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

CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY

height of their powers only at a venerable age. No matter how long they practised they never seem to have been satisfied with their work, but always to have been finding something new in the old models and to have striven to compass it themselves. There is a Chinese proverb which says: ‘ Shu-Néng-Shéng Chiiao’ (#4 #8 4: %5])—‘ good practice can produce skilfulness’. We even believe that if a writer practises perseveringly he need not worry about proficiency, for that is bound to come in time.

We distinguish three stages in the development of an apprentice calligrapher. At the first stage the writer finds that he can, perhaps after several attempts, make a copy of a character which seems to him to be nearly as good as the original. This stage is a happy one. The writer’s eye is not yet sufficiently trained to enable him to perceive how far short his effort really falls of the model. Further practice brings him to the second stage, when he realizes the relative poorness of his work. This is very discouraging and sometimes a writer will give up trying further. But actually this discouragement is a sign of improvement; it shows that the writer has begun to appreciate not merely his own defects but the excellence and beauty of his models. Those who are genuinely devoted to the art will succeed ultimately in transcending this stage. It may take a very long time, or it may be accomplished comparatively quickly. Suddenly the writer achieves a result which is really as good as the example. The wearisomeness of the endless practice falls away and he realizes that his success is due to his having at last understood the original so acutely as to be able to reproduce it. That is the third stage. ©

But it is by no means the last. At this point the writer

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