The History of Chinese Calligraphy Chuan Cao - 6/20/2015 Slide Part 1

Introduction  Relationship between Chinese calligraphy and painting.  Poem, calligraphy, painting, seal.  Focus on knowledge and character.  Ancient Chinese culture - little emphasis on science. (i.e.: gun powder)  Brush control, the use of wrist, etc.

Different fonts - differences all lie in the starting and ending points. Concealed tip vs explicit tip. Center tip. Etc. Line variation. Chinese Art is deeply rooted in tradition.

Oracle Bones  Official named Wang Yirong was sick with dysentery  Attendant went to pharmacy to procure medicine.  "dragon bone” ingredient  Used by “wizards” - Predictions of war, testing “auspices”

Bronze Script - 金文  The Seal Script ( 篆書 ) is the most archaic script  Generally referred to as “Seal Script”, it is in fact many numerous sub-scripts that were each used for different historical purposes.  The oldest is “oracle bone script” ( 甲骨文 )  Jin Wen ( 金文 ), or Bronze Script, is far more well-known. This is the script that was used for inscribing ceremonial Bronze vessels in the Zhou Dynasty.  Shi Gu Wen ( 石鼓文 /Shih Ku Wen), the Stone and Drum Script was used for monumental stone inscriptions, and both it and Jin Wen were never standardized; Jin Wen and Shi Gu Wen are often simply called Da Zhuan ( 大篆 ), or Large Seal Script.

 The Seal Script most used for Calligraphy is based on the first standardized Chinese script: Qin Zhuan ( 秦 篆 )Qin Seal Script..  The name of this script is taken from the Qin Dynasty that ushered in the dynastic epoch of a unified Middle Kingdom.

Types of Bronze  簋 vessel for holding cooked food  盘 plate  鼎 tripod - cooking vessel

The shift from Seal Script to Clerical Script  Was it a gradual shift, or did everything happen concurrently?  Practicality  Ease of writing