{"id":335,"date":"2018-07-20T21:26:48","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T21:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/calligraphy\/?post_type=chapter&p=335"},"modified":"2019-04-10T20:38:21","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T20:38:21","slug":"highest-expressions-tang-dynasty","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.ulib.csuohio.edu\/intro-to-chinese-calligraphy\/chapter\/highest-expressions-tang-dynasty\/","title":{"rendered":"Highest Expressions of Calligraphy: Tang Dynasty and the Eight Techniques Of \u6c38"},"content":{"raw":"
This chapter focuses on the dazzling stroke techniques that were fully developed during the Tang Dynasty in step with an explosion of expression in poetry and painting. Regular and cursive scripts are also featured.<\/em><\/div>\r\n

Part I. Culture<\/h1>\r\nBy all accounts, the Tang<\/em> Dynasty (\u5510\u671d\/t\u00e1ng ch\u00e1o) (618-907) is considered China's Golden Age, a period of wise governance, prosperity, long-lasting pace and active commerce and trade. The art forms of poetry, painting and calligraphy were fully developed and revered by a host of well-accomplished poets, artists, and calligraphers.\r\n

1 Tang Poetry \u5510\u8bd7\/\u5510\u8a69<\/h2>\r\nDuring the Tang<\/em>, Chinese literature, especially poetry, reached its zenith.\u00a0\u674e\u767d\/l\u012d b\u00f3 (or, l\u012d b\u00e1i), Li Bo or Li Bai, a poet of immortality, attained the title of \u8bd7\u4ed9\/\u8a69\u50ca\/sh\u012b xi\u0101n (Poetic\u00a0<\/em>Genius<\/em>). Passion, imagination and elegance of expression mark his works - some exceeding 900 verses in total.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Even now his poem \u9759\u591c\u601d\/\u975c\u591c\u601d\/j\u00ecng y\u00e8 s\u012b, Thoughts on the Silent Night<\/em>, remains popular.\r\n\r\nLikewise, \u675c\u752b\/d\u00f9 f\u016d, Du Fu, known as \u8bd7\u5723\/\u8a69\u8056\/sh\u012b sh\u00e8ng (Saint of Poem<\/em>),\u00a0is another immortal. He wrote at least 1,500 poems. His works are strict in verse, remarkable for their range of mood and content, including his expressions of political and social issues.\u00a0His \u767b\u9ad8\/d\u0113ng g\u0101o (Climbing Up<\/em>) attained unmatched perfection.\r\n\r\n\u738b\u7ef4\/\u738b\u7dad\/w\u00e1ng w\u00e9i, Wang Wei, the poet of landscape, wrote hundreds of poems,\u00a0all elegant and exquisite.\u00a0Wang Wei was a master of \u7edd\u53e5\/\u7d76\u53e5\/ju\u00e9 j\u00f9\u00a0(a poem of four lines, each containing five or seven characters, with a strict tonal pattern and rhythm). Many of his\u00a0quatrains\u00a0depict quiet scenes of water and mist, with few other details or human presence. \u76f8\u601d\/xi\u0101ng s\u012b (Missing<\/em>) is one of his\u00a0most famous poems.\r\n

2 Classical Chinese Painting \u56fd\u753b\/\u570b\u7575<\/h2>\r\nClassical Chinese painting,\u00a0\u56fd\u753b\/\u570b\u7575\/gu\u00f3 hu\u00e0, literally \"native painting,\" as opposed to Western styles of art,\u00a0is done with a\u00a0brush and black ink\u00a0and\/or\u00a0colored pigments typically on rice paper or silk. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls.\u00a0The two main techniques are \u5de5\u7b14\/\u5de5\u7b46\/g\u014dng b\u012d (meticulous) and \u6c34\u58a8\/shu\u012d m\u00f2 (water and ink). \u6c34\u58a8 painting is\u00a0also called \u5199\u610f\/\u51a9\u610f\/xi\u0115 y\u00ec\u00a0or \"freehand style\" and known as \u6587\u4eba\u753b\/\u6587\u4eba\u7575\/w\u00e9n r\u00e9n hu\u00e0 (literati painting). Landscape painting, \u5c71\u6c34\u753b\/\u5c71\u6c34\u7575\/sh\u0101n shu\u012d hu\u00e0,\u00a0was regarded as the highest form of Chinese painting.\r\n\r\n\u56fd\u753b\/\u570b\u7575 is often seen with calligraphy directly on the picture. Typically, once an artist finished a painting, he would inscribe his name followed by representative seal(s) (\u5370\/y\u00ecn). Other details could include a date, details about the person for whom the picture was painted, the occasion captured by the painting, even the style of the painting. It was also not unusual for an artist to write a poem or prose that touched on topics from literature and painting to metaphysics and philosophy. What's so significant is that these inscriptions often provide great insight into a painter\u2019s personality, philosophy and style.\r\n

3 Calligraphy<\/h2>\r\nDuring the Tang<\/em> and even Sui<\/em> (\u968b\/su\u00ed) (581-619)\u00a0Dynasties, calligraphy was widely practiced and studied.\r\n

3.1 Theories on Calligraphy<\/h4>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_358\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"287\"]\"\" Adapted from Fang Hongyi (2009).\u00a0\u5386\u4ee3\u4e66\u8bba\u91ca\u8bd1\u6977\u4e66\u4e1b\u5e16\uff1a\u6c38\u5b57\u516b\u6cd5. Beijing: China Bookstore Press. Figure 1: The Eight Stoking Methods in \u6c38 writing[\/caption]\r\n