Status Updates From Chinese Calligraphy (The Cu...

Just finished Ch.2, An overall history from ancient times to round about the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD) of the development of calligraphy. Big Qin dynasty name: Li Si, big Han dynasty names: Zhang Zhi and Cai Yong. All interesting, but difficult to absorb because, at least to a non-expert, the description and analysis of some supposedly different styles often seemed arbitrary and forced.

Just finished Ch. 1 about the origins of Chinese characters: lost in history, but interesting theories. Evolution is the keyword: change is the only constant.

The main point of the Introduction was about the theory behind Chinese calligraphy, and it made it clear that Chinese calligraphy is a blank slate onto which any number of hobbyists, aesthetes and philosophers projected their thinking, ranging from Cai Yong who advised a meditative approach “as if one were in the presence of the emperor” to Mi Fu who wrote “It’s just for fun!”

Have just read the Prologue, by Wen C. Fong. Regeneration: the idea that the unchanging dao was the guide to constant innovation. The harking back of Chinese artists thruout their history to more ancient forms for inspiration once sated with developments thereto. The creative possibilities in the mixing of styles: Wang Xizhi. The self-consciousness of Eastern art as lagging behind Western in terms of modernity.