Essays on Chinese Calligraphy
Postscript of Battle Formation of the Brushstroke
By Wang Xizhi
Paper is the battlefield, brush is the sword, ink is the shield, ink stone is the castle, conception is the commander, skill is the assistant, and composition is the strategy. To take a brush is to take a risk, to start a stroke is to issue an order, and to draw a turning stroke is to kill.
Prepare ink before start. Meanwhile, in a calm mood conceive characters' size, warp, direction and rhythm, arranging them structurally coherent. Start to write till idea is clear. For regular and semi-cursive script, draw waving strokes with three moves, horizontal strokes in the shape of cirrus, curved strokes as drawing a crossbow, dot strokes in the shape of a falling rock, turning-strokes in the shape of a steel hook, vertical strokes in the shape of a ten thousand years old rattan, and right-falling strokes as a hiker quickens his steps. If characters are built with strokes neatly aligned at the top and the bottom as beads of abacus, they simply cannot be called calligraphy but some strokes. Song Yi, a student of Zhong You, used to write in this way. Being severely criticized, he dared not to see his teacher for three years. After obtained Zhong You's Brush Momentum, which is summarized in rules above, he practiced calligraphy accordingly and made his fame among his contemporaries.
Cursive script is governed by other rules. Start a character slow and finish it fast, and make them connected as dragons or snakes tossing and turning. Their strokes should not be drawn even nor flat but inclined and undulated. If a character has a dot stroke, do the rest, then place it with a single throw. The execution of cursive script should be mixed with that of seal script or clerical script. Except occasions like draft-cursive script and urgent official use, do not write too fast, otherwise ink cannot be absorbed by the paper, resulting in a superficial calligraphy.
Regular and semi-cursive script must consult clerical and draft-cursive script for techniques. If write in a simple, straightforward way as common people do, the momentum will be lost. I studied calligraphy with Mrs. Wei when I was young, and resolved to be a calligrapher of great capability. I traveled famous mountains in the north later on, where I saw calligraphy of Li Si and Cao Xi. Then in Yanling I saw Zhong You and Liang Gu's calligraphy, in Luoyang I saw Cai Yong's Stone Scripture, and at cousin Wang Qia's residence I saw the rubbing of Mt. Hua Temple Stele. Only then I realized that I had frittered away my time in vain by sticking to one style. So I changed my example to the old script. Considering that I am fifty-three like a candle guttering in the wind, I write this letter to my children. Keep it safe in a stone building, and don't pass it to anyone irrelevant.
Wang Xizhi (303 - 361)
Preface to the Poems Composed at Orchid Pavilion, 353
Tracing copy on rice paper, Tang
Wang Xizhi is the greatest calligrapher in all of Chinese history. He was born in a prominent family of state officials. As a child he was tutored by Wei Shou, a accomplished calligrapher then. He studied long and hard, and ultimately developed his own style by studying the techniques of the old masters - exactly the approach recommended to the student of Chinese calligraphy by all other great masters of the art. His semi-cursive script, while restrained enough to be decipherable, has been praised “as light as the passing cloud, as vigorous as the startled dragon.” This letter, summed up his life time experience, was written to his son as a secret.
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