Chinese calligraphy : an introduction to its aesthetic and technique : with 6 plates and 155 text illustratons

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

a character has to be extended to support the upper elements, as in Lé and Chu, the two sweeping strokes to left and right of the vertical stroke are diminished to dots with the appearance of facing one another. In characters containing two strong horizontal strokes, like Chéng and Ping (Fig. 138), the upper of the two is made shorter than the lower. Characters with two strong vertical strokes, like Tz and Yin, are made with the right-hand stroke a little longer than the left-hand. Characters which have a big “head ’ and wide ‘ feet’, such as Ying and Ching, are usually

written with the central part JE. ib. 4 Bl reduced in size. Characters with long horizontal strokes

Gene) Gide! by (Gon) 吧 the middle and short sweeping strokes to left and

right, such as Shih and Ch‘z,

e ue 矢 37) have the right-hand sweepYing stroke reduced to a dot.

Shih Chi These last examples

Ga stn) : ee (contract) SHoyy hat composition i > not simply a matter of obey-

ing rules deduced from the practices of old masters. Any writer’s own experience will provide him with principles which he will not find written down anywhere as laws. All the minor principles I have described are in any case only contributory to the two fundamentals of composition, Fen-Chien and Pu-Pai, ‘relative division’ and ‘ arrangement of spaces ’, which together we call Chien-Chia. The only other generally accepted rule is that which ordains that multi-stroked characters should be written small and few-stroked ones large,

lest the former should sprawl out of their imaginary squares and [ 186 ]