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

INTRODUCTION

Even at the present time a good hand is a social asset. As I have said, we tend to judge a person’s character from his handwriting, and many a friendship has been made or strengthened by admirably written letters. Such is our respect for a scholarly and cultured calligraphy! We believe even that we can test a person’s learning from his hand, for writing needs not only persistent practice and disciplined training, but an extensive background of knowledge as well. Without the ability to write a good letter, a Chinese would find it hard to secure any kind of appointment. We have now, it is true, invented a Chinese typewriter, and have also become accustomed to writing with foreign pens and pencils, but we still give little weight to printed or typewritten matter or to the products of the fountain-pen. We treasure, on the other hand, the manuscript letters of our friends, even mounting them for the sake of their pleasing appearance, instead of merely keeping them as souvenirs. And importance is attached not only to the style but to the arrangement of the characters on the note-paper.

From these remarks you will gather that our calligraphy is very closely bound up with our social habits; indeed, it is used in every sphere of our life. In this respect it is more important than painting. And it cannot be denied that it has, through long usage, reached a very high state of development, and is fully entitled to its status as the basic element in all forms of our art.

Speech and writing are two organs of the same human impulse—the conveyance of thought : the one operating through hearing, the other through sight ; the one by sound from mouth to ear, the other by form or image from hand to eye. But each can do something besides convey thought. Spoken words

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