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

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

No objection is made to this; the tutor contents himself with explaining the positions of the various strokes in the characters and making the pupils execute them in the right order. He does, however, insist that each stroke be made in a single movement, with the brush travelling the length of it in the right direction. It is utterly contrary to the nature of Chinese calligraphy—as it is of Chinese painting—to correct or retouch a single dot. We demand that even a beginner should write, not fill in the coloured outlines as if he were drawing. Children soon get interested in writing, and strive to make their strokes resemble the model. Then the tutor shows them how to move the brush and shape the strokes.

The next stage consists in tracing characters. The tutor gives his pupils specimens of good calligraphy—usually written by himself—and tells them to cover them with thin paper through which the positions and constructions of the characters are partly visible. With this help, the children trace the specimen characters over and over again, and thus learn to make their own strokes and accustom their eyes to the general structure of whole characters.

Copying comes next. A model is placed in front of the pupil, slightly to the left- or right-hand side of the paper on which he is writing. The number of characters to be copied is gradually increased. ‘The object of this exercise is to teach the pupil to understand the structure of good characters. At first he finds it very difficult to copy the model accurately, and is assisted by using a kind of ‘ graph’ paper divided, as described on page 167, into series of nine squares. The tutor explains which part of a character should fall within each of the squares and points out to the pupil where he is at fault.

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