Oracle-bone Inscription Calligraphy 甲骨文书法

The Chinese calligraphy is an art blending the use of lines, form and structure to express different temperament, character and sensibility. Oracle-bone inscriptions are just formed with lines. As the earliest carved characters, they are not born art of calligraphy. However, they have all the basic elements to become part of the art of calligraphy: strokes, structure and composition.
Along with the development of engraved art, they gradually attracted the attention of writers and observers, and provided a new way of expressing artists’ sentiment and artistic conception. That was how calligraphy finally developed into a form of art. The oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty had become the first group of unique engraved calligraphy works, the artistic feature of which is still influencing the style of calligraphers today.
There are different calligraphic styles of oracle-bone inscriptions: free and unrestricted, upright and powerful, elegant and integrated, bold and unconstrained, plain and simple. The styles vary because the materials used in the creation of inscriptions vary.
Oracle-bone inscriptions are seen on hard materials, such as bones or tortoise shell, and are the earliest type of Chinese seal character.
Compared with other scripts, the oracle-bone inscriptions involve more horizontal and vertical lines, and some curved line as well. They have straight and settled strokes, plain and fixed structure. Frequent use of square turning makes it plain and simple. The type face also emphasises symmetry. Although without the mature, elegant and beautiful characters of later calligraphy, its invitation of exploration and beauty of simplicity had influenced calligraphy for thousands of years and was irreplaceable by any other calligraphy in its mature period.
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中国书法是靠线条、形体、结构来体现气质、品格、情感境界的。甲骨文就是由一条条的线组成的，它作为最早的刻画文字，就实践的观念而言，它不是一种自觉的书法艺术，但却具备了笔法、字法、章法等书法艺术的形式要素，可以算得上是真正的书法艺术。
随着契刻的发展，慢慢地成为书者注意的对象，并进入观察者的视野。它成为一种新的表达感情和描绘意境方式，并将书写最终发展成为一门艺术奠定了基础。因此，在不自觉中，殷商时代的书写已在龟甲骨上留下了第一批独具特色的契刻书法作品，其笔形艺术特色对今人书法创作仍有很大影响。
甲骨文的书法风格很多，有自由、豪放、端整、雄浑、高雅、和谐、粗旷、舒畅、朴拙、简朴。风格之所以各不相同，是因为作为早期的书写文字，材料、工具这些物质因素对于书法风格有着相当大的决定作用。
甲骨文被刻在硬体物质，如骨头与龟甲上，是中国文字篆书中最早的类型。
与其它书体相比，甲骨文直线、横线所占的比重大，中间有一些斜曲之线。笔画干脆利落，朴实纯正；结体以方折为主，反映了那种质朴的特征。形体以对称的方法构成。尽管没有后世书法的圆熟、优美、俊逸，但其中所蕴涵的探索之味、稚拙之美，影响了数千年的书法追求，这是任何成熟时期的书法所不能替代的。