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

OTHER FORMS OF CHINESE ART

Chinese paintings are far less detailed than most Western paintings, and the equilibrium of line and space has therefore to be very carefully considered. Everything which is not vital to the onlooker’s comprehension is eliminated. Or perhaps it would be truer to say, everything which is not essential to the artist’s vision: for Chinese painting is essentially ‘ subjective ° ; its aim is not to depict an object as it scientifically is but as it is seen through the lens of an individual mind. Hence drastic simplification is always effected. But, as I explained in Chapter II, the characters of calligraphy were originally nothing but simplifications of observed objects ; so here is another similarity.

Let me drive the point home with a concrete example. The written character for a tree is a complex of lines embodying the prime attributes of the tree: in later styles it is simply a vertical stroke, representing the trunk, with a horizontal stroke and two oblique strokes for the branches. In many paintings clumps of trees—on the side of a mountain or along a riverbank—are shown thus or even simply by clusters of vertical strokes. Perspective and chiaroscuro are ignored alike in painting and calligraphy.

Every calligrapher strives to attain, within the bounds of tradition and good taste, a striking and unusual style. The counterpart of this in painting is an element of the grotesque. A painter will tend to exaggerate some part or object in order to emphasize his personal approach.

In the West a painting is said to be a work of art if it has what is called ‘quality’. In China we call this necessary element Rhythmic Vitality. It is the first thing we look for in a painting, and we require that it shall be present not only in the picture as a whole but in each separate stroke. We object

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