This document provides an overview of Chinese calligraphy and the development of written scripts in China from oracle bone style through various dynasties. It traces the evolution of Chinese characters from early pictographs to modern script styles like seal script, clerical script, standard script, running script, and grass script. The document also describes the traditional tools of calligraphy like brushes, inks, paper, and inkstones. It provides examples of famous calligraphers' works from different dynasties to illustrate the various script styles.

1. Chinese Dynasties
ca.
2100
–
1600
BC
Xia
Dynasty:
(ink
made;
bronze
cas>ng)
ca.
1600
–
1050
BC
Shang
Dynasty
Ca.
1046
–
256
BCE
Zhou
Dynasty
(Scythian
influence!)
Ca.
221
–
206
BCE
Qin
Dynasty
(TerracoLa
Army;
Great
Wall)
206
BCE
–
220
AD
Han
Dynasty
(jewelry,
figure
pain>ng,
celadon)
220
–
589
AD
Six
Dynas>es
Period
(landscape
pain>ng)
581
–
618
AD
Sui
Dynasty
618
–
906
AD
Tang
Dynasty
(porcelain,
pain>ng,
woodcut)
907
–
960
AD
Five
Dynas>es
Period
960
–
1279
AD
Song
Dynasty
(porcelain,
movable
type
1041)
1279
–
1368
AD
Yuan
Dynasty
1368
–
1644
AD
Ming
Dynasty
(blue-­‐white
porcelain,
enamel)
1644
–
1912
AD
Qing
Dynasty
1912
–
1949
AD
Republic
Period
1949
–
present
People’s
Republic
of
China
(Ai
Wei
Wei)

2. Mi Fu, Song Dynasty

3. Chinese Calligraphy
• Ini>ally
characters
–
pictograms
–
were
incised
into
bone
or
clay
that
was
later
cast
in
bronze.
• As
characters
developed
and
became
more
regular,
around
300
BC
the
brush
was
invented
and
used
on
silk.
Shortly
thereafer,
paper
was
invented
(for
toilet
paper!!!)
and
became
the
primary
support
for
wriLen
expression.
• The
brush
has
certain
quali>es
that
make
wri>ng
look
dis>nct
from
carving
or
incising.

4. Materials: “The Four Treasures”
• Wri>ng
brush
–
invented
ca.
300
BCE
• Inks>ck
–
Chinese
ink
comes
in
solid
form,
made
of
soot
(tradi>onally
from
an
oil
lamp,
later
from
pine
soot,
mixed
with
animal
glue
(tradi>onally
deer)
• Paper
–
made
from
inner
bark
of
mulberry
tree,
hemp
or
bamboo;
invented
ca.
300
BCE
• Inkstone
–
used
to
both
grind
the
solid
ink
into
liquid
and
as
wet
ink
container

5. • Right,
inkstone
and
holder,
early
18th
century,
Qing
dynasty
• Lef,
brush
holder,
early
17th
century,
Ming
dynasty
The tools of the trade

6. • An>que
ink
s>cks
• An>que
brush
• An>que
ink
set

8. Oracle Bone Style
• Chinese
wriLen
language
began
to
develop
ca.
1000
BCE
• Earliest
form:
pictographs,
scored
into
surfaces
of
jades
and
oracle
bones.
• Shang
dynasty
oracle
bones

9. Seal Script
• Ofen
used
for
official
inscrip>ons
on
stone
monuments
and
seals
• Thin,
even
lines
executed
with
balanced
movements.
• Developed
during
Shang
and
Zhou
dynas>es.
• “Direct
parent”
of
modern
Chinese
script

10. Lishu or clerical script
• Developed
ca.
500
BCE,
common
in
Qin
and
Han
dynas>es.
Used
for
official
records,
monuments
and
private
correspondence.
• First
script
widely
created
with
brushwork
–
more
flowing
style
• Shape
of
Lishu
characters
iden>cal
to
modern
Chinese
characters.
• Heng
Fang
Stele,
Han
Dynasty

11. Seal and Clerical scripts

12. Kaishu or “standard” script
• Appeared
ca.
220
AD
during
Han
dynasty
• Essen>ally
the
tradi>onal
script
used
today
• Similar
to
Lishu
but
more
cursive,
containing
serif-­‐type
elements
at
the
end
of
strokes
“Thousand
Character
Classic”
in
Standard
and
Cursive
Scripts
Zhiyong,
7th
genera>on
Descendant
of
famed
Calligrapher
Wang
Xizhi.
Ca.
510
–
610
AD,
Sui
Dynasty

13. Xingshu or “running” script
• “semi-­‐cursive”
script
allows
for
characters
to
be
aLached
to
each
other.
Natural
progression
of
using
a
supple
tool.
• Considered
more
abstract,
beau>ful
and
expressive
than
Lishu,
but
s>ll
highly
prac>cal
for
wri>ng.
• Wang
Xizhi,
“Preface
to
the
Orchid
Pavilion”
353
AD

14. Emperor Song Huizong, The Five-
Colored Parakeet, Song Dynasty
• Calligraphic
style
known
as
“slender
gold”

15. Cao shu or “grass script”
• Without
training,
this
script
cannot
be
read
• En>re
characters
may
be
wriLen
without
lifing
the
brush
from
paper
at
all.
• Strokes
are
modified
or
eliminated
to
facilitate
smooth
wri>ng
• Characters
are
rounded
and
sof
in
appearance,
lacking
angular
lines.
• Aesthe>c
and
expressive
concerns
dominate
over
communica>on.

16. “Autobiography of Huai Sui”, Tang
Dynasty, ca. 737 - 777
• Example
of
kuangcao
or
“wild
cursive”
script
• Younger
buddy
of
Zhang
Xu,
who
were
together
known
as
“Crazy
Zhang
and
Drunk
Su”
–
famed
in
their
day
for
being
equally
brilliant
and
disorderly

17. Zhang Xu, 8th
century
• Gushi
Si>e,
Tang
Dynasty
• Zhang
Xu
always
finished
work
in
a
single
siong
• Unpredictable
yet
bold
and
beau>ful
• It
was
said
that
he
and
the
younger
Huai
Su
would
get
drunk
together
and
work
un>l
they
passed
out.
• Presumably
he
some>mes
used
his
own
hair
as
a
brush!
• Nonetheless,
Zhang
Xu
also
mastered
regular
script
and
was
revered
in
his
>me
for
his
brilliance.

18. Zhao Zhiquian,
1867

19. Biographies of Lian Po and Lin
Xiangru, by Huang Tingjian, ca.
1095
• Appx.
13
“
x
60
feet,
inspired
by
Huai
Su’s
autobiography

21. • Prime
example
of
cursive
script!

22. • Similari>es
and
differences?
• What
type
of
script
do
you
think
each
represents?
Li
Zhan’gang,
2009
Wen
Peng,
1498
-­‐
1573

23. Nushu
• “Women’s
Wri>ng”

24. Yang Huanyi – last
proficient writer of
Nushu, d. 2004 at age 98

26. https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=oRRiTo8sUwk

27. Chinese
Pain>ng
• Closely
linked
to
calligraphy
• One
of
“The
Three
Perfec>ons”
along
with
poetry
and
calligraphy
• For
Chinese
ar>sts,
the
point
is
to
depict
the
ESSENCE
of
the
subject,
rather
than
just
the
LIKENESS.
• Main
techniques:
Gong-­‐bi
“me>culous”
–
detailed,
usually
colored
and
figural
subjects
• Shui-­‐mo
(Japanese:
sumi-­‐e)
“water-­‐ink”
pain>ng,
da>ng
to
Tang
dynasty.
• Wen-­‐jen-­‐hua
“litera>”
pain>ng
–
self-­‐expression
and
crea>vity,
introduced
during
Song
dynasty

28. • Animalis>c
guardian
spirits
of
midnight
and
morning
• Han
dynasty
(202
BC
–
220
AD)

31. Mi Fu: poet, calligrapher, painter
1052 – 1107 (Song Dynasty)
• First
to
use
calligraphic
techniques
in
pain>ng
• Valued
historic
styles,
collec>ng
historic
examples
of
calligraphy,
which
he
copied
and
mastered.
• While
fas>dious
(probably
OCD),
he
was
also
eccentric,
preferring
clothes
of
ancient
dynas>es
and
obsessively
collec>ng
stones.
• Above
all,
ar>s>cally
he
value
spontaneity
and
self-­‐
expression.
• His
handling
of
the
brush
was
described
as
“like
a
sharp
sword
handled
skillfully
in
fight,
or
a
bow
which
could
shoot
an
arrow
…
piercing
anything
that
might
be
in
its
way.”
U>lized
Xingshu
(running
script)
and
Caoshu
(cursive)
• With
other
intellectuals,
rediscovered
key
Tang
painters
and
formulated
the
theory
and
prac>ceof
crea>ve
self-­‐
expression,
known
as
wen-­‐jua-­‐hen.

32. Mi
Fu