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

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

reed pens are limited: the nib must be finely cut and may be slanted at any angle to suit the writer’s style—that is about all the maker need attend to. We cannot press our brushes on the paper as you are able to rest a good part of the weight of your hand on a nib. The play of the brush under Chinese fingers is extremely delicate, and the instrument has therefore to be more sensitively constructed.

The handling of the brush is of the utmost importance. It is said that once a calligrapher has learned to handle his brush correctly he is in a fair way to become a good writer. There is no definite method to follow. The brush may be likened to a bow and arrow. When an archer has thoroughly sighted his target, poised his body, grasped his bow firmly, and aimed accurately, the arrow will almost certainly hit the mark. So with the calligrapher : with the mind concentrated, the body upright and balanced, the brush vertical, the dot or stroke should fall exactly on the appointed place.

Every great master has his own way of handling his brush, but a beginner must first submit to some discipline. Generally the brush should be absolutely vertical, inclining neither to right nor to left. The thumb and three fingers should grasp the handle on four sides, with the little finger in support. (Fig. 92.) The upper phalange of the thumb presses on the left side of the handle, the top of the second finger on the right side; part of the handle lies on the middle phalange of the second finger. The top of the middle finger hooks round the anterior side of the brush, FIG. 92 and the finger-nail and some of the flesh of

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