Origins of Oriental Calligraphy

Origins

The earliest known calligraphy was found in China during the Shang Dynasty in 13th century BC carved on animal bones and tortoise shells. Some experts believe that calligraphy can date back even further, from 2000 to 1500 BC. Calligraphy from other parts of the Orient (Japan and Korea, for example) were either invented in China or share their origins with Chinese calligraphy. Regular, running and cursive styles are the ones most commonly practiced today and have been around since 5th century BC.

Zhuan calligraphy is formed using mostly straight lines and the characters often illustrate what they are describing. The seal style continued being the popular style until about 221 BC, when the lines became slightly curved and the pictures more interpretive. For example, the word "carriage" was now a picture of a bird's eye view of a carriage.

Clerical style replaced seal as the most popular oriental calligraphy because it was much faster and easier to draw. It got its name from the government records it was on including tax records and deeds to houses. Most of the strokes of clerical style are done upwards, hence giving this calligraphy a beautiful, uniform look.

Compared to clerical, this style of calligraphy appears less formal and more blocky. Regular style is the form usually taught to students just beginning to practice Oriental calligraphy today.

Running hand style allows for more fluid movements from the writer and the lines are therefore much more wavy. It was widely used during the Imperial Era, although regular style was preferred for formal writing.

This style, only developed as early as 710 AD, is based on the idea that calligraphy as an art should be highly individualized and wild. Writing in cursive hand is a form of self-expression, but it does not a standard of ancient calligraphers. Furthermore, it is more art than writing because it cannot always be understood.

The first type of calligraphy, seal style, was used for divination. Words would be carved on bones and shells which were thrown into fires until they cracked and then interpreted by fortune tellers. The predictions would then be recorded on them using seal characters. During the Imperial Era, clerical and later styles of calligraphy were used to decide who was selected to be an executive in the Imperial Court. On art throughout the Orient, calligraphy is incorporated as either a title, explanation, or part of the artwork itself.