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

ORIGIN AND CONSTRUCTION OF CHARACTERS

In these four figures it is easily possible to distinguish the animals from the characters. There are very many characters like these. I have already mentioned the sun, always round, and the moon, which appears sometimes as a crescent.

(2) SECOND CATEGORY: Chih-Shih, Indicative Symbols, figures which suggest the meaning, often by the idea of some motion :

Tan (8), dawn or day-break, 9 2 9° o. The sun rising above the horizon.

Ming (A), bright or clear, 4) ) >. A combination of sun and moon, which have in common the attribute of luminosity.

Li (at), to stand, £ iN k- The upper element

represents a man, the lower the earth; ic. a man standing firmly on the ground.

Chih (#), to reach or go to, g. The upper part indi-

cates a bird, and the lower, land: a bird flying down to land.

The characters listed in this category by the ‘ Shuo-Wén’ are comparatively few. In form they are similar to those in the first category ; in function they differ in being used exclusively for abstract description and the expression of imaginative ideas. They depict objects not according to their intrinsic visual characteristics but as imaginative symbols.

(3) THIRD CATEGORY: Hsing-Sheng, Phonetic Compounds. One element indicates the meaning, the other the pronunciation. We are able to trace the way in which this type of character came into being. Primitive man could imitate sounds before he could write. His first attempts at writing were done with simple figures. Then he found that there were some

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