Ancient Wisdom: A Chinese Calligrapher's Tale

by PZ Bar

For all seekers of truth and wisdom - modern calligrapher P.Zbar introduces us to the ancient wisdom of Chinese calligraphy in this spiritual tale of the scholar Chu Shui Hu . Calligraphy becomes his path of metamorphosis when he is sent away to the mountains of Zhongnan Shan to find the greatest secret of Chinese life. Thus begins Hu’s mystical journey into his own soul to gain deeper wisdom, to grow, and to unlock the secret powers of chi.

Genres: Art, Fiction

114 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Galatea · Rating 4 out of 5]

From an author who does not wish to be known (save for on the copyright page) comes a charming little fable of calligraphy set somewhere in the Tang dynasty (618-907).

The story is short, reading like a fairy tail about self-reflection and introspection, which is neat. On the verso (left-side page), accompanying the story are calligraphic renderings of various Chinese characters, as well as their accompanying English meaning and context, to the main story on the recto (right-side page)

Very neat. Quaint, reading this made me feel like a kid again, poring over storybooks.

[John Fredrickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice fable of a Chinese calligrapher who is forced by his lord to engage in a solitary mountain retreat to perfect his art. The story is quite simple, but each page is embellished with a Chinese pictograph, with a description of the nature (literally and figuratively) of the character. This is somewhat ecopoetic, but without a lot of philosophizing.