Hanzishufa
01 · Historical Records
As a regularized means of writing Chinese characters and an art form that expresses thoughts and emotions through the writing of Chinese characters, calligraphy has undergone thousands of years of development in China: from oracle-bone and bronze inscriptions it evolved into large-seal and small-seal scripts and clerical script, and was then fixed in the cursive, regular, and running scripts of the Eastern Han, Wei, and Jin dynasties. Relying on the pictographic symbols of the Chinese script and employing unique writing tools, it embodies the modes of thinking, values, and aesthetic consciousness of the Chinese nation through its particular texts, brushwork, character structure, and composition, conveys the distinctive personal demeanor and temperament of the Chinese people, and has become an inseparable part of Chinese culture. Since the twentieth century, as China's modernization has continually deepened, the ecological environment of traditional Chinese culture has been severely impacted; the social foundation on which Chinese calligraphy depends for survival has gradually changed, and the cultural atmosphere that nourished calligraphy has become increasingly thin.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Chinese character calligraphy, commonly known as 'calligraphy' (shufa), is a traditional art of writing Chinese characters that is practiced throughout all of China. Among all the peoples of the world, only the Chinese character calligraphy of the Chinese nation has developed the writing of a practical script into an art standing alongside painting, music, dance, sculpture, and literature. In this sense, it is not only a cultural treasure of the Chinese nation but also a precious asset in the treasury of world culture and art. The simplification of character forms, the standardization of script styles, and the digitization of writing have caused the aesthetic flavor and cultural connotations unique to Chinese characters to drain away continually. The application and popularization of hard pens, computers, printers, and the internet have profoundly changed the ways in which people write, read, and communicate, greatly diminishing the practicality, accessibility, and influence of calligraphy. In addition, with systematic calligraphy training excluded from the modern education system, the collapse of the popular foundation of Chinese character calligraphy has further accelerated.
The evolution of the scripts
From oracle bone and bronze inscriptions through the great and small seals, clerical script, and the cursive, regular and running hands of the Han, Wei and Jin.
Brushwork, structure and composition
Wording, brushwork, structure and composition together articulate Chinese modes of thought, values and taste, and the character of the person who writes.
The impact of new tools
Simplification, standardisation and digitisation have drained the characters of aesthetic meaning, and pens, computers and printing have reshaped writing itself.
Calligraphy in schooling
Once pushed out of formal education, calligraphic training weakened the popular base; its return to primary and secondary classrooms is the decisive countermeasure.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chinese character calligraphy is practiced throughout all of China, with its organizational network formed by the system of calligraphers' associations from the central to the local level, cultural centers at all levels, and calligraphy education in primary and secondary schools. In the contemporary calligraphy world, alongside the traditional copybook tradition ('tiexue'), an orientation toward stele studies ('beixue') and the combination of stele and copybook traditions has taken shape; the seal, clerical, regular, running, and cursive scripts proceed in parallel in creation and teaching, and various regions have often formed regional calligraphic styles based on provincial styles, such as those of Jinghua (the Beijing area), the Yangtze River Delta, and Lingnan.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Hanzishufa.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Under these circumstances, the prospects for calligraphy are not optimistic, and it is necessary to immediately launch work to vigorously promote it and protect it comprehensively.
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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