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

ORIGIN AND CONSTRUCTION OF CHARACTERS

in heaven and earth into a simple system of notation. With the two signs — and ~-, corresponding to the positive and negative principles of the Universe—Yang (8) and Yin ({®) as they are called in Chinese—as a basis, Fu-Hsi evolved

Heaven Earth Water Fire | I

= SS Ss oe = om “ = SS SS ee = om = om River Mountain Wind Thunder Pa-Kua FIG. 3

eight combinations, representing heaven, earth, thunder, wind, water, fire, mountains, and rivers. This list is instructive as showing what things seemed of most importance to the human mind at that early stage of development. It is interesting to note that though rain, hail, and snow are all included in water, rivers are separated from it, and mountains distinguished from earth. Mountains and rivers still hold a high place in the Chinese heart. Probably Fu-Hsi developed a system of grouping all the observed objects and phenomena of his universe under these primary symbols. For instance, = would represent heaven, emperor, father, gold, head, horse, and so on; and == would represent earth, mother, cloth, breast, cow, etc. All the items under one head will be seen to have some quality in common: those in the first list, for example, share an element of strength and hardness ; those in the second, one of weakness and softness. Of course, Fu-Hsi’s universe was [19 ]