10.  Brushes with Power:  Calligraphy 書法

 

CONCEPT: word and image

Chinese characters:   a logographic script, meaning signs (logos or characters) are used to represent words

SCRIPT TYPES

oracle bone inscriptions (jiagu wen 甲骨文): inscriptions incised into turtle shells and ox scapulae as part of Late Shang divination (fig. 2-4)

jin wen 金文:   writing on bronzes (fig. 2-6)

small seal script (xiao zhuan 小篆):   A type of script developed during the Qin dynasty as a standard for the new empire and ascribed to Li Si.   (fig. 4-2)

clerical script (li shu 历书):   A script type that emerged during the early empire derived from the brush writing for everyday use.   It was named after the clerks who produced such writings. (fig. 4-3)

regular script (kai shu 楷书): The most formal of the three mature types of scripts, the others being cursive and running scripts

running script (xing shu 行书):   Also called “semi-cursive,” this script type has some abbreviations but retains its legibility and was a major script type from the time of the “Two Wangs” forward

cursive script (cao shu 草书):   An informal writing characterized by its rapid execution, many simplifications in the form and shape of the character, and ligatures connecting characters in sequence; also called “grass” or “draft” script

FAMOUS CALLIGRAPHERS (in chronological order)

• The “Two Wangs” (Wang Xizhi 王羲之 and his son Wang Xianzhi 王獻之), Jin dynasty. Sangluan tie. 356 CE. (Tang-dynasty copy). Ink on paper (fig. 5-23)
• Monk Huaisu 懷素, Tang dynasty. Autobiographical Essay. 777. Ink, paper; 11” x 24'9” (fig. 6-33)
• Huang Tingjian 黄庭 坚 , Northern Song dynasty. Han Shan's Poem for Pang Jushi.   1099.  Ink on paper; 11 1/2” x 7” (fig. 7-16).
• Mi Fu 米芾, Southern Song dynasty.   Letter about a Coral tree. 1101.   Album leaf, ink, paper; 10 1/2 x 18” (fig. 7-37)
• Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty 宋徽宗 (r. 1101-1125). Associated with a style of calligraphy called “slender gold,” characterized by attenuated lines and sharp hooks
• Dong Qichang 董其昌, Ming dynasty. Calligraphy in running and cursive scripts.   1603.   Ink, silk; 12 1/4” x 20'7” (fig. 9-13)
• Chairman Mao 毛泽东 (1893-1976). Masthead for The People's Daily (Renmin ribao人民日報)