The Evolution of Chinese Calligraphy
The Evolution of Chinese Calligraphy
China is known for its beauty and intellectual prestige but the one thing that mostly stands out when speaking of Chinese art is the form of calligraphy. It is known to be one of the earliest forms of writing that can be translated, which began thousands of years ago and is still used today. Chinese calligraphy was invented and developed by the ancient Chinese who used the innovation as a method of written communication. Throughout the years, the Chinese calligraphy would evolve as the characters continue to change and later expand greater than the previous generations. To obtain a better understanding of Chinese calligraphy, it is imperative to understand the history of Chinese writing and how it evolved over time. The oldest known written language discovered was Jiǎ Gǔ Wén (Oracle Bone Inscription). Soon after came the Jīn Wén (Bronze Inscription), then Dà Zhuàn (Large Seal Script), then Xiăo Zhuàn (Small Seal Script), then Lì Shū (Official Script), then Kăi Shū (Standard Script), then Xíng Shū (Running Script) and finally, Căo Shū (Grass Script). This timeline represents the change of style in calligraphy over time.[1] [2]
The Oracle Bone Inscription (甲 骨 文) is the oldest and earliest form of Chinese calligraphy dated from the fourteenth to eleventh century B.C. during the Shang dynasty. The characters at this period of time closely relate to the appearances of the objects. For example, the character for man consisted of a curved line representing the head, body and leg of a person with another line joined to it which represented the arms.[3] Most of the characters were carved onto tortoise shells or animal bones, hence the name Oracle Bone Inscription, and the strokes consist of a straight line and with equal width. The average size of a character was relatively a quarter of an inch indicating that the brush must have been quite small. The characters were written in vertical columns, usually from right to
China is known for its beauty and intellectual prestige but the one thing that mostly stands out when speaking of Chinese art is the form of calligraphy. It is known to be one of the earliest forms of writing that can be translated, which began thousands of years ago and is still used today. Chinese calligraphy was invented and developed by the ancient Chinese who used the innovation as a method of written communication. Throughout the years, the Chinese calligraphy would evolve as the characters continue to change and later expand greater than the previous generations. To obtain a better understanding of Chinese calligraphy, it is imperative to understand the history of Chinese writing and how it evolved over time. The oldest known written language discovered was Jiǎ Gǔ Wén (Oracle Bone Inscription). Soon after came the Jīn Wén (Bronze Inscription), then Dà Zhuàn (Large Seal Script), then Xiăo Zhuàn (Small Seal Script), then Lì Shū (Official Script), then Kăi Shū (Standard Script), then Xíng Shū (Running Script) and finally, Căo Shū (Grass Script). This timeline represents the change of style in calligraphy over time.[1] [2]
The Oracle Bone Inscription (甲 骨 文) is the oldest and earliest form of Chinese calligraphy dated from the fourteenth to eleventh century B.C. during the Shang dynasty. The characters at this period of time closely relate to the appearances of the objects. For example, the character for man consisted of a curved line representing the head, body and leg of a person with another line joined to it which represented the arms.[3] Most of the characters were carved onto tortoise shells or animal bones, hence the name Oracle Bone Inscription, and the strokes consist of a straight line and with equal width. The average size of a character was relatively a quarter of an inch indicating that the brush must have been quite small. The characters were written in vertical columns, usually from right to