Evolution of Chinese Calligraphy - Essay Example

Evolution of Chinese Calligraphy and Five Main Scripts Name: Course: Institution: Date: Evolution of Chinese Calligraphy and Five Main Scripts Introduction Chinese’s calligraphy just like the script is an important part of China’s national cultural heritage. This form of calligraphy began with hieroglyphs and over the years the art has developed various styles and schools (Meggs & Alston 2012, p. 12). Chinese scripts exist in five categories and they include Seal Script, Clerical Script, Regular Script, Running Script and Cursive Script. The main objective of this paper is to provide an analysis of the evolution of Chinese calligraphy in relation to the five scripts (Meggs & Alston 2012, p. 12). This will be through the provision of an understanding between the role of Chinese calligraphy in different kingdoms and dynasties. Evolution of Chinese calligraphy Chinese calligraphy from prehistory to the 16th century B.C (Xia Dynasty) The art that describes Chinese calligraphy began through the creation of Chinese characters. Writing was considered to act as the track of meaning and sound. The characters in the first calligraphy works of the Chinese were picture-like symbols (He & Guillaume 2012, p. 57). These symbols were used to decorate ceramic vessels and their meanings were relatively ambiguous. Most of these picture-like symbols on the vessels were products of the Cishan and Feiligang cultures (Shi 2002, p. 18). It is important to note that about 2000 years after the Cishan and Feiligang, some picture-like character symbols were uncovered from the ruins of Banpo (Shi 2002, p. 18). Upon the discovery of these symbols, they were eliminated from the category of decorations and were now considered as the origin of Chinese characters. These characters provided a description of the concrete objects. Despite their simplicity and disorderly nature, they were expressive of the essence of art (He & Guillaume 2012, p. 60). From the Shang Dynasty to the warring states In the reign of the Shang Dynasty, the Oracle Script was the scripts which were curved from tortoise shells and shoulder blades. This constituted the earliest written from of language of the Chinese (Meggs & Alston 2012, p. 18). The Shangs were people of great superstition. This means that there were performances of religious festivals and divination which were then dated and written on tortoise shells or bones (He & Guillaume 2012, p. 73). The characters in the oracle bones, which form the Oracle script, appeared in numerous variations and they include strokes from thin to thick, slow to fast and gentle to hard (Shi 2002, p. 20). The characters that formed the Oracle script was acquired the rectangular shape and were the major foundations of the Chinese characters. During this period especially in the Zhou Dynasty, there were inscriptions on bronze which took the calligraphy form and they comprised the Bronze Script (Shi 2002, p. 20). QIN Dynasty (221 B.C to 206 B.C In the period of the warring state china was characterized by divisions in several kingdoms. Each kingdom operated on different parameters which included the fact that each kingdom had its own language, and this was considered as a hindrance to economic prosperity of the country (Meggs & Alston 2012, p. 22). However, upon the unification of the country by Emperor Qin, the characters that defined Chinese art of calligraphy were also unified (He & Guillaume 2012, p. 79). The difference between the two scripts was that the Bronze Scripts were created by casting a mold which made the strokes of the characters thicker. The unified technique was called the small-seal script (Shi 2002, p. 26). It is important to note that prior to the Qing Dynasty there were other forms of scripts which included the Bronze Script, Oracle Script and different characters that were inscribed on stone (He & Guillaume 2012, p. 88). These were unified and called the Big Seal. Both the Big and the Small Seal Scripts were unified to form the Seal Script. The Seal Script is considered as the first calligraphy in history considering that characters were limited to seal carvings hence the name seal Script (Shi 2002, p. 30). One of the outstanding features of the characters of the Seal Script is on the image that is reflective of the Chinese culture. It is important to note that the difference between the Small-seal Script and the Big-seal Script is that the former characters were more standardized and abstract (Meggs & Alston 2012, p. 34). Han Dynasty (202 B.C- 220 A.D) Despite the standardized nature of the Small-seal Script it was considered as difficult form off calligraphy to write. This led to the evolution of the Clerical Script as a simplification of the Seal Script (He & Guillaume 2012, p. 90). The main objective of the Clerical Script was to introduce a form of calligraphy that was convenient to write. The change from Seal Script to Clerical Script was completed in Hans Dynasty (Zhao et al 2007, p. 39). This made Clerical Script to appear as a revolutionary in the history of Chinese calligraphy. The shape of the characters became square as the writing was also diversified (Zhao et al 2007, p. 40). During the reign of Han Dynasty, Clerical Script appeared in two forms, there was the Hanbei where characters were engraved in stone and the Jian and Bo where characters were written on bamboo or silk respectively (Chiang 1974, p. 68). Clerical Script had its strokes twisted and turned and it differed from the characters in Seal script considering that they were wider and shorter (Chiang 1974, p. 68). The Jian, Bo and the Hanbei were designed by different individuals in the Han Dynasty with the objective of revealing the unique nature and the artistic value that had been consider being a characteristic of the Clerical Script (Chiang 1974, p. 69). Southern and Northern Dynasties (220-589 A.D) The decline and eventual disappearance of the Clerical Script brought with it the evolution of the Regular Script as the major style of calligraphy. Most of the calligraphers were in the Southern Dynasty (Shi 2002, p. 38). During the reign if the Southern and Northern dynasties there was a wide spread belief that there existed an aesthetic value in the writing of characters (Zhao et al 2007, p. 35). In addition, there were many calligraphers who had profound effects on the subsequent calligraphers concerning the techniques that were unique in the development of the art of writing (Meggs & Alston 2012, p. 50). The availability of numerous calligraphers such a Wang Xizhi led to the introduction of another form of script, the Running script. It is important to note that the individual in the Northern dynasty often inscribed using regular characters, hence the popularity of the Regular Script (Zhao et al 2007, p. 45). While those in the Southern part of China popularized the Running Script., this was not only a form of diversification of at but also a form of distinguishing the northerners from the southerners (Chiang 1974, p. 74). Sui and Tang Dynasties (581- 907 A.D) Emperor Sui unified the north and the southern parts of China and after the collapse of the Sui Dynasty, there emerged the Tang Dynasty. This also led to the unification of the works of art. During this period, the Regular Script completely evolved (Zheng 1983, p. 64). Tang dynasty is considered as one of the most powerful empire in the history of china. During this period, calligraphy also flourished considering that numerous forms of calligraphy that were used in the former dynasties reappeared and began a new face (Shi 2002, p. 40). The Regular, Cursive and Running Script characterized the work of art in Tang Dynasty. Chinese characters that were definitive of the type of script to adopt reached full maturity and they became standardized in the reign of the Tang Dynasty (Zhao et al 2007, p. 50). It is important to note that the characters that defined calligraphy in this period are almost similar to Chinese characters that are printed today (Zheng 1983, p. 65). The evolution of calligraphy was in different stages considering that after the unification of the northern and southern Dynasties there were divergent views on what to adopt as the main form of calligraphy (Zheng 1983, p. 66). However the liberal nature of the leadership allowed multiplicity of writing style and this was considered important in defining the flourishing nature of art. However, the decline of calligraphy began at the fall of the Tang Dynasty (Zheng 1983, p. 67). Song Dynasty (960-1276 AD) The popularity of the calligraphy of the Tang Dynasty arose from its formulistic nature. This distinguished it from that of the Song Dynasty which had much of its focus on the personality and creation (Allen 2010, p. 100). Calligraphy in this dynasty was not only full of knowledge but also naturalistic in nature. The works of calligraphy by some of the most famous calligraphers such as Huang and Cai exuded knowledge and gentleness (Zheng 1983, p. 67). Calligraphy in this period was of the Regular Script but written with the objective of providing meaningful information to the readers. In addition, though this form of art, China was in the process of developing as country defined by cultural belief that were passed from one generation to another through different forms of writing (Ecke 1993, p. 115). In this kingdom calligraphy was experiencing some form of transformation from the previously celebrated aesthetic nature to become a source of knowledge through which individual from different generations would acquire information that was considered necessary for their well-being (Wu 1994, p. 24). It is important to note that that desire to transform China from a warring state especially with the struggle for political power and the expansion of jurisdiction, Calligraphy by other famous calligraphers such as Cai provided information on the relevance of maintaining peaceful co-existence among different individuals in the society (Ecke 1993, p. 119). Yuan and Ming Dynasties (1271- 1644 A.D) These dynasties were relatively slow in terms of economic development and this led to slow growth of calligraphy considering that most calligraphers were using techniques borrowed from the ancients (Zhao et al 2007, p. 56). In Yuan Dynasty, emphasis was on form of the characters and the rules of writing considering their essence in revealing the intended objective (Wu 1994, p. 34). Ming Dynasty despite its slow nature in the development of calligrapher adopted numerous writing styles which advocated for among other attributes, personality, and visual impression. This destroyed the primary objective of calligraphy as a source of information and knowledge (Allen 2010, p. 110). It is also important to note that calligraphers in Yuan and Ming dynasties followed conservative techniques in the use of calligraphy and this explains the derailed development of calligraphy in these dynasties (Allen 2010, p. 110). One of the most celebrated techniques in the see dynasties was the Cursive Script which was used to embrace the beauty of art by outstanding calligraphers such as Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan dynasty and Dong Qichag of the Ming Dynasty (Ecke 1993, p. 120). Qing Dynasty (1644- 1911 AD) In Qing Dynasty it was a requirement by the leadership that all the intellectuals within the jurisdiction should write in accordance with the Guange style of calligraphy (Shi 2002, p. 56). This style was uniform, smooth, and relatively clear. It is important to note that ink scripts that were borrowed from the late Ming Dynasty which were relatively delicate and gentle were the predominant form of calligraphy (Cai 2002, p. 110). However, in middle and late era of the Qing dynasty, there were more discoveries on calligraphy and this led most calligraphers to focus on tombstone tablets (Allen 2010, p. 123). These were considered important in the world of art especially in providing information to the readers. The main objective of the Ming dynasty in the introduction of Guange style of calligraphy was to reinvigorate creativity among the calligraphers and to beak way from the standards set by the tang dynasty (Ecke 1993, p. 124). Calligraphy in present China The prominence of printing in China has had devastating effects on calligraphy. Calligraphy is becoming further removed from the works of ordinary Chinese. Despite the dwindling nature, the art of calligraphy has been facing numerous development forms the modern calligraphy which as was adopted from the European in 1980s (Allen 2010, p. 156). Calligraphy as an artistic movement has over the years being inspired by a strong sense of elf motivation from the Chinese whose objective has always been to the development of a new form of expression using traditional Chinese calligraphy and this has made this form of calligraphy a unique form of art (Cai 2002, p. 123). Conclusion The evolution of Chinese calligraphy has been characterized by the development of different scripts. These scripts; Seal, clerical, regular, Cursive and running has been developed by calligraphers whose objective was to introduce a new form of expression founded on Chinese culture. Different Kingdoms and dynasties, in an attempt to maintain ad develop Chinese culture encouraged different calligraphers to engage in the development of new forms of calligraphy. This was meant to show some of form of superiority while at the same time showing dominance in politics and art. References Allen, Susan Macall. 2010. The history and cultural heritage of Chinese calligraphy, printing and library work. Berlin: De Gruyter Saur. http://www.degruyter.com/search?f_0=isbnissn&q_0=9783598441790&searchTitles=true. Cai, Zongqi. 2002. Configurations of comparative poetics: three perspectives on Western and Chinese literary criticism. Honololu (T.H.): University of Hawaii Press. Chiang Yee. 1974. 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