Principles of Chinese Calligraphy


P8: Choosing a Form Book (Copy Book or Model)

There are five major styles of Chinese calligraphy – Zuan, Li, Tsao, Hsin, and Kai. Each style has numerous derivatives and sub-styles. Choosing our first style will greatly influence our thoughts, emotions, styles, and artistic accomplishment in the future. Choosing a bad or improper style will confine our progress and points of view.  Different calligraphy scholars have different assertions about choosing the first style. Except for Tsao and Hsin Styles, the other three styles can be chosen for beginners. (Tsao and Hsin Styles both have a lot of irregularities and demand a faster speed of writing.) 

The following chart recommends the first style for beginners. It also lists characteristics, connections, and future benefits if we focus on one style and then go from there.

Kai 楷 書 Li 隸 書 Zuan 篆 書

S

A

M

P

L

E

  #1

 

 

S

A

M

P

L

E

  #2

 

S

A

M

P

L

E

  #3

 

S

A

M

P

L

E

#4

 

Pros 

&

Cons

 

·        Adopted by most new students

·        Easy to recognize standard writing

·        Easy to learn, but hard to master

·        Connect to learn Hsin Style and then Tsao Style

·        Does not trace evolution of Chinese characters

·        Elegant beauty

·        Easy to learn

·        Varieties of character structures

·        Can trace backward to Zuan and forward to Kai

·        Prone to fall in confined style limitation -- cannot connect to learn Hsin & Tsao directly

·        Understanding character evolution

·        Strokes emphasize calligraphy theories – good foundation for Tsao Style and training Center Tip Principle

·        Trace forward to Li

·        Not for those who don't know Chinese writings 

 

 

The following websites provide free download of Copy Books and masterpieces:  

 

Ancient Chinese calligraphy Form Books are the best lifetime calligraphy teachers. Every ancient Chinese calligrapher went through a long process in their life emulating Form Books and previous masterpieces. The more we dive in and the more humble we are, the more learning and knowledge we can retrieve from those masterpieces. The more details and closeness we have observed and transferred to our practice, the more progress we can make.  

 

Rubbing a Chinese calligraphy work

The following is an excellent website for versions of rubbings of Chinese calligraphy masterpieces.

                     http://www.bttp.net/xinshang/xinshang.htm


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