Japanese Calligraphy

A Brief History of Japanese Calligraphy (sho)

Calligraphy began to filter into Japan during the seventh century A.D. Buddhism from India had travelled via China and Korea and was making many converts in Japan, including the Emperors. Buddhist scriptures were recorded in Chinese writing. This was produced by priests and was aesthetically very pleasing. The most famous Japanese calligrapher was probably the Buddhist monk Kukai. One story records how the Emperor Tokusokutei asked him to rewrite a section of a badly damaged five panelled screen. Kukai is said to have picked up a brush in each hand, gripped one between the toes of each foot, placed another between his teeth, and immediately written five columns of verse simultaneously!

There are five basic scripts in Chinese calligraphy: tensho (seal style), reisho (scribe's style), kaisho (block style), gyosho (semi-cursive style), sosho (cursive style, literally "grass writing"). These had all appeared before the end of the fourth century. In addition to these the Japanese developed the kana characters during the eighth century, characters that express sounds in contrast to characters used ideographically. Three types of kana have been developed, manyogana, hiragana, and katakana. The manyogana are certain chinese characters (kanji) used phonetically to represent the syllables of Japanese, and are named after the eighth century poetry collection Manyoshu. At the time this collection was compiled the Japanese had no writing system of their own. Some of the Japanese poems were rendered in Chinese characters used phonetically, and in others the Chinese characters were used sometimes phonetically and sometimes ideographically. Out of this, by way of drastic simplification, came hiragana and katakana. In the hands of Japanese noblewomen, hiragana developed into a beautiful script which is the unique calligraphic style of Japan.

Notes on Japanese Poetry

Japanese poetry has three main forms, tanka, choka, haiku. A tanka is made up of thirty-one syllables, five, seven, five, seven, seven. A choka is of unlimited length being alternately 5,7,5,7 but the last two phrases must end seven and seven. These two forms are collectively known as waka. A haiku is a seventeen syllable poem made up of five, seven, and five.

A famous example of a haiku is by Matsuo Basho, and translates as:
An old pond, a frog jumps in, a splash of water.

Often a couplet of seven and seven is added to the end of a haiku on the same theme. This is then known as a renga and the original haiku part of the renga is referred to as the hokku.

There is a lot of information about haiku on the web

Further Reading

This brief note on Japanese Calligraphy may have created a wish to learn more of this fascinating and beautiful subject. Further information can be found in the following books:

	Learn to Write Chinese Characters by Johan Bjorksten	An introductory manual for writing Chinese characters specifically designed for English-speaking readers. The author guides the reader through the fundamentals of writing and introduces the various scripts used in China. This book teaches the principles of sound and beautiful writing - the names of the strokes, the order in which they are written, aesthetic principles, and the common radicals. Not only does it show exactly how to create each stroke, it also shows the various wrong ways to draw each stroke and even names the errors. Probably the best book you will find for learning the basic foundation skills.
	Brush Writing: Calligraphy Techniques for Beginners by Ryokushu Kuiseko	An excellent book for beginners learning to write Kanji and Hiragana. The detailed instructions are excellent and show you how to write each symbol step by step. The book covers 75 kanji, giving the meaning and pronunciation as well. Materials and techniques are explained and there is a short history of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy. The calligraphy appreciation section is not only a great aid, it is also a great encouragement to learn more about this wonderful subject.
	Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body Harmony by H.E Davey	Brush Meditation introduces beginners and non-artists alike to working with brush and ink as a form of "moving meditation." By showing you how the most elemental brush strokes reveal your physical and mental state, it teaches you to become "one with the brush," attuned to the underlying principles of life and nature. As the text explores the intricate relationships of mind, body, and brush, it delves into the mysteries of human life energy, or ki, and the power of the hara, a natural abdominal center. Simple exercises demonstrate how to use the brush in spiritual practice, while illustrations guide every step.
	Sacred Calligraphy of the East by John Stevens, Ron Suresha (Editor)	A new edition of the divinely designed explication of Eastern calligraphy, invoking the rich tradition of Japan, China, India, and Tibet to illustrate both the technique and significance of the characters. The volume provides historical background and reflects on the art of copying religious texts.
	Chinese Calligraphy : From Pictograph to Ideogram : The History of 214 Essential Chinese/Japanese Characters by Edoardo Fazzioli	The 214 radicals (basic characters) are explained with their history and with illustrations of the character's evolution from ancient pictographs to its current form. There is also a step-by-step demonstration on how the strokes are arranged and in what order they are written. Chinese friends tell me that the characters illustrated are not written with great style but a Western beginner to calligraphy could feel very happy producing work at this level.
	SHO Japanese Calligraphy by Christopher J Earnshaw	Looks at the historical and spiritual background to calligraphy and its releveance to Zen philosophy. Excellent for those wanting to explore this art form but a beginner wishing for practical help would be better with "Brush Writing" by Ryokushu Kuiseko.
	Easy Kanji : A Basic Guide to Writing Japanese Characters by Fujihiko Kaneda, Masaya Katayama (Illustrator), Rika Sagano (Illustrator), Fukihiko Kaneda, Takuya Dan	This book sets out the rules of kanji (chinese characters) stroke order and groups the kanji by radical. It is an excellent introduction to 500 commonly used kanji.
	Easy Hiragana : First Steps to Reading and Writing Basic Japanese by Fujihiko Kaneda, Rika Samidori, Dan Takuya	An excellent book for learning the 48 characters of Hiragana. A clear and easy to follow primer that will allow you to master these basic Japanese characters.
	The Art of Zen : Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Monks 1600-1925 by Stephen Addiss	Created spontaneously, Zen art ranges from intensely brushed calligraphic poems and emphatically gestural abstract shapes to roughly hewn, often humorous portraits of the Zen patriarch and his followers. This book brings together masterpieces of painting and calligraphy created by Japanese monks, who turned to visual imagery as an aid to meditation, as an expression of enlightenment, and as the purest form of transmitting Zen principles. The illustrations are accompanied by text which explains the fundamentals of Zen culture and includes many translations of Zen prose, poetry and sayings.

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