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

COMPOSITION

on trees). Written in a fourfold square, the two upper symbols have equal value with the lower one, and though there is nothing wrong with the individual strokes, the character is topheavy. Written in a ninefold square, the lower part becomes proportionately larger and the character is balanced.

FIG. I05.—CHIN, PROHIBIT

The second division of Chien-Chia is Pu-Pai, the ‘ arrangement of spaces’. It is not, as might be supposed, merely the negative aspect of Fen-Chien, but itself an important consideration, being intimately connected with the Chinese philosophy ofart. The part played by the blank spaces in Chinese paintings is noticed by every one. These spaces are. not, in the truest sense, ‘blank’ at all, but constitute unstated expressions of sky, land or water. In calligraphy the ‘ empty ’ portions of the imaginary character-squares are full of invisible muscles joining stroke with stroke. We expect these empty spaces to exhibit some inherent harmony with the strokes.

Space gives breadth and ‘light’ to a character. The strokes can be well formed and lively and yet the characters appear black and dead because cramped or disproportionately spaced. For inspiration we take, as always, Nature: the night sky. There can be no more wonderful example of beautiful spacing than the stars and planets in the firmament, filling the vast dome completely, yet irregularly and without any sense of crowding. In England the night sky is often clouded, and

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