For the Chinese, calligraphy is an art in its own right, inseparable from painting and poetry. And young people practice it willingly.
“In the beginning was the line!” This is how Chinese civilisation seems to have arisen, from the trace of a simple stroke on paper or silk, left by the brush that, for the first time, was placed in the hands of an ignorant and illiterate youth. He cannot imagine that he has just written the simplest Chinese pictogram: “yi,” meaning “one.”
Over the centuries of Chinese history, the lines have multiplied and become more complex, giving rise to the civilisation of the Middle Kingdom: harmonious, generous, wise, and tenacious, yet also complicated. Writing plays a crucial role in communication across the country’s diverse dialects, in education, and in the transmission of ancient wisdom. Calligraphy is an art in itself. This discipline, which consists of taming the brush, cannot be separated from two other arts: painting and poetry.
Foreigners learning Chinese characters often ask, “How long does it take to become a good calligrapher?” Many Chinese people are hesitant to answer honestly, fearing it may discourage them: “It takes a lifetime!”
Often, during large ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, or various celebrations, guests are offered a brush dipped in Indian ink at the entrance so they can sign their name or write an ancient auspicious proverb on a very large piece of silk, a sort of golden book that will be kept as a memento of the event.
The level of calligraphic culture then emerges in all its clarity, and one is judged by one’s mastery of the brush. The formation of the characters must not only be correct, that is, in the correct order of strokes, but must also be meaningful and aesthetically pleasing.
Chinese calligraphy has numerous constraints. However, these constraints do not limit either imagination or fantasy. When you master this art, you gain access to a new form of freedom that allows you to enhance parallel sentences, an expression, or a character.
Expert calligraphers manipulate the pressure and release of the brush to create strokes that are more or less dense. They bring the text to life and give it breadth through the interplay of white and inked spaces. By way of allusion, painting is compared to a poem without words, and the verses are calligraphed like a painting without illustrations. When the text fails to convey the meaning, illustration takes over.
Calligraphy is neither a specialised profession nor a high-level technique. It is a spiritual discipline practised by the intellectual and social elite of the Chinese literati. In this activity, they find a means to express and accompany an inner experience aimed at self-perfection and the realisation of communion with the universe. The most ancient Chinese traditions attribute magical power to writing. At that time, writing was considered a means of taking possession of the universe, probing and penetrating its secrets.
Today, unfortunately, many people are accustomed to typing characters on a computer or scribbling them with a ballpoint pen. They no longer know how to write them correctly. Even worse, calligraphy, a traditional Chinese art, is no longer taught and practised in schools, but only by specialists in particular settings: wedding or career promotion greetings, official announcements, regulations, funeral texts and the like.
Until recently, every social organisation (family, factory, office, shop, or company) had an elder calligrapher who had established himself over the years. This person was known not only for his skill in tracing elegant characters in black Indian ink, but also for his ability to discern what was reasonable and wise to write, for example, in an official announcement (demands, strikes, apologies), knowing that ultimately, through a long and tortuous process, he would be judged on the correctness of his opinions.
For this reason, in regions under Chinese influence, young people can be seen turning to Chinese elders to ask them to write a few calligraphic characters. Of course, they need to convey a particular message to their entourage, but above all, they need to engage with the elder sage. They want to receive a lesson in Chinese philosophy and immerse themselves, even if only for a few hours, in the culture of their ancestors. (Pierre Jeanne/MEP) – (123rf)
