 Chinese Calligraphy Techniques Chinese Writing Evolution | |
Tying knots | |
 Knots, c. 3000 BC |
In remote antiquity the Chinese tried to record things with the help of knots. Each knot stood for one thing, and a different tie indicated a different matter. If the matter was serious, a big knot was tied; when the matter was solved, the knot would be untied. This practice is carried on into modern times but as a craft. To this day the word knot still retains its primitive references to the event of marriage, assembly and alliance. |
| Genesis of Chinese writing | |
| The evolution of character bird. |
The origin of Chinese writing, like that in all other ancient cultures, is uncertain. What might be primitive characters are found on several earthenware dated to 2400 BC when Chinese pottery reached a remarkable sophisticated stage. These instances are mostly a single pictographic symbol, suggesting a emblem of a clan. |
| Inscription on bones | |
 Oracle inscription, c. 1500 BC |
It is likely that most writings in ancient China was done on pieces of wood or silk, which have not survived. What survived from this time are the minutes of divination engraved on shoulder bones of oxen and tortoise shells. In 1899 after many years uses in traditional Chinese medicine prescription, these bone were identified as the earliest records of Chinese writing. |
| Cast on bronzes | |
 Seal script, c. 1300 BC |
The earliest known example of bronze inscription dated back to 1300 BC. The cutting tool that used for writing was replaced by a brush, an implement that was to convert the physical act of writing from mere craft to a superb means of self-expression. About 4000 characters are found on bronzes. Still in use for seal engraving today, these pictographic characters are graceful and aesthetically harmonious but complicated and difficult to write for modern Chinese. |
| Writing on wood | |
 Clerical script, c. 221 BC  Cursive script, c. 48 BC |
The early Chinese books were in wood or bamboo slip form starting from Confucius time. The bamboo were split and cut into about one foot long, and the text was handwritten on each slip. To fit its space, the characters were squeezed flat. Upon the finish, the slips were bound by strings and rolled up for storage. The early slips were written in seal script. Around 200 BC clerical script was developed from seal script to speed handwriting. Representing the final design of Chinese writing, clerical style can be read by many Chinese today. Around 100 BC a hastier style began to appear. This is cursive script, the most artistic style in Chinese calligraphy. |
| Writing on papers | |
 Semi-cursive script, c. 168 AD  Regular script, c. 220 AD |
The bamboo slips did not have very practical qualities - on a busy day, an emperor had to handle as many as five hundred pound of memorials. In 105 AD, Chai Lun, a head of a royal workshop, made the first ever sheet of paper for his emperor. He boiled rags and rope ends with wood ash, and then beat them apart to make pulp. By passing the pulp through a flat mesh strainer, he drained out the water, leaving the matted fiber behind. It was not until a century later that a fine paper was made from natural fiber, known rice paper to the world. The use of paper contributed to the development of two most sophisticated styles of Chinese writing - semi-cursive and regular script. |
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