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

ABSTRACT BEAUTY:

In the writing of an inferior calligrapher either asymmetrical balance, or momentum, or both, will be lacking. Good writing always has both qualities, and the achievement of them often draws a character into unexpected shapes. This unexpected quality is one of the greatest attributes of Chinese calligraphy. The flexibility of construction which is possible enables the "practised calligrapher to choose his own forms as he works. The choice and construction require, of course, good taste, and good taste has to be cultivated, and this is done by observing beautiful forms in nature and studying beautiful forms in art. Those unaccustomed to these practices are usually uncertain in their judgements of calligraphy. Some characters are satisfying to every eye, but many more can be appreciated only by those who have taken the pains resolutely to train themselves.

Beauty is, of course, not an absolute quality; there are many kinds of it which appeal to one in different moods. The Chinese have names for a number of the types of beauty to be found in good calligraphy. They distinguish ‘ perfect beauty *» ‘ virile beauty ’, ‘ elegant beauty ’, ‘ limpid beauty ’, and “ strange beauty ’, for example. Some of the established styles of calligraphy mentioned in the last chapter fall in these categories. Wang Hsi-Chih’s hand (Figs. 35 and 59) certainly has ‘ perfect beauty’; Yen Chéng-Ch‘ing’s (Fig. 39) has ‘ virile beauty’ ; the Sung Emperor Hui Tsung’s (Fig. 47) has ‘ elegant beauty ’ ; Mi Fei’s (Fig. 46) and Chao Meng-Fu’s (Fig. 49) are possessed of ‘limpid beauty’; Su Tung-P‘o’s (Fig. 40) and Chéng Hsieh’s (Fig. 44) have ‘strange beauty’.

It has already been explained that Chinese characters originate in nature. Now, no completely natural thing is ever quite regular: consequently Chinese characters usually display

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