Chinese calligraphy : an introduction to its aesthetic and technique : with 6 plates and 155 text illustratons

ABSTRACT BEAUTY

forms. The word ‘ three’ provides an even better illustration. The character is composed of three horizontal lines. In printing, these lines are equidistant, parallel, and of equal length ;

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FIG.

in the Seal Style a larger space is left between the second and third lines than between the first and second; while in K‘ai-Shu and Hsing-Shu the length differs and the shape of the lines varies more or less in accordance with the taste of the writer at the moment.

We try to avoid using similarly shaped strokes in the same character or forming similarly designed characters in the same piece of calligraphy. ‘This point I shall deal with more fully in the chapter on composition.

It is of especial significance that the arrangement of the different parts of a character to form an organic whole can be done only with the subtlest appreciation of artistic values. Firstly, all the strokes of a character must be grouped so that they not only balance perfectly with each other but together form a unit which is complete in itself and which would be upset if any stroke were to be taken away. Finally, the whole character must have, not static symmetry, but a dynamic posture, the attitude of a moving figure in momentary equilibrium.

In the following illustrations, characters by eminent calligraphers are accompanied by sketches by myself, illustrating how much of art and how little of mechanical design there is in Chinese script. In Fig. 76, the character Yu (43), ‘to have’, which is by Téng Shih-Yii, was written in Chiian-Shu at a time

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