Calligraphy Writing Medium Before the Qin Dynasty 先秦书写载体

Paper existed in China since the 2nd century BC, before the Qin dynasty. Before the use of paper, Chinese texts were carved on tortoise shells, animal bones, bronze wares, jade or stones. Silk was also used by the small class of aristocrats, while bamboo and wood slips by the general public.

The oracle-bone inscriptions were found on tortoise shells and animal bones. They were used in the Shang Dynasty 1600 BC by the priests of the court to communicate with the spirits of the dead, mainly the ancestors of the rulers. Whenever there was a question to be asked, the priests would inscribe it on a shell or animal bone and then have it heated by fire. The shell or bone would become cracked after being heated. The priest would read the signs showing on these cracks. The prediction was then inscribed on the same shell or bone for record and future reference. The word ‘predict’ in Chinese is bu (卜), which looks like a crack.

The inscriptions on bronze were mainly records in commemoration of certain ceremonies in the court or glories of the battle. The inscriptions on stone-drum were records of hunting activities of the Qin kings.

The books made of bamboo and wood slips varied in size, and the longer in length the more important events were recorded. There were said to have appeared in the Shang Dynasty.

The longer bamboo slips were used to record state laws or important historical events. The shorter bamboo slips were used for text books, while the shortest bamboo slips were used to record biographies.

The wood slips were used only for events of minor importance such as official documents, notices, accounts or inventories, correspondence, etc. The most common sizes in wide used were one Chinese foot slips and the five inch slips. One foot slips were used for writing letters and five inch slips were used as certificates or identities issued by the army authorities or local governments to their soldiers or citizens for passing through the city wall gates and other check-points.

From the times of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, silk had also been used as a writing material. Dating from the Han Dynasty, there were known texts found on silk cover military strategy, mathematics, cartography and the six classical arts of ritual, music, archery, horsemanship, writing and arithmetic.
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在公元前二世纪，秦朝之前，纸就已经出现了。在纸还没有发明之前，中国文字是刻在龟壳、兽骨、铜器、玉器或石头上面。缣帛为少数的贵族所用，而一般百姓则用竹与木简。

甲骨文用的是龟壳与兽骨。在公元前1600年商朝，巫师用甲骨文来与死去的灵魂沟通，这些死者多数为统治者的先人。每当有问题要问时，巫师就把问题刻在壳或骨上，然后以火来在壳或骨上加热。壳或骨被加热后，就会出现裂痕。巫师根据裂痕来占卜。占卜的结果也可在同一个壳或骨上以为记录，或以供后来参考。中文‘卜’看来就像裂痕。

铸在铜器的金文主要是记录朝廷重要仪式或战争的胜利。石鼓文则记录战国秦王游猎之类事情。

以竹简或木简所书写的书经的长度不一，长度越长，所记录的事件越重要。这些竹简或木简据说商朝就已出现。

最长的竹简用来纪录国家律法或重要历史事件。较短的用来书写经典，最短的书写子书。

木简则用来记录次要的国家文件、通告、帐簿、存货、来往书信，等等。木简最常见的有一尺或五寸。一尺木简所用来写书信，就是所谓的‘尺牍’。五寸木简多数有军队或地方政府用来当证书或通行证，给予士兵或百姓通关或检查站之用。

在春秋战国时期，缣帛就已经被用来当作书写用品了。今日所知，汉朝就有不少军事策略、数学、地图、六艺（礼、乐、射、御、书、数）之类是写在缣帛的。

The Common Mistakes on Writing the Dot 点画通病

Here are four common mistakes on writing the dot.

1. When two dots appear in a word, their directions and sizes must be symmetrical and appropriate.

2. When four dots appear in a word, the dots must be arranged linearly, with the left dot lower than the right dot. The first two dots should be inclined to the right and the last two dots to the left. All dots must be pointed to the centre of the word. Generally speaking, the first and forth dots must be bigger that second and third dots.

3. When three dots arranged vertically appear in a word, they must be arranged in such a way that they form a leftward arc. The distance between the first and second dots should be shorter than that of the second and third dots.

4. When the word ‘心’ (heart) is contained in a word, the size of the first and third dots should normally be bigger than that of the middle dot and the left dot should be lower than the right dot. The left dot should not be placed too high up.

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这里举出写点时的四个通病：

1． 一个字如出现两点，如‘塔’、‘僧’、‘集’等字，它们的方向、大小要对称。

2． 一个字如出现四点，它们应该排列成为一条线，左点低于有点。第一与第二点方向向左，第三与第四点方向向右，全部的点都指向字的中心。一般来说，第一与第四点较大，第二与第三点较小。

3． 一个字如有‘三点水’，三点的连线应形成外拓的弧形。第一与第二点较靠近，第二与第三点稍远。

4． 一个字如有‘心’字在内，点的大小也是两头大，中间小，左点低于有点。第一点(左点) 不可太高。

Wong Kok Liang 黄国良

Wong Kok Liang (Wang Guoliang 1920 – 2004) was famous for his calligraphy written in clerical (lishu) script.

Wong Kok Liang was also called Wong Long, or Shigong. He was born in 1920 in the Wanning County, Hainan Province of China. He entered the Jian Yi Teachers’ College in 1935 for a 4-year course. After completed his study in 1939, the Japanese invaded China and he moved to Singapore to seek his fortune. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he worked briefly in Singapore before he was employed as teacher in a school in Riau of Indonesia for one year. On 1 July, 1947, he joined Nanyang Siang Pau and worked for 32 years until his retirement in 1979.

After his retirement, he became a calligrapher teacher for a number of organisations, and had many students who are good at writing calligraphy in clerical script. In order to provide a platform for the learners of calligraphy to interact with each other and thus exchange experiences in learning calligraphy, he worked on setting up a calligraphy society. In 1992, the Hanshi Calligraphy Society was registered and he became its advisor and calligraphy teacher.

He passed away on 24 March, 2004.

He talked about his calligraphy learning journey during an interview. As he was a young boy in village, his father encouraged and guided him in learning calligraphy, and he had developed a special love of calligraphy. He father started him with the script of Wei stele. A few years later, as he learned more about the subject, he decided that the clerical style of Weng Fanggang would benefit him more, so he switched to focus on learning Weng’s calligraphy.

He once said, ‘after I have mastered the basics of the clerical script, I came across the Caoqian Stele, which I found it to be especially bony, and the writing style is leisure and strong. I had therefore decided to move from Weng’s calligraphy to Caoqian stele.’ He later also practiced the scripts from the Han steles. In fact, he had never stopped learning the clerical script.

Wong Kok Liang had achieved much in writing the clerical script (lishu). He paid much attention to the execution of the strokes and organising the structure, and wrote them conscientiously. His learning attitude was indeed a good model for us to follow. In the last years of his life, he worked hard on learning the walking script (xingshu). However, perhaps because he had not spent much time in writing this calligraphic style, we have not seen much of his good works in xingshu.

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在新加坡书法界，黄国良 (1920-2004) 以专写隶书而闻名。

黄国良，也称黄龙，或石公。1920年在中国海南省万宁县出生。1935年进入万宁县立简易师范，并于1939年毕业。毕业后，因日本入侵中国而移居新加坡。1945年日本投降后，曾到印尼廖内的端本学校当过一年的教师。1947年7月1日加入‘南洋商报’，在那里工作了32年，直至1979年退休为止。

退休后，他在不少社团教导书法，培育出了不少书写隶书的好手。为了加强学员们的联系，促进书法交流，他提出创办一个独立的书法学会，于是，‘汉石书艺学会’就于1992年正式成立，并担任其顾问与导师。

他于2004年3月24日逝世。

黄国良曾在接受访问时谈到学习书法的经过。幼时在家乡，受到父亲的鼓励与开导，因此特别喜欢书法。他父亲引导他从魏碑入手，几年后他涉猎日广，发现翁方刚的隶书更有学习价值，于是，便集中精神在翁方纲的隶书上。

他说：‘学隶书有了基础后，有一次接触到曹全碑，觉得曹全碑特别有骨气，字体风情飘逸而又坚强，于是，我又从翁方刚的隶书转移到曹全碑上面。’后又临写汉碑。一生学习隶书，从未中断。

黄老在隶书上的造诣，堪称大家。尤其是他笔划结构，一丝不苟，可谓后学之典范。于晚年又孜孜不倦地学习行书。可能是学习行书的时间不长吧，所能看到他好的行书作品不多。

Empress Wu Zetian 武则天

Empress Wu Zetian (623-705) is the only female Emperor in the history of China. Just as other emperors of the Tang dynasty, the Empress was a patron of arts, a great admirer of calligraphy and, one may say, an accomplished calligrapher herself. She lived to be 82, and held power for 50 years.

She entered the palace at the age of 14 and was initially conferred the title of ‘Cairen’ (concubine of medium rank), but was unable to win much favour with Emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong's son, Li Zhi, however, was deeply infatuated with her. After the death of Taizong in 649, Li Zhi was enthroned as Gaozong and Wu Zetian became empress in 655. Since Li Zhi had poor health, Wu Zetian was the actual ruler of the country. When Li Zhi died, Wu Zetian managed to stabilize the political situation based on her abundant experience of political intrigue. In 690, Wu Zetian ascended the throne and changed the name of the dynasty to Zhou.

Emperor Wu was influenced by Taizong on his love of calligraphy. The court official Wang Fangqing, who was the 10th generation descendent of Wang Xizhi’s family, kept a large collection of calligraphic works at his mansion. Wu Zetian requested that his ancestors' calligraphy be passed to her. Empress Wu treasured the calligraphy very much and was so attached to them that she would look at them every day. She also displayed the calligraphy to the officials for them to view. In addition to using the calligraphy as model books to practice her calligraphic skill, she also ordered that the calligraphy be carved and the rubbings made into a collection known as ‘Wansui Tongtian Calligraphy’ (Wangsui means emperor, long life and Tongtian means as high as sky. Wansui Tongtian was one of the era names of Empress Wu). The rubbings of the collection were distributed to officials and the original calligraphy returned to Wang Fangqing. The rubbing method of producing ‘Wansui Tongtian Calligraphy’ started a new way of producing and preserving calligraphic works. This had contributed much to the development of calligraphy.

She is said to be good in Xing Shu and the Flying White style, a type of scripts that incorporated the images of birds and flowers into the characters. However, there are few materials on Empress Wu’s calligraphy available today. The texts and calligraphy of the ‘Ascension of a Prince to the Immortal Realm’ stele is said to be written by her.

The stele was carved in the sixth lunar month in the year 699 and is currently kept in the Deity Temple at the Gou Mountain in Yanshi City, Henan Province. It comprises 34 lines with 66 words per line. The stele’s title, which comprises 6 bigger words, was written in Flying White (feibai) style. The Flying White style is said to be created by Zhong Yao (151-230). However, there was no calligraphy of Flying White survived today. These six words in Flying White style were the only survived work today.

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武则天（623-705）是中国历史上唯一的女皇。和唐朝的其他皇帝一样，武则天是艺术的热心支持者，她喜爱书法，本身也可以说是个相当有成就的书法家。她活到82岁，共执政了50年。

她14岁进宫，被封为‘才人’，但是唐太宗并不十分注意她，倒是太宗的儿子李治深深的迷恋她。公元649年太宗逝世后，李治登基为高宗，武则天于公元655年成为他的皇后。由于李治身体不好，武则天就成为真正的统治者。李治去世后，武则天凭着她丰富的政治经验，把政治局势平稳下来。公元60年，武则天登基为王，并把国号改为‘周’。

由于唐太宗喜爱书法，这影响了武则天。当时朝廷官员王方庆是王羲之家族的第十代后人，家藏书法墨迹很多。武则天向王方庆访求其世祖的法书。武则天对这些墨迹视若珍宝，早晚观赏，爱不释手，还遍示群臣。不但自己常临习，而且命人全部刻成《万岁通天帖》（‘万岁通天’为武则天年号之一），颁赐群臣，并把原迹还给王方庆。《万岁通天帖》开了书法史上刻帖的先河，影响深远。

据说她精于行书与飞白体，一种把鸟与花加入字内的书体。但是，武则天留下来的书法资料不多，只有《升仙太子碑》是武则天亲自撰文并书丹镌刻的碑刻。

这块碑刻于699年六月，现存于河南省偃师县缑山仙君庙。共有行草书三十四行，每行六十六字。有飞白书碑额书‘升仙太子之碑’六大字。飞白书据说为钟繇 (151－230) 所创，但并无墨迹传世，这六个字是目前所知仅有的飞白体墨迹。

Bian Cai Sadly Lost the Authentic Lanting Xu 辩才痛失《兰亭序》

The calligraphy sage Wang Xizhi’s representative works include the ‘Inscription of Calmness’, the ‘Inscription of Crescent Moon’, the ‘Inscription of Clearing-Up After Snowing’, etc. Among them the most famous one is the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion written in walking style (xing-shu). The preface of a collection of poems written by some friends when gathering at the Orchid Pavilion (or Lanting) near Shaoxing of Zhejiang Province for the Spring Purification Festival, it comprises 28 lines and 324 characters, with each character in different shapes. The original is lost, but there are a number of fine tracing copies and rubbings.

The original copy of Lanting Xu was given to Wang Xizhi’s son Wang Xianzhi. After Wang Xianzhi, the calligraphy was lost for nearly 300 years until in the year 636, the emperor of Tang dynasty Taizong obtained it through cunning means from the monk Bian Cai, who was a disciple of Zhi Yong, an seventh-generation descendent of Wang Xizhi.

A story recorded by He Yanzhi and collected in the Taiping Guangji (Tai Ping Anthologies) tells how Emperor Taizong obtained the original copy from Bian Cai.

Half-way through his reign, Emperor Taizong of Tang decided that he would learn the calligraphy of two Wangs, i.e. Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. He had collected all their calligraphic works, except the Lanting Xu, which is known to be the best calligraphy of walking style. It was later learned that the authentic work was in the hands of Monk Bian Cai. Tang Taizong sent emissaries on three occasions to retrieve the text, but each time, Biancai responded that it had been lost during troubled times and he had no idea what it was now.

Prime Minister Fang Xuanling recommended that imperial historian Xiao Yi be despatched to retrieve it from Bian Cai by all means. Xiao Yi disguised as a wandering scholar, and he quickly became a good friend of Bian Cai, as they shared common interests in playing chess, citing poetry, talking about painting and calligraphy. One day, Bain Cai can’t help showing off the authentic Lanting Xu that was hidden behind the roof beam. Xiao Yi later stole the copy and brought it back to the capital for Emperor Taizong.

After he got it, Emperor Taizong cherished Lanting Xu as if he had found a most rare treasure. He ordered that copies to be made for giving away to members of royal families and his court officials. He said to his son on his death bed, ‘I know you are a son of filial piety. I would like to request a favour from you and I am sure you will not disappoint me. Will you?’

With that, the authentic Lanting Xu was buried with the emperor in his mausoleum.

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书圣王羲之的代表作品有《平安帖》，《初月帖》，《快雪时晴帖》，等。其中最出名的是以行书为兰亭聚会诗集而写的序文。这篇春天在浙江绍兴的兰亭修禊时，友人创作诗文集的序文共有28行，324子，字字情态不同。原本已失，但是有不少很好的摹本、拓本流传于世。

王羲之把原本传给儿子王献之。王献之以后的大约300年原本不知所终，直到公元636年唐太宗从辩才和尚那里以狡猾的方法获得。辩才是王羲之第七代后人智永的徒弟。

《太平广记》收何延之《兰亭记》记载唐太宗任何从辩才手中获得《兰亭序》：

至贞观中，太宗锐意学二王书，仿摹真迹备尽，唯被世人称为‘天下第一行书’的《兰亭序》未获。后访知在辩才和尚（王家的七世孙智永的弟子）处，三次召见，辩才诡称经乱散失不知所在。

房玄龄荐监察御史萧翼以智取之。萧翼隐匿身份，乔装潦倒书生，投其所好，弈棋吟咏，论书作画成忘年交，后辩才夸耀所藏，出示其悬于屋梁之《兰亭序》真迹，《兰亭序》遂为萧翼乘隙私取此帖长安复命。

据说，唐太宗李世民得到《兰亭序》真迹后爱不释手，太宗命令拓数本赐太子诸王近臣。

临终，语李治：“吾欲从汝求一物，汝诚孝也，岂能违吾心也？汝意如何？”

于是，《兰亭序》真迹葬入昭陵。

Pingfu Tie: The Earliest Authentic Chinese Calligraphy 平复帖: 最早的传世书法墨迹

The Pingfu Tie (A Consoling Letter) has a special position in the history of Chinese calligraphy as it is recognised as the earliest surviving Chinese calligraphic work written on paper and is often referred to as the ‘father of all calligraphic examplers’. It was originally a letter written by a great literature master Lu Ji (261-303) to one of his friends who was very ill.

Lu Ji’s grandfather and father were famous generals of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. After Eastern Wu was subjugated by the Western Jin in 280, Lu Ji moved to the imperial capital, Luoyang, where he became prominent in both literature and politics. However, he was too scintillating for the comfort of his jealous contemporaries; in 303 he, along with his two brothers and two sons, was put to death on a false charge of high treason.

Lu Ji wrote much lyric poetry but is better known for writing fu, a mixture of prose and poetry. He is best remembered for the Wenfu (‘On Literature’), a piece of literary criticism that discourses on the principles of composition.

Lu Ji also became famous because of his calligraphic work ‘Pingfu Tie’. The script is a transitional form between early cursive script Zhang Cao and current cursive script. Some scholars believe it was a cursive form of official script.

Its brushwork, done with a ‘dry’ brush and characterised by a simple and vivid style, exhibits a stocky roundness that brims with latent energy. Because it was written on paper, nature has left its mark on the piece, blurring and fading caused by repeated folding, handling and moisture stains have added to the feel of antiquity. Age-induced coarseness of the paper support also makes the lines appear grave and remote.

This piece has, as it were, re-created by the hand of nature. It was donated by Zhang Boju to the Chinese government in July 1956.

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‘平复帖’在中国书法史上有一个特别的地位，因为它被认为是书写于纸的最早传世书法墨迹，常被称为‘法书之祖’。这幅帖原来是大文学家陆机（261-303）写给一位生病友人的信件。

陆机的祖父陆逊与父亲陆抗都是三国东吴的名将。280年，东吴被西晋灭亡后，陆机移居首府洛阳，成为文学与政治界有名人士。但是，为奸臣所嫉妒，于303年被诬叛国莫须有罪名，他与两个哥哥及两个儿子都因此而被判死刑。

陆机虽然写诗，但以赋闻名。他名留千古的文学创作评论作品是‘文赋’。

陆机也因为他的书法作品‘平复帖’而闻名于世。这幅帖的文字是章草到草书的过渡。有学者认为它是篆书的草写。

这幅用‘秃笔’书写，具有简朴与活泼风格特色，显示浑圆之无穷内涵力量。因为书写于纸张，岁月已经在它的身上留下了痕迹。重复的折叠、触摸与湿气痕迹已使书法显得朦胧与褪色，增加了古拙的感觉。岁月造成纸张粗野，字与行间看来沉重与遥远。

这幅作品可说是被自然之手从新再创造过。1956年七月，一个名叫张伯驹的人把它捐给了中国政府。

Yu Shinan 虞世南

China's calligraphy had its heyday during the Wei Kingdom (220-265), Jin (265-420) and Tang (618-907) dynasties when all scripts of Chinese characters - zhuan-shu, li-shu, kai-shu, xing-shu and cao-shu - had appeared and got continuously perfected.

Owing to the government's promotion, calligraphy was all the rage during the Tang Dynasty. Well-known calligraphers in the early years of the Tang Dynasty included Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji. They are collectively known as ‘Four Masters of Early Tang Dynasty’.

Yu Shinan was born in Yuezhou (now Yuyao in Zhejiang). He was one year younger than Ouyang Xun, and passed away at age 81, being one of those calligraphers who lived a long life. He came from a noble family and was taught by Gu Yewang and Xuling, both were men of letters. According to historical records, Yu Shinan was by nature a quiet person who kept a pure heart and few desires, studied very hard and single-mindedly devoted to his studies. He was also always in a deep thought. He had rich knowledge in literature.

It was his good fortune that he met Li Shimin, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty. Appeared to be gentle by nature, Yu was actually a pretty strong character who always spoke his mind when giving advice to the emperor. According to historical records, the emperor once wrote a courtly love poem and asked Yu to respond with another poem. Yu Shinan told the emperor, ‘What your honour has written is indeed excellent in form, but its content is not proper. It is naturally that your servants will do and follow what your honour likes to do. But I am concerned that once the poem is published, writing this type of poetry will become a trendy thing among the people. Therefore, I dare not fulfil the wish of your honour.’ The emperor replied, ‘Well said. I actually just want to know what is in your mind.’ He then rewarded Yu with 50 rolls of cloths. Once, the emperor asked Yu to write the ‘Stories of Exemplary Women’ in calligraphic form on folding partitions. As the text was not available at that time, Yu wrote the calligraphy based on his memory, and it was proven to be a perfectly written work without a single mistake. The emperor had commented that ‘Yu Shinan is a man of five absolute merits, namely, good virtue, faithfulness and righteousness, rich in knowledge, good at writing and calligraphy’. When Yu passed away, the emperor was so sad that he cried and said that Yu was like part of his body, and every time he committed a mistake, Yu would fearlessly point it out to him. Where to find someone to replace Yu, now that he had gone?

Another reason that Li Shimin respected Yu was due to his calligraphy. Yu can be said to be Li Shimin’s calligraphy teacher. So when Yu passed away, the emperor lamented that he would not be able to find another person to discuss calligraphy with him. In the history of calligraphy, there is no other person received such special honour from an emperor.

Yu Shinan had learned calligraphy from Zhi Yong and followed Zhi Yong to taken in the essence of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi’s calligraphic style. Steady and with strength, upright and elegant, some of Yu’s works were really free and rakish. One of the most famous works of Yu is the ‘Confucius Temple Stele’. The character in Confucius Temple Stele tends toward the slender look. The spatial composition follows the rule of ‘compact upper part and looser lower part', creating a neat, forceful look.

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中国书法在魏（220-265）、晋（265-420）与唐（618-907）可说是最辉煌时期，所有字体，篆书、隶书、楷书、行书、及草书都已出现并继续发展得更完美。

由于政府的推广，唐朝的书法风行一时。初唐著名书法家有虞世南、欧阳询、褚遂良与薛稷。他们被合称为‘初唐四大家’。

虞世南，越州（今浙江余姚）人，比欧阳询小一岁，享年81岁，是个高寿书法家。出生于门阀高贵的官宦之家，受学于当时的大文学家顾野王、徐陵。史书上称虞世南‘性沈静寡欲，笃志勤学’，又‘精思不倦’，文学上造诣很深。

改变虞世南人生的机遇是遇上了李世民。虞世南虽然容貌儒雅，但志性抗烈，常常加以规谏。史书记载，帝尝作宫体诗，使虞和。世南曰：‘圣作诚工，然体非雅正。上之所好，下必有甚者，臣恐此诗一传，天下风靡。不敢奉诏。’帝曰：‘朕试卿耳！’赐帛五十匹。尝命写《列女传》于屏风，于时无本，世南暗疏之，无一字谬。帝每称其五绝：一曰德行，二曰忠直，三曰博学，四曰文词，五曰书翰。虞世南逝世时，李世民悲伤痛哭，说虞世南与他犹如一体，我每次有过失，他都会犯颜规谏，以后再也没有像他这样的人了。

所以李世民看重虞世南的另一个原因就是书法，可说是李世民的书法老师。虞世南去世后，李世民又感慨无人可以与他论书法了。在中国书法史上，没有哪一位书法家得到过如此殊荣。

虞世南的老师是智永，跟随智永继承了二王传统。其字外柔内刚，笔致圆融冲和而有遒丽之气。《孔子庙堂碑》是他著名的书法作品。全篇字体秀丽细长，结体‘上密下疏’，体现出灵巧而有力的外观。

Wang Xizhi: Postscript of Battle Formation of Brushstroke 王羲之《题笔阵图后》

The Chinese calligraphy is said to be an art of movement, concentrating and timing are of paramount importance. In one of the earliest texts on calligraphy, Wang Xizhi’s postscript to ‘Battle Formation of the Brushstroke’ by his teacher, Lady Wei, Wang illustrated an important point: just like in war or a fight, where every move may result in winning or losing, living or dying, in calligraphy also, every stroke counts.

The following is the text which is said to be written by Wang:

Paper is the battlefield; brush is the sword; ink is the helmet and armour; ink stone is the castle; conception is the commander; skill is his assistant; structure is the strategy. To move a brush is to take a risk; to start a stroke is to issue an order; to draw a turning stroke is to kill.

Before start writing, one must first get ready the ink, be in a calm mood, and then visualize the character size, stroke warp, direction, rhythm and coherence between characters, this would lead to a well-thought-out plan and you are now ready to write. Don't write different strokes the same way, nor trim a character square as an abacus. This is not writing calligraphy, rather, it is only writing strokes. Song Yi used to do so, for which he was once severely criticized by his teacher Zhong You (a calligrapher in Three Kingdoms period). Dare not to see Zhong in next three years, he practiced hard to mend his way.

One must write a waving stroke with three moves, start a stroke with the tip of the brush hidden. Write a horizontal stroke in the shape of cirrus cloud, a curved stroke in the shape of crossbow, a dot stroke in the shape of a falling rock, a turning-stroke in the shape of a steel hook, a vertical stroke in the shape of a ten thousand years old rattan, and a right-falling stroke as a hiker quickens his steps.

Song Yi at first could not master the art of calligraphy. During the Taikang (280-290) period of Jin, someone stole famous essay from Zhong Yao’s grave which was obtained by Song Yi. He studied and followed the methods to practice his calligraphy. He became very famous. The methods could be used for learning regular (kai) and walking (xing) scripts.

Cursive script is governed by other rules. Start a character slow and finish it fast with strokes flowing continuously and twisting in the shape of dragon. In this way, the stroke will be cursive and have uneven thickness. If the character has a dot stroke, do other strokes first, and then place it with a single throw. The way of executing the dot is as though the brush is coming from the sky. This style should consult other styles such as seal and clerical script for techniques. Besides, except occasions like draft-cursive script and urgent official use, do not write too fast, otherwise paper will not suck up enough ink, resulting in a shallow taste.

As a child I was tutored by Lady Wei. When I grew up I travelled famous mountains in the north, where I saw calligraphies by Li Si, Cao Xi, Zhong You, Liang Gu, Cai Yong and Zhang Chang. Realizing that I had frittered away my time in vain by sticking to one teacher, I changed my example to stone inscriptions. Considering that I am already fifty-three like a candle guttering in the wind, it is a relief to me to put these words down to my children.

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书法可以说是运动的艺术，书写时能专注与笔画到位至为关键。在古代书法理论中，王羲之为他的老师卫夫人《笔阵图》所写的后书就说明了一点：就好像作战一样，每一点都会导致输赢、生死的关键。所以，对书法而言，每一笔画都很重要。

以下就是据传是王羲之所写的书论:

夫纸者阵也，笔者刀鞘也，墨者鍪甲也，水砚者城池也，心意者将军也，本领者副将也，结构者谋略也，飏笔者吉凶也，出入者号令也，屈折者杀戮也。

夫欲书者，先乾研黑，凝神静思，预想字形，大小偃仰，平直振动，令筋脉相连，意在笔前，然后作字。若平直相似，状如算子，上不方整，前后齐平，此不是书，但得其点画耳。昔宋翼常作此书，其师钟繇叱之，翼三年不敢见繇，即潜心改迹。

每作一波，常三过折笔，每作一点，常隐锋而为之，每作一横画，如列阵之排云，每作一弋，如百钧之弩发，每作一点，如高峰坠石，每作一勾，屈折如钢钩，每作一牵，如万岁枯藤，每作一放纵，如足行之趣骤。

翼先来书恶，晋太康中，有人于许下破钟繇墓，遂得笔势论，翼读之，依此法学书，名遂大振。欲真书及行书，皆依此法。

若欲学草书，又有别法。须缓前急后，字体形势状如龙蛇，相钩连不断，仍须秷侧起复。用笔亦不得使齐平大小一等。每作一字，须有点处，且作余字总竞，然后安点，其点须空中遥掷笔作之。其草书亦复须篆势八分古隶相杂。亦不得急令墨不入纸。若急作意思浅薄，而笔即直过。

惟有章草及章程行押等不用此势，但用击石波而已，其击石波者缺波也。又八分更有一波谓之隼尾波，即钟公泰山铭及魏文帝受禅碑中已有此体。夫书先须引八分章草入隶字中，发人意气，若直取俗字，则不能先发。

予少学卫夫人书，将谓大能，及渡江北游名山，见李斯、曹喜等书，又之许下见钟繇、梁鹄书，又之洛下，见蔡邕石经，三体书，又于从兄洽处见张昶华岳碑，始知学卫夫人书徒费年月耳。遂改本师，仍于众碑学习焉。

Chinese Calligraphy in Singapore 书法在新加坡

Some people say that there is no history of development of Chinese calligraphy in Singapore; this is because it has never been developed here. What we have here are some activities on learning and promotion of Chinese calligraphy. So we shall talk about the Chinese calligraphy in Singapore.

Generally speaking, Chinese calligraphy in Singapore can be divided into two periods, before and after the independence of Singapore.

The Chinese started to immigrate to Singapore in large number since 1820s. In China, due to the failure of the political reform proposed by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, a number of famous artists came to Singapore to work and stay. These artists mostly worked in arts/calligraphy related organisations and education sector as teaching staff or administrators. With the influence of these artists, famous schools such as Chung Cheng, Tuan Meng and Dunman became the breeding grounds for learners of Chinese calligraphy.

The setting up of the Nanyang Fine Arts College (the predecessor of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, NAFA) provided the first opportunity for the development of Chinese calligraphy in Singapore. However, up to today, NAFA is not able to set up a professional Department of Chinese Calligraphy. During this period, while Singapore was famous for evolving the Nanyang Style of Painting, it had not been able to develop a Nanyang Style of Chinese Calligraphy. Singapore missed its first chance of developing Chinese calligraphy.

The decline of the Chinese education after the independence of Singapore in 1965 is an undeniable fact. The registration of ‘The Singapore Chinese Calligraphy and Art Research Society’ by a group of students from Chung Cheng High School as a civil organisation, provided another chance of developing Chinese calligraphy in Singapore. As its name implied, the Society was to be research based. However, as a civil organisation, its activities and method of organising activities follow the same ways of the other arts societies. The fact that it changed its name to ‘The Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore’ in 1979 confirmed that it is not to be research and development oriented. This is a second time that Singapore missed the opportunity of developing Chinese calligraphy.

In 1990s, there was a number of calligraphy societies registered in Singapore, a situation that can be described as letting a hundred flowers blossom. However, none of these new organisations is research and development based. This is the third time that Singapore missed the opportunity of developing Chinese calligraphy.

There are no statistical figures to show whether the number of learners of Chinese calligraphy has increased or maintained over the last hundred years. However, with the rise of China and a number of Chinese calligraphers follow their immigrant family coming to Singapore, one should expect the number of learners will maintain or even increase. The standard of learning Chinese calligraphy will also be improved. However, there is no proper system of Chinese calligraphy education here, and there is also no suitable platform for systematic study and research on calligraphy education, theories, aesthetic and philosophy. Therefore, it is not optimistic that Chinese calligraphy will be developed in foreseeable future, let alone the chance of developing a Nanyang Style of Chinese calligraphy.

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有人说新加坡没有书法发展史，只有‘书法在新加坡’，因为书法来就没有在这里发展过，有的是书法学习的活动与推广。那我们就谈一谈书法在新加坡的概况吧。

一般上，书法在新加坡可以分为独立前与独立后两个时期。

华人大规模移居新加坡，始于十九世纪廿年代。由于康梁变法失败，许多艺术界人士纷纷到南洋谋生、定居，这些人多数在新加坡从事艺术书法组织与教育界工作。当时的著名学府如中正中学、端蒙中学、德明中学，在南来艺术与书法家的影响下，成为培养书法爱好者的温床。

1938年在新加坡创立的南洋美术专科学校（南洋美术学院的前身），本来应该是书法在新加坡发展的一个契机，可惜该学院直到今天还没有成立一个专业的书法系。在这个时期，新加坡能够以发展‘南洋画派’闻名，却没法发展‘南洋书风’。这是新加坡书法界失去的第一个契机。

新加坡在1965年独立后，华文教育式微，那是个不争的现实。1968年由一群中正中学的学生成立的‘新加坡中华书画研究会’，以研究为名字，本来是新加坡书法发展的另一个契机。但是该会作为一个注册的民间艺术团体，所走的显然是一般民间团体活动的路线与方式，后来该会的中文会名一再改变，最后定为‘新加坡书法家协会’，就更加确定了该会要走的是民间团体路线，而不是书法发展路线。这是新加坡失去发展书法的第二个契机。

20世纪的90年代，新加坡出现好几个书法民间团体，呈现了百花齐放的局面; 可惜的是，没有一个团体走书法发展与研究的路线。这是新加坡失去书法发展的第三个契机。

百年多的书法在新加坡，学习书法的人数有没有增减，并没有正式的统计。但是，由于中国的崛起，加上最近有一些中国书法家随着家人来新加坡定居，相信学习书法的人会维持或增加，书法学习的素质也会提高。可是，由于新加坡本身没有一套完整的书法教育系统，也没有一个平台来对书法教育、理论、美学与哲学有系统的研究，所以要发展新加坡书法，以目前情况来看，前景的确是不容乐观，更不用说‘南洋书风’了。

Large Seal Script: Chinese Writing before Qin 大篆：先秦文字

The development of Chinese calligraphy in the Pre-Qin period can be divided into four phases, namely the Shang dynasty, the Western Zhou dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period.

There were few historical materials about Chinese writing until oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty appeared. It is said that there was a book of rubbings from the Yu period of the Xia dynasty (2070 BC), but its authenticity cannot be confirmed. Therefore, it is more reliable to say that the history of Chinese calligraphy stated from the Shang dynasty.

The Chinese writing characters in the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties had already involved the three basic elements in calligraphy art, namely the line strokes, word structure and composition. The earliest forms of calligraphy were mainly represented by oracle-bone inscription of the Shang dynasty and bronze inscription of the Western Zhou dynasty.

The representative writing in the Spring and Autumn Period is probably the Meng Shu (Alliance Pledge). They were found written on cloth, wood and jade. The writing was normally light and swift. The picture shown below is the famous Houma Mengshu written on jade. It is mainly a record of how the aristocrat Zhao Meng of the Jin State made use of the alliance pledge to bring the defeated adherents under control so as to consolidate his own ruling position after conquering his political opponents. The characteristic of each stroke is that the starting (head) is heavy and the ending (tail) is light, resembling a tadpole. This writing gave some hint of the creation and development of clerical (li) and cursive (cao) styles in the Han Dynasty.

It is believed that the stone drum inscription first appeared in the Warring States period, probably in the Qin state. It is considered to be a transitional form from bronze inscription in the Zhou dynasty to later small seal script in the Qin dynasty.

Large Seal script or Great Seal script is a traditional reference to all types of Chinese writing systems used before the Qin dynasty. The term is in contrast to the name of the official script of the Qin dynasty, which is often called Small or Lesser Seal Script (Xiaozhuan, also termed simply seal script). However, due to the lack of precision in the term, scholars often avoid it and instead refer more specifically to the provenance of particular examples of writing.

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先秦的书法文字发展可以分为四个阶段：商朝，西周，春秋与战国。

在甲骨文出现以前，有关中国文字的历史资料很少。据说禹的夏朝（公元前二世纪）有一本书的拓本，但无法考证其真实。所以，比较可信的说法是，中国书法的历史始于商朝。

商朝与西周的书写文字都已经具备了书法艺术的三个基本元素：线条、结字与章法。最早的书法形式以商朝的甲骨文与西周的金文为代表。

盟书可能是春秋时期的书写代表。盟书书写于帛、木与玉。文字一般轻飘。这里所显示的是著名的‘候马盟书’。它记录了晋国的贵族赵孟（赵简子）以盟书来控制被他击败的对手，并在战胜他的政治对手后加强他的政治地位。每字的线条头重尾轻，犹如蝌蚪。这种写法显然对汉朝的隶属与草书有启示作用。

一般认为石鼓文可能出现于战国时期的秦国。它被认为是由金文到秦朝篆书的过渡文字。

传统上，所有秦朝以前的文字都叫做‘大篆’。这是与秦朝官方文字‘小篆’相对照。但是，为了避免混乱，学者一般避免用‘大篆’而引用个别字体名称。