Chinese Writing and Calligraphy

Chapter Fourteen: By Way of Conclusion -- Chinese Calligraphy in the Modern Era

186 chapter fourteen By Way of Conclusion Chinese Calligraphy in the Modern Era The word “modern” in this chapter denotes approximately the past one hundred years. During this time, modernization and globalization have become increasingly greater factors in the ways people experience everyday life, carry on traditions, and practice art. Vast economic, social, technological, cultural, and political changes have led to increased interdependence, integration, and interaction among people in disparate locations. In this context, Chinese calligraphy, similarly to other aspects of Chinese tradition, has changed and adapted. In this chapter, we first look at the developments of Chinese calligraphy in modern China and its new life in the Western world. In the last section of this book, we discuss the challenges Chinese calligraphy faces in the new era. MoDern DeveLoPMents in CHinese CaLLiGraPHy One of the most fundamental characteristics of Chinese culture, which it shares to some degree with other Asian cultures, is its stability and resistance to forces of change from outside. Chinese calligraphy, as a defining feature of Chinese culture , is at the core of this stable structure. In previous chapters we have seen that chinese calligraphy in the modern era 187 the development of calligraphy reached its peak in the Tang dynasty (618–907), with numerous masterpieces created by the greatest calligraphers in history. Also in the Tang dynasty, the development of the art entered a stable stage. For the next thousand years artists have practiced the art by imitating classic works, rearranging patterns, and adding personal touches to the existing scripts. No new calligraphic styles have been created. In traditional China, the brush was used for daily writing. Every educated person wrote with a brush. Gradually, owing to the aesthetic features of Chinese writing , an artistic function developed that would eventually become the dominant function of brush writing. When China entered the twentieth century, modernization and Western influences began to show their impact. First, the adoption of hard-tipped pens from the West changed people’s writing habits entirely; later also came TV, the Internet, and other freely accessible media. Chinese society, like the rest of the world, is becoming more and more commercialized and computerized. People favor readily available means of communication and entertainment, gradually losing patience and motivation to use the brush and to practice calligraphy. Since the 1980s, with political reform in China and the liberalization of political control, the stable structure of Chinese culture is experiencing a radical transformation . On this fast track of modernization, great changes have occurred in the area of calligraphy.1 Traditional art must adapt to changing times. While the practical, daily functions of brush writing are becoming obsolete, the artistic nature of calligraphy has supplied enough life force for it not only to survive but also to prosper in modern society. This renewed vigor has led to a number of new developments, including ground calligraphy. Here we will examine two additional areas in which new developments are taking place: hard-pen calligraphy and the Modernist and Avant-Garde movements. HARD-PEN CALLIGRAPHY Calligraphy can be roughly divided into two types: brush calligraphy and hard-pen calligraphy, which includes writing with any instrument other than a brush, for example, fountain pens and ballpoint pens. The two forms differ only in the instruments used. To produce artistic effects, hard pens for calligraphy may have a special design with a slanted rectangular tip. Future development of the art may lead to further innovations, such as writing with nylon soft pens and finger writing. Hard-pen calligraphy apparently began in reaction to the adoption and fast spread of hard-tipped pens from the West. Hard pens were first imported into China in the early twentieth century along with Western notions of science and democracy. Because of their convenience, hard pens rapidly surpassed the brush as the major tool for daily writing. In the early 1950s, during the mass-education campaign, young chinese writing and calligraphy 188 men wearing a fountain pen in the upper pocket of a Mao suit became a fashionable symbol of education. Like any art form whose growth requires preparation, exploration, and fertile territory, writing with hard pens remained a convenience until the 1980s, when relaxed government policies led to a Chinese renaissance. While brush calligraphy thrived during this period, the time was also ripe for the development of hard-pen calligraphy. The convenience and popularity of hard pens together with the societal emphasis on writing...