Art history final project

' History ', my definition of this word is anything that happened in the past. History is important, because it has been said that he who control the past, control the future. Our view of history shapes the way we view the present and our future is depending on the present. The knowledge from the ancients will help us out with our problems, the failure that happened in the past will help us to improve our self. However, sometimes the history is too far from us, it is very hard for us too get connected with the things that happened 500, 1000, or perhaps 2000 years ago.

People nowadays , especially student, does not like history. They think to themselves that history is just something in the past, does not related to them at all. Because of that, most of them does not know the story of their ancestor or anything happened to their ethnicity. Is this a good thing to them? No, not at all. Because if you do not know the history, you will unable to find out who you really are. For example, if you are a Chinese, then someone ask you what make you become a Chinese? What will be your answer? Maybe you will say because you know how to speak mandarin, but there is a lot of foreign people out there know how to speak mandarin, are them Chinese?

This is the problem that we always meet: We do not know who we really are. I am a Chinese and I am looking into the history for the answer, because only history can tell.

Chinese, as an ethnicity, is a group of people who identify with each other based on the same ancestor, culture, social or national experiences. But for me, culture, as the part of the history, is the main thing that make us to become a Chinese. However, Chinese culture is a very huge and wide topic, I can not share everything in one post. As an art student, what I want to share is one of the Chinese culture art - Chinese Calligraphy.

Before entering the topic, we should know what is calligraphy.

Calligraphy is a form of art, which people express their feeling and thoughts in the form of beautiful symbols, quotes or words by hands. The other definition of calligraphy is a set of skill for positioning and inscribing words, so that it show integrity, harmony, ancestry, rhythm and creativity.
        Integrity      - Admirable proportions and form.
        Harmony    - Pleasing relationship between different visual elements.
        Ancestry    - Refer to the heritage of letter shapes, techniques and materials.
        Rhythm      - Deliberate repetition to create feelings of pattern.

So, what is Chinese calligraphy? Chinese calligraphy is a form of calligraphy widely practiced in China. However, it is different from the others based on the visual form. Chinese words are represented by its own unique symbols, a kind of abstract diagram known as character. Because of this, Chinese language is always listed in the top ten hardest languages to learn. Beside that, Chinese calligraphy is done by four materials, known as The Four Treasure of Study - Ink Brush, Ink Stone, Ink stick and Xuan Paper.
      Ink brush - Is a type of brush which its hair is made by animal hair ( Example: goat, pig, mouse )
                     - Come with different texture ( soft, mixed and hard )

      Ink stone - A stone mortar for the grinding and containment of ink.
                     - Made from clay, bronze or iron.

      Ink stick - Use to produce ink by ground against ink stone with small amount of water.
                    - Made from soot

      Xuan paper( Rice paper ) - A type of paper invented from China.
                                              - For writing and painting purpose only.
                                              - Soft and fine texture.

Just as one thousand persons will have as many faces, one thousand persons will have as many different handwriting. Through this medium of form and handling of brush, created different style of Chinese calligraphy. However, I would only focus on a few major styles. These styles are linked to the Chinese script, and there are four major script that I want to share.

Four Major Chinese Script

1) Clerical script,隶书( li shu )
  •   Known as official script.
  •   Developed from the seal script, which is curvy, tall and wide.
  •   Appeared to be "flat".
  •   Official script tend o be taller and wider, some version is square.
2)Cursive script, 草书( chao shu )
  •   Also known as Grass script.
  •   Need proper training to read this kind of script.
  •   Entire characters maybe written without lifting the brush from the paper, all characters are connected.
3)Regular script,楷书( kai shu )
  • Often called standard script.
  •  It is the last major calligraphy to develop.
  • It is neatly written, with each of the strokes palace slowly and carefully. 
4)Semi cursive script, 行书( xing shu )
  • Also known as running script.
  • Write in free movement, characters are allowed to run into one another.
  •  Characters written with the brush lift up less often than the regular script. 
Chinese calligraphy, like the other calligraphy, it is very useful. First, it is a writing skill which the ancients in the China must acquired. In today society, it can be use as an hobby or for design purpose. Beside that, it is an art which can conveys the moral integrity, emotions and esthetic feeling. As the Chinese ink painting are always symbolism and hard to be understand, poet always use calligraphy to write a poem in the painting as a clue.

However, people nowadays does not appreciate Chinese calligraphy because of the commercial life style. We always give excuses like do not have time to make it, but actually we just spend our time on unnecessary things. The other reason why people do not want to practice Chinese calligraphy is because they do not know the benefits of it. Chinese calligraphy can mold a person's temperament and can help people to focus and also release stress. Beside of that, it also help people to calm down their mind and relax breathing, because practice Chinese calligraphy need to be focus and have a peaceful mind.

Chinese calligraphy is our cultural art which is our honor and should not be forgotten. As a Malaysian Chinese, we should also undertake this culture and inheritance it to the younger generation. The government should advice people to practice Chinese calligraphy and we can use it in our design. I believe that Chinese calligraphy can  merge with other culture art in Malaysia in order to create a design that can show that we are an united country.

Know the history, know who you are.

 Running script



 Regular script



http://www.chinavoc.com/arts/calligraphy/newimages/clericalstyle.gif


 Grass script



 Creative Chinese Calligraphy






http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/4644117116_a2cb77c536.jpg



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