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

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

Fig. 81 shows the character Sui (#), ‘to follow’, in the Grass Style of Wang Hsi-Chih, The movement of the strokes suggests speed, but a dancing rather than a racing speed. The formation of the character is amazingly good, every stroke joined to the next in a continuous mobile line, like the contours of a dancing girl with her floating draperies.

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Finally, Fig. 82, Yee, the author’s signature (#), which means “a constant rule’, has the shape of a stork standing on one leg—stable but poised for movement.

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It may not be possible to find pictures to correspond as closely as this with every character, but the principle holds good for all: the character must have the balance of a human

being or natural or other object caught in the act of moving. [ 122 ]

FIG. 81

FIG. 82