The Four Treasures of Chinese Calligraphy

The Four Treasures of Chinese Calligraphy We now turn to the instruments used by the ancients (and not-so-ancients) to create works of art, Chinese calligraphy, and even just a letter to a friend. Okay, so it may have taken that letter several months to get to its intended recipient, but by the time it arrived, the person on the other end would be able to keep it forever (as opposed to accidentally deleting it from an Inbox). Any calligrapher worth his salt will have the wénfáng sìbǎo 文房四寶 — the four essential tools of a scholar: »»Writing brush bǐ (笔) »»Ink mò (墨) »»Paper zhǐ (纸) »»Ink stone yàn (砚) These tools are known collectively as the Four Treasures of the Study, or the Four Treasures of the Scholar’s Studio. They were used by scholar-officials not only for ordinary communication or official decrees but also, and more importantly, to express their thoughts and feelings through calligraphy. These four tools are considered treasures because calligraphy materials have always been held in the highest regard. They are the same materials Chinese painters use as well, which leads me to the next point. In China, painting has actually been seen as secondary to calligraphy as a visual art. If you look at a traditional Chinese painting, you will also see a poem or other inscription invariably written, if ever so tiny, in one or another corner. It is the quality of the poetry and the style of calligraphy with which it was written that adds value to the painting. The Four Treasures make it possible for the calligrapher (and the painter) to bring the thoughts, feelings, and, some would go so far as to say, the very soul of the Chinese people to life. Even though the Four Treasures were determined centuries ago, they remain the key elements needed to practice Chinese calligraphy today. So even though this book teaches you how to write characters with a plain old pen and paper, if you want to write calligraphy, you will need the very same Four Treasures that the ancients used.