Beijing Olympics best chance for world to know Chinese calligraphy
www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-27 08:53:56 Print
Special report: 2008 Olympic Games
ZHENGZHOU, July 27 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese master calligrapher and Beijing Olympic torchbearer said he hoped the country's traditional calligraphy art could spread throughout the world with the Olympic sacred flame.
"I hope the Chinese art could be well accepted and prosper wherever the Olympic flame reaches," said Zhang Hai, Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association.
Zhang run the first leg of the Olympic torch relay in the Luoyang City in the central Henan province. The gray-haired artist waved his hand and raised the torch high.
"The upcoming Beijing Olympic Games is the best chance for the whole world to know the Chinese calligraphy," he said.
"The Olympics in China will amaze the world not only with its high-quality venues, but also the enchanting traditional culture," he added.
Calligraphy, which has remained a potent force in Chinese life up to the present, continued to be a central art of the literati, closely associated both with painting and with the social and cultural life of the educated elite.
Zhang called the Beijing Olympic emblem Chinese Seal a "perfect combination of the Olympic spirit and the traditional Chinese culture".
The emblem artistically incorporates the seal, the Chinese characters and the calligraphy.
"Although only 18 countries and regions attended the 8th International Calligraphic Exhibition that wrapped up days ago, I see a bright future for the art," he said. "More and more countries will attend the exhibition when they understand the beauty of calligraphy in the near future."
Showing posts with label Chinese Calligraphy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinese Calligraphy. Show all posts
2008-07-12
Chinese Calligraphy
During the thousands of years old history of the Chinese language, you can clearly see how the tools and materials used for writing have affected the looks of the characters. The oldest traces of Chinese writing consist of pottery and bones with inscriptions where the characters are carved with sharp angles – almost like the Nordic runes.
When the Chinese first invented the book, it consisted of bamboo sticks sewn together side by side. Columns of characters were written on each stick with a brush, which worked quite well with the Chinese way of writing columns of characters from right to left. Writing with a brush also made some new freedom in the form of the characters – especially the day that paper was invented!
The oldest bamboo-books have not survived to current times, but there may be copies of some works – and also quite a lot of ancient metal objects with cast-in characters. Further more there are paintings, seals and many other types of objects with inscription that help us to give proves for the development of the Chinese system of writing.
Today Chinese is written with all sorts of pens and papers, but if you want to make something really nice, it's of course still most proper to use an ink brush and rice paper. For daily training, I personally like to write Chinese characters with jell-ink ballpoint pens, since it gives me the feeling of having a "swoop" similar to the result you'll get with brushes. Try finding what pen will suit you best. Do keep in mind that you may very well prefer one type of pens for writing in English, while a different choice may show more suitable for Chinese!
Avoid writing Chinese with red ink, since that may give an unwanted message to possible readers... Sure, I can agree that Chinese see red colour as a symbol for luck, and use red ink for their seals, but Chinese are also know to write with red ink when firing personnel or cancelling friendship!
When the Chinese first invented the book, it consisted of bamboo sticks sewn together side by side. Columns of characters were written on each stick with a brush, which worked quite well with the Chinese way of writing columns of characters from right to left. Writing with a brush also made some new freedom in the form of the characters – especially the day that paper was invented!
The oldest bamboo-books have not survived to current times, but there may be copies of some works – and also quite a lot of ancient metal objects with cast-in characters. Further more there are paintings, seals and many other types of objects with inscription that help us to give proves for the development of the Chinese system of writing.
Today Chinese is written with all sorts of pens and papers, but if you want to make something really nice, it's of course still most proper to use an ink brush and rice paper. For daily training, I personally like to write Chinese characters with jell-ink ballpoint pens, since it gives me the feeling of having a "swoop" similar to the result you'll get with brushes. Try finding what pen will suit you best. Do keep in mind that you may very well prefer one type of pens for writing in English, while a different choice may show more suitable for Chinese!
Avoid writing Chinese with red ink, since that may give an unwanted message to possible readers... Sure, I can agree that Chinese see red colour as a symbol for luck, and use red ink for their seals, but Chinese are also know to write with red ink when firing personnel or cancelling friendship!
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