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

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

characters, and the varied shapes of stroke (Figs. 26 and 27) which transformed the circular, curved and rounded lines of Small Seal into the square, the polyangular and the straight.

Strictly speaking, there are three forms of Li-Shu: the LiShu of Ch'in, the Li-Shu of Early Han and the Li-Shu of Later Han. The last is often termed Pa-Fen, and has somewhat the same relation to earlier forms of Li-Shu that Hsiao-Chiian has to Ya-Chiian. A vast amount of discussion has taken place as to the origin and significance of the name Pa-Fen. But the question is one for archaeologists, and we can content ourselves here with noting the change from rugged uneven strokes to smooth, even, decorative, and regularly incised ones.

The Later Han period saw a sudden leap forward in the art of calligraphy, mainly due, no doubt, to the improvement of the writing instruments. It became possible for calligraphers to express their talents freely, shaping their strokes with varied thickness and rendering them steady or hasty, heavy or light, dry or wet, square or circular as taste demanded. These facilities were denied to the earlier writers, who worked upon bronze and stone with knives that could not be turned with any ease. Henceforward the possibilities of calligraphy as an art were developed to an astounding degree. The designing of the characters had been regarded as a fine art even in the days when the symbols were almost wholly pictorial; but now the technique was developed till calligraphy could rank, as a means of expression, with any other of the fine arts. It is a tragedy that of the writings of T‘sai Yung (#4 &), who was considered the finest calligrapher of Han times, and who specialized in Pa-Fen Style, no authentic examples remain ; we have only

records of the opinions of his contemporaries. [60]