Chinese Calligraphy Class
Part of our every HSK course is Chinese Calligraphy – 书法!
This Saturday we organised a calligraphy class for our HSK 1 students. Teacher Ray gave us a vivid lesson about how to write Calligraphy. Calligraphy is the stylized artistic writing of Chinese characters. Because calligraphy is considered supreme among the visual arts in China, it sets the standard by which Chinese painting is judged. Indeed, the two arts are closely related.
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Four Treasures of the Study – Brush, ink, paper and ink stone
Brush 笔 (bǐ) – Brushes are generally made from animal hair, or —in certain situations—the first hair is taken from a baby’s head! Brush handles are commonly constructed from bamboo, but special brushes may have handles of sandalwood, jade, carved bone/ivory, or other precious materials. Modern brushes are primarily white goat hair (羊毫), black rabbit hair (紫毫), yellow weasel hair (黄鼠毫/狼毫), or a combination mix. Ancient brushes and some of the more valuable ones available on the market may be made with the hair of any number of different types of animals. Each type of hair has a specific ink capacity, giving distinct brush strokes. Different brushes are used for different styles of calligraphy and writing.
Ink 墨 (mò) – Traditional ingredients for the making of ink originate from burned palm twigs or the smoke from tar. For the sake of convenience, modern people gradually turned to ink chemically produced for their writing. But the process of ink grinding requires time and patience, thus, this process is able to make people stay calm and enter a state of mind suitable for calligraphy. Such practice of cultivation is a stage that must be gone through for studying and practising calligraphy.
Paper 纸 (zhǐ) – Paper is one of the four major Chinese inventions. Paper produced in Xuan county of Anhui province is the most famous, known as “xuan paper.” Papers for the use of calligraphy differ in their strength of ink absorption. Thus, the selection of paper is made according to the ideas the calligrapher has to present.
Ink Slab 砚(yàn) – An Ink slab is essential for ink grinding and writing. Ink slabs appear in many varieties but ordinary slabs are made from stone-hitting. Ink slabs made from stones of the highest quality can produce ink of the best kind. Furthermore, the longer they are preserved, the higher is their value.
Holding a Chinese calligraphy brush
The most important aspect about writing Calligraphy is that a Brush is not to be held like a pen or a painting brush! Teacher Nancy even joked that we aren’t in a painting class because intially the students started using the calligraphy brush like one. Unlike Western alphabetic writing, Chinese writing requires equally fluid movement in all directions, not just across the page. As such, the Brush should be held perfectly vertical to the page, using all fingers and a relaxed wrist. Below we can see Teacher Ray correcting Ambuj’s grip over his brush.
Diksha is writing her first Calligraphy. Her friends on her right compliment her how beautiful her calligraphy is!
Calligraphy is all about patient and practice. The more you write the more your thoughts will settle down and it will be easier for you to find inner peace. Tarun definitely looks like a scholar with 100 percent focus on his work.
There are many advantages of learning calligraphy. Confucius regarded calligraphy as one of the six arts that any real gentlemen should possess. Every character in Chinese requires balance. In fact, a single unbalanced stroke can make an entire character look unstable as if it would fall easily if you were to push it gently with your hand. Each character should stand upright so that it has poise.
Calligraphy is, in fact, a type of kung fu. It uses the same principles. Energy is channelled in the same way so that with practice and concentration, you can achieve balance, flexibility, focus, awareness, a sense of harmony and strength through simple actions.
Want to experience Calligraphy Writing? Join us at MeiYu Chinese Language Centre!
