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WD_147/ 2005
(  Satoshi Kinoshita )
| Series: | Works on paper: Drawings 2 | | Medium: | oil pastel and wax crayon on paper | | Size (inches): | 15.6 x 12.5 | | Size (mm): | 400 x 320 | | Catalog #: | WD_0147 | | Description: | Signed, date and copyright in pencil on the reverse.
You can think of calligraphy in terms of music. The poem is like the musical score and the calligrapher like the pianist; each tries to interpret the score to produce a memorable rendering.
-Graham Hawker
"Japanese Calligraphy' by Graham Hawker.
What is Calligraphy?
Calligraphy is an art form that has been studied for over three thousand years. A knowledge of calligraphy is an important step in the understanding of Japanese culture. Calligraphy is not merely an exercise in good handwriting, but rather the foremost art form of the Orient. It is the combination of the skill and imagination of the person who has studied intensely the combinations available using only lines. In the West, calligraphy was intended to suppress individuality and produce a uniform style. Japanese calligraphy (sho in Japanese) attempts to bring words to life, and endow them with character. Styles are highly individualistic, differing from person to person. Japanese calligraphy presents a problem for westerners trying to understand it; the work is completed in a matter of seconds so the uninitiated cannot really appreciate the degree of difficulty involved. However, bear in mind that the characters must be written only once. There is no altering, touching up, or adding to them afterwards.
What distinguishes good calligraphy from bad?
To the trained eye the difference is instantly discernible, but just as with western art or music the difference is difficult to describe. However, here are a few guidelines:
*There is a natural balance in both the characters and the composition as a whole
*Straight lines are strong and clear
*Curved lines are delicate and mobile
*There is variance in thickness and thinness
*The amount of ink on the brush, or lack of it, is consistent throughout
*The size of the characters are of a scale which gives life to the work
*There is a rhythm in the whole work
You can think of calligraphy in terms of music. The poem is like the musical score and the calligrapher like the pianist; each tries to interpret the score to produce a memorable rendering.
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 Koreaand 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.
-www.connectedglobe.com/ohmori/intro1.html
The Poetry of Basho:
Waking in the night;
the lamp is low,
the oil freezing.
It has rained enough
to turn the stubble on the field
black.
Winter rain
falls on the cow-shed;
a cock crows.
The leeks
newly washed white,-
how cold it is!
The sea darkens;
the voices of the wild ducks
are faintly white.
Ill on a journey;
my dreams wander
over a withered moor.
-members.aol.com
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