sturman, MA. The sky was black and earth yellow; space and time vast, limitless. 禮器碑 (Japanese: Reiki no Hi, lit. ritual dish stele) is a monument erected inside of the Mausoleum of Confucius. The author of the calligraphy work is unknown, though it is certain that the stele was erected during Late Han Dynasty (後漢, 25 - 220 C.E.), in 156 C.E. The monument was to celebrate the repairs of the Mausoleum of Confucius, and re-carving (renovation) of the stone ritual dish in particular. The text in Chinese calligraphy (clerical script) is a tribute to the family members of Confucius, and lists several names and various exploits and achievements of those individuals. The stone monument has two sides. Although both of them are carved in the mature clerical script, also known as 八分隷 (Japanese: happun rei), the style of writing is slightly different. The front side is more rigid in form, whereas the reverse side represents more relaxed Chinese calligraphy in clerical script. Both sides, however, characterise rather thin lines and light structure of the Chinese characters. If we compare this classic with similar monuments of Chinese calligraphy from the same period (such as 乙瑛碑 or 史晨碑 for instance), the delicate structure of Chinese characters in Reiki no Hi becomes even more evident. 禮器碑 is considered to be one of the most outstanding masterpieces written and carved in mature clerical, or even clerical script in general. It is a valid subject of studies by anyone who wishes to master Chinese calligraphy art. Thousand Character Classic (千字文, Qiānzìwén) is one of the most important classics in Chinese literature, as well as a profound source of Chinese calligraphy masterpieces. It is said to be composed by Zhou Xingsi (周興嗣) during the first half of the 6th century C.E., upon the order of the Emperor Wu of Liang (梁武帝, 464–549), the founder of the Liang Dynasty. Emperor Wu was known to be well educated and enlightened ruler, who was promoting university level education, and, being a devout Buddhist, who opposed the animal sacrifices. It was Emperor Wu, who selected 1000 characters from works of the famous Wang Xizhi (王羲之, 303–361), hence the original name of the text (次韻王羲之書千字), which he suggested to his princes to be used for practicing calligraphy, and he asked Zhou Xingsi to compose a poetic essay out of them. The legend says that this task strained him so much, that Xingsi's hair turned completely white after completing it. The Thousand Character Classis consists of exactly 1000 Chinese characters, and what is more, none of those characters is appearing more than once in the entire text. The text itself is a poetic journey through the history of China, it contains information on geography, astronomy, ethics, politics, and so on. Thousand Character Classic was and still is used to teach kids Chinese characters. For calligraphers, this text is an invaluable source of knowledge, especially that so many great calligraphers copied it in their own style. What is more, the text usually was written in two or more scripts, which serves as a great reference for studying those. Placed side by side, Chinese characters in standard, semi-cursive, cursive, clerical or seal script, are a great way of familiarising with their various forms, as well as the ways of proper writing by the means of a calligraphy brush. The above picture is a fragment of Thousand Character Classic by Zhi Yong (智永, birth and death dates unclear), the great calligrapher and theoretician of the Sui Dynasty (581–618). Zhi Yong was also the author of the 永字八法 theory, i.e. "the eight principles of the character 永 (eternity)". This classic is known as 真草千字文, as it comes in standard (真) and cursive (草) scripts. Yong's handwriting style is bold and powerful, and his standard script often crosses the border with semi-cursive (行書). For those of you who wish to study contents of the Thousand Character Classic, there is an English translation created by the Nathan Sturman, of the University of Cambridge. Kūkai (空海, 774 - 835) is one of the most celebrated calligraphy Masters of ancient Japan. He was a Buddhist monk known as Kōbō-Daishi (弘法大師, i.e. The Grand Master Who Propagated the Buddhist Teaching). He was also a skilled poet, artist, and engineer. He was also the founder of Shingon Esoteric sect of Buddhism. It is also Kūkai who is said to be the creator of Japanese kana syllabary, which is one of the writing systems used in Japan until the present day (aside kanji), although it was never clearly confirmed by the historians and researchers. According to legends, Kūkai composed the famous Iroha poem, which is still in use for educational purposes in Japanese schools. Iroha contains all hiragana characters, but none of them is repeated. Its text reads: Although its scent still lingers on the form of a flower has scattered away For whom will the glory of this world remain unchanged? Arriving today at the yonder side of the deep mountains of evanescent existence We shall never allow ourselves to drift away intoxicated, in the world of shallow dreams. (translation by Professor Professor Ryuichi Abe) Kūkai was travelling to China and spent there 20 years of his life. His knowledge and skill in Chinese calligraphy was outstanding. His writing style (書風) was heavily influenced by the masterpieces of Wang Xizhi (王羲之, 303–361), the calligraphy sage. He brought back with him many Chinese classics upon his return to Japan in 806 C.E. Kūkai, together with Emperor Saga (嵯峨天皇, 786–842) and Tachibana no Hayanari (橘逸勢 c. 782-842) was one of the initiators of the Japanese style in calligraphy, referred to as wayō shodoō (和様書道). Those three gentlemen are know today as "three brushes" (三筆) of the Heiyan period (平安時代, 794 - 1185). The above two calligraphy works are my humble coipies of the famous "Letter carried by the wind" (風信帖), which was a series of letters written to another Buddhist monk, Saichō (最澄, 767 - 822), the founder of Tendai (天台宗) Japanese school of Mahayana Buddhism. "Letter carried by the wind" is a national Japanese treasure, and it is often used for calligraphy studies in Japan. It style is a brilliant blend of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy styles, of which analysis can only enrich one's skills and horizons. See the Chinese and Japanese calligraphy history section to read more. |
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AuthorPonte Ryuurui (品天龍涙) Archives
August 2020
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