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

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

In Figs. 85 A, B, C, D, you will notice particularly how all the strokes are formed in logical co-ordination with each other ; the direction and movement of certain of the leading ones influence the remainder. Fig. 864 shows the character Huang (2), ‘yellow’, written in two styles: in the first the poise of the character is towards the left; in the second it is to the right. Fig. 868, the character Huan (#), ‘vast’, has its ‘ head’ tilted to one side and its ‘arms’ slightly higher on one side than the other. This slight tilting of the left upper corner serves to create a feeling of tension against the lower

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FIG. 86 Adopted from the article by Lin Yu-Tang

right-hand corner. As a result the outline of the character has something of the posture of a tap-dancer.

In dancing there are certain recognized positions for hands, feet and head. They are not symmetrical postures, but points of equilibrium, variable with the figure of the dancer, which occur in the course of the movements. In calligraphy there are similar conventional positions for the strokes, but it is rare to find any two strokes in a single character alike. Obviously every position in dancing varies with the slightest displacement of foot or arm; in calligraphy, corresponding minute variations on a set design effect the development of an individual style.

A dancer has first to master the mechanical pattern of a step [ 128 ]