The history of Chinese calligraphy is as long as that of China itself. Calligraphy is a special category in China's world of fine arts and one of the most challenging Chinese art forms for a foreigner to appreciate or master. Calligraphy, orshufa, is one of the four basic skills and disciplines of the Chinese literati, together with painting (hua), stringed musical instruments (qin) and board games (qi).

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Classification
Studying Chinese calligraphy one must learn something about the origins of Chinese characters, which can be traced to inscriptions on bones, tortoise shells and bronzeware of which the earliest identifiable characters belonged to the Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BC).

Through the centuries Chinese characters have changed constantly and are mainly divided into five categories today: the seal script (zhuan shu), official script (li shu), regular script (kai shu), running script (xing shu) and cursive script (cao shu).

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Chinese calligraphy, like script itself, has developed the above-mentioned styles according to various schools.



Seal characters, which were developed in the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century-711BC) and are the earliest form of writing after oracle inscriptions, were the first unified and standardized characters of the nation. Official script is a simplified form of script since seal characters were too complicated for ancient officials to use when copying documents. Official script led to the emergence of regular script, which was square in form, non-cursive and architectural in style, in the third century. Official script also gave birth to cursive script where characters are often joined with the last stroke of the first that merges into the initial stroke of the next character, which made the writing process much faster. Running script falls somewhere between regular and cursive scripts.



Calligraphy is an art form that involves a great deal of theory and requires many skills.

'Four Treasures of the Study'
produce Chinese characters one will need a brush, paper, ink stick and ink stone, commonly referred to as the "Four Treasures of the Study".

To learn calligraphy, it is necessary to learn about these tools.
While brushes are varied, white-goat-hair, black-rabbit-hair and yellow-weasel-hair brushes are the main ones. On the basis of function, brushes are classified into three groups: hard, soft and both. Brush handles are usually made of bamboo, wood, lacquer or porcelain; ivory or jade handles are rare and precious.
The ink stick is a unique pigment used for Chinese traditional painting and calligraphy. The most famous ink stick ishui mo(Anhui ink stick), made of pines that grow on Huangshan Mountain in Anhui Province. Clean water is needed to grind the ink stick, which must be balanced in the hand during the grinding or rubbing process. Press hard and rub lightly, slowly and evenly against the ink slab until a thick, liquid-ink forms.

Paper was invented by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). While paper comes in many varieties, Xuan paper, produced in the Jing Prefecture of Xuanzhou (today's Anhui Province), is considered the best for Chinese calligraphy. The paper is soft and fine textured, suitable for conveying the artistic expression of both Chinese calligraphy and painting. With a good tensile strength and mothproof quality, the paper can be preserved for a long time.

Ink stones or ink slabs have been classified into three categories:Duan,SheandTao. Features common to all three ink slabs are the stone's hardness and fineness. Although the stone is hard and fine, it is not dry or slippery. Using a hard, smooth stone, liquid

ink can be produced easily by rubbing the ink stick against the stone.

By controlling the flexibility of the brush, the concentration of the ink and the absorbency of the paper, the artist can produce an infinite variety of calligraphic styles and forms.























chinese painting history



Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world.

Painting in the traditional style is known today in Chinese as guó huà (国画), meaning 'national' or 'native painting', as opposed to Western styles of art which became popular in China in the 20th century. Traditional painting involves essentially the same techniques ascalligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black or colored ink; oils are not used. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which paintings are made of are paper and silk. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls. Traditional painting can also be done on album sheets, walls, lacquerware, folding screens, and other media.
The two main techniques in Chinese painting are:
.Gong-bi (工筆), meaning "meticulous", uses highly detailed brushstrokes that delimits details very precisely. It is often highly coloured and usually depicts figural or narrative subjects. It is mostly practised by artists working for the court or in independent workshops.
• Ink and wash painting, in Chinese Shui-mo or (水墨[1]) also loosely termed watercolour or brush painting, and also known as "literati painting", as it was one of the "Four Arts" of the Chinese Scholar-official class.[2] In theory this was an amateur art practised by gentlemen, a distinction that begins to be made in writings on art from the Song dynasty, though in fact the careers of leading exponents could benefit
• considerably.[3] This style is also referred to as "xie yi" (寫意) or freehand style.
• Landscape painting was regarded as the highest form of Chinese painting, and generally still is.[4] The time from the Five Dynasties period to the Northern Song period (907–1127) is known as the "Great age of Chinese landscape". In the north, artists such as Jing Hao,Li Cheng, Fan Kuan, and Guo Xi painted pictures of towering mountains, using strong black lines, ink wash, and sharp, dotted brushstrokes to suggest rough stone. In the south, Dong Yuan, Juran, and other artists painted the rolling hills and rivers of their native countryside in peaceful scenes done with softer, rubbed brushwork. These two kinds of scenes and techniques became the classical styles of Chinese landscape painting.













Chinese painting

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 - Tools and Materials



Traditional Chinese painting has its special materials and tools, consisting of brushes of different
types, ink and pigments of different textures, xuan paper, silk and various kinds of ink slabs. Chinese people have called writing brushes, ink sticks, paper and ink slabs the four treasures of the study since ancient times













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Brushes

There are three types of brushes used in traditional Chinese painting: soft, stiff, and mixed.

The soft brush is made mainly of fleece, with the addition of bird feathers. It absorbs a large amount of water and is suitable for painting flowers and leaves and applying water and colours. For instance, there are large and small soft ti brushes, large tai brushes for painting wider objects such as bamboo, and colouring brushes. The stiff brush is made mainly of weasel hair. The artist uses a stiff brush to give the effect of strength, elasticity and resilience. It is convenient for contour lines or painting hills, rocks or tree trunks. Such brushes include brushes for painting the veins of leaves and folds of garments, large and small brushes for calligraphy and painting, brushes for painting plum blossoms and large lanzhu brushes for drawing the bold lines of bamboo or orchids. The third kind of brush is a mixture of soft fleece and weasel hair. The artist uses this kind of brush for the combined effect of strength and grace. For instance, the baiyun brush, made of a mixture of soft fleece and stiff weasel hair, can also be used for painting flowers and leaves. In addition, there are specially made stiff brushes, such as a brush made of short pig bristles or mouse whiskers.

Choosing the right brush for painting depends on your requirements or the circumstances in which you are painting. It is better for beginners to use the mixed brush. When buying brushes, it is better to buy in special stores for the four treasures of the study, as they have a complete assortment. Before you start to use a new brush, soak it in cold or warm water. After using the brush, you must wash it clean, squeeze it dry, arrange the brush hair neatly and hang the brush up. The brush can then be used for a long period.



Ink

The ink used for painting is made by grinding an ink stick on an ink slab. You can also buy prepared ink in bottles. The ink sticks consist of pine soot ink and tung-oil-soot ink. In general, tung-oil-soot ink is used, because it is of fine quality and the black has a bluish-purple lustre. Ink sticks with light glue are of top quality. Ink sticks made long ago that have lost their lustre and brightness should not be used. Pine-soot ink, which is black but lustreless, is used only occasionally when painting birds or butterflies in meticulous style. It may also be used when you wish a special effect. Ink sticks should be well protected against dampness, or sun, so that the glue will not be lost and the stick will not become dry and cracked.

Pigments are used in addition to ink for colouring in Chinese painting. They are mixed with water, instead of oil. Pigments for Chinese painting are classified as transparent or opaque. Transparent colours are made with plant pigments, including mainly vermillion, gamboge, ochre, cyanine, rouge and carmine. Opaque colours, made mainly of minerals, are also called mineral colours, which include mineral blue, mineral green, titanium white, mineral yellow and cinnabar. Mineral colours have strong covering capacity, but fade easily. Hence, it is necessary to mix mineral colours with an appropriate amount of liquid glue (animal and plant glue). In addition, there are gold and silver powder, made of real gold and silver. Pigment stores in China's Suzh-ou add glue to gold and silver foil, grind them into a fine paste and glue them onto a small porcelain cup, hence the name, gold or silver cup. You can use a clean brush soaked in water to dip up the gold powder in the cup. Gold and silver powder are used mainly to trace leaf veins and on metal objects, giving a sense of splendour in green and gold. However, they are rarely used.

Paper and silk

Xuan paper is the special material for traditional Chinese painting. It is so called because it is produced at Xuancheng in Jing County, An-hui Province.
Xuan paper may be processed or unprocessed. Unprocessed xuan paper absorbs moisture and ink, and colours sink in easily when water is added. When using this kind of paper, pay attention to the moisture of the brush and the speed with which you move the brush. If there is too much moisture and you move the brush too slowly, ink and colours will sink in easily.
Processed paper (treated with the proper amount of soybean milk or liquid glue) does not let ink and colours sink in. This kind of paper is suitable for doing paintings in the meticulous style.
Chinese artists also like to paint on silk fabric. In general, it is used after being treated and is used mostly for paintings in the meticulous style. Raw silk is used for freehand painting.
There are many kinds of xuan paper, each with its own properties. Beginners in traditional Chinese painting should grtsp and make use of these properties through constant practice. Only in this way can they succeed in painting well. In addition, there are ancient xuan paper and imitation ancient xuan paper, each with its own properties and able to produce a particular artistic effect. Xuan paper should be protected against moisture.

Ink Slab

The ink slab is the tool for grinding the ink stick. A good ink slab is a beautiful handicraft. Many materials are used for ink slabs. The most famous are duan stone, produced at Duanxi in Zhaoq-ing, Guangdong Province, and xie stone, produced at Longweishan (Dragon Tail Hill) in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province. Both are aqueous rock, fine, even and hard in texture. It is easy to grind the ink fine, even and thick, and the ink does not dry quickly. Ink slab for painting should be large (20 to 26 cm in diameter) and deep and have a lid to keep it clean. It can be either square or round.

Color-mixing tray

This is a dish or plate for mixing colours. White porcelain is best, because the white reflects colourscorrectly. It is not suitable to use a coloured dish or plate or one with decorative designs to mix colours.

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Brush wash untensil
This is equipment for washing brushes. It can be made of glass, porcelain or enamelware. It holds water for washing brushes. Its mouth should be wide, smooth and not rough, so that it will not impair the brush's hair.