Chinese Calligraphy: Learn Chinese Calligraphy

In recent years Chinese tattoos have become extremely popular. The authentic characters are fully of history and mystery, especially if you come from a non-Chinese culture. And it's easy to appreciate the beauty and artistry of Chinese calligraphy whether or not you understand the subtle meanings that it conveys.

But it's so easy to let all that excitement blind you to the dangers of getting an impulsive Chinese tattoo, as these two stories illustrate;

Chinese Tattoo Mistake 1

In 2002 a newspaper reported that 18 year old hairdresser Lee Becks paid £90 to get a Chinese characters tattooed onto his upper arm. He was really pleased with his new tattoo and thought that the mandarin letters meant "Love, honour and obey".

But when he visited his local Chinese take-away a young Chinese woman reluctantly told him that his new design really meant "At the end of day, this is an ugly boy".

So the next day he went back to the tattoo studio, only to discover that the artist had shut up shop and was nowhere to be found. To make matters worse, when he uncovered the design at a nightclub, it attracted a group of Chinese girls who thought it was a great joke. After that, he made sure that his new Chinese tattoo was kept covered until he could afford the £600 for laser removal treatment.

Chinese Tattoo Mistake 2

In 2004, Joanne Raine, a 19 year old from Darlington spent £80 getting her boyfriend's nickname "Roo" tattooed on her stomach. She was delighted with the design, which was a symbol of her commitment and undying love.

Then her problems began with a visit to her local Chinese take-away. When she revealed her new tattoo, an embarrassed member of staff told her that the design meant "Supermarket". She subsequently split up with her boyfriend and can't afford to have the design removed.

So to make sure that you avoid a real horror show under your skin, take great care when planning your new Chinese tattoo.

The most important thing is to consult a native speaker. Make sure that they actually grew up in the country and are fluent in the language. Third or fourth generation Chinese Americans or Chinese Europeans won't have such a thorough understanding of the language. And just to make sure, get a second and third opinion if possible. Somebody else may be able to suggest a better option.

Once you find someone you trust, avoid the temptation to show them a design that you like and ask them what it means. They may agree with you just to make things easy, when it would be better to use different characters.

Make sure that you explain to them the underlying meaning or message that you want the design to convey. Someone who understands the language may be able to suggest another design that is more appropriate. In many cases there may be an idiom which is more suitable than a direct translation.

The Chinese language is packed full of great sounding four character idioms which can't be directly translated into English but are able to convey almost any concept or idea. However, if you go for this option, it's even more impressive if you can learn the translation, transliteration and pronunciation in Chinese. After all, nearly every non-Chinese person that you meet will ask what it means.

If you want to have your name translated into a Chinese tattoo, please be aware that different speakers may provide different translations depending upon their local dialect.

Certain western names can't be directly translated into Chinese. So consider adopting a real Chinese name just as many Chinese people adopt Westernized names. Get a Chinese person that you know to suggest a few names and choose the one that you like best. Just make sure that you cross check what it means with other Chinese speakers.

Once you've decided upon the characters that you want, get a native speaker who is good at calligraphy to write out your design. Get them to make a few sketches of the design which you can take to your tattoo artist.

Make sure that your artist understands the Chinese language and has experience of turning Chinese calligraphy into tattoos. Finally, discuss the type of font that you want your artist to use. As with all languages some fonts are better than others. Do you want modern handwriting or the elegance of classic Chinese calligraphy brush strokes?

Take your time, find the right design, get the right people to help and your Chinese tattoo will be a source of pride for the rest of your life.

Chinese calligraphy is an ancient art form stemming back to almost 3000 years ago. This style of writing is said to be abstract art. Many masters throughout Chinese history have left behind their own unique interpretation of the Chinese characters. It was Tu Mang, however, who correlated it all together with form identification and style. He established names for the techniques used to describe the words. For instance, a "carefree" style has an unfixed or unknown direction. On the opposite end, a "carefully executed" form insists on careful execution and thought behind the work. "Mysterious" is to use your imagination. There are 120 existing expressions used for Chinese calligraphy, many born by great masters.

Chinese characters have been defined as complicated yet beautiful in their meaning. They are complex in relation to other writing languages. Romanization is used in terms of relation or simple visual information, however the meaning of the character remains mysterious as the art styles behind it. Some Chinese characters mimic similar tones of other characters, yet have different meanings. Some characters written with just an added dot or stroke, turn into something totally different.

What kind of brush strokes would best represent the meaning of the words I had chose? I could go with a more classic, traditional style used in ancient times or even something called the "grass" style, looking more whimsical to me. I had not realized the depth of expression involved not only in searching a tattoo, but the actual essence, personality, and layers upon layers of meaning associated with this beautiful art.

As you learn Chinese calligraphy, you will notice that traditionally certain materials are used in a particular way to produce the eloquent results. The Chinese use special brushes made of rabbit hair or sheep. One brush is for sharpness in line drawing, and the other for rhythm and depth all equaling to the subject's inner self. Also used in Chinese calligraphy, is a thick ground ink combined with water and applied to Chinese paper (also called rice paper) or silk. This form shows depth, contrast, density and texture and creates a rhythmic balance. When the Chinese apply color to this art form, it is to show the subject's characteristics or moods.

The more I searched on Chinese calligraphy, the more infatuated I became of the work, yet I was not getting closer to choosing a tattoo because, quite honestly, each word or quotation inspired a feeling in me. There were simply too many I identified with on a deeper, more spiritual level.

After skipping across the top of the Chinese calligraphy history and art information, you can decide to take the process further by actively seeking out places or internet sites offering a more thorough course in the art of Chinese calligraphy. Many instructions remain basic in it's course, while others incorporate reading or speaking Chinese as well.

If your focus is art, then by all means, stick with the art only instructions, as there is so much to master within that form anyways. You will learn the different tools, mediums, and colors used for expressing your personality in depth on a simple surface. There are many diverse varieties of applications in Chinese calligraphy only to express one word. The results will refer to as a living moment, or living thought. And it is the results that loved and appreciated.

Chinese calligraphy is a worthy and nice experience to launch into. Expect Countless hours of enjoyable practice into an ancient, respected, old world art. If you wish to learn Chinese calligraphy, then by all meanscontinue on.

What do you need to know before you start learning Chinese?

Before you begin to learn how to read and write Chinese, there is one thing you need to know, it is a very difficult language that will take years and years of dedicated hard work. If you have not had any experience with Chinese culture and calligraphy in the past, it can be difficult sometimes.

Chinese writing is very different from most other languages in the world. There are tens of thousands of characters that represent different words and you will have to memorize many of these words and learn how they are used grammatically in a sentence. It is a tall task so if you are planning on learning Chinese, be sure you are ready to invest the time required, it is not an overnight process.

The symbols used in Chinese language are very different from those in Western and Latin languages. There are relatively few patterns in the Chinese language compared to that of Spanish or English, and that is what makes it especially difficult to learn.

Unalike the French and Spanish languages, which use English letters with a few new symbols and minor changes to the American alphabet, such as accents and dots over certain vowels and other minor changes to characters, the Chinese language does not use any of the letters or shapes we are very familiar with. Hence, there is a lot of learning and memorizing that needs to be done in the initial phase of learning how to write in Chinese. Once you become more experienced with Chinese writing, you will be able to catch on quickly and learn new words and construct more complicated sentences quicker, but the first few months of memorizing symbols and how they are used in sentences can be very monotonous and tiring. This is the phase when many of those who attempt to learn Chinese, give up because of the sheer amount of work involved.

If you have a strong work ethic and are overall a hard worker that needs to learn how to write in Chinese or is just generally interested in the subject, make the attempt and be sure to stick with it and not give up right away. It is going to be very difficult to memorize the characters at first so be sure to anticipate that and remember that it will get easier once you become more familiar with the characters and how to construct proper sentences.

Check http://www.LearnEZChinese.com to learn more about Mandarin Chinese and culture

Calligraphy and painting were two of the most prized art forms in ancient China. Calligraphy was believed to be the most eminent and most complete form of painting. The history of painting in China dates back to the 2nd century BCE. In the earliest times, painting and writing were made out on silk, till paper was later formulated during the 1st century CE.

Chinese art, and in particular, Chinese painting is greatly treasured around the globe. Chinese painting can be traced to as far back as six thousand years ago in the Neolithic Age when the Chinese have begun utilizing brushes in their paintings. Chinese art dates back even sooner than that.

According to theme topic, Chinese paintings can be categorized as landscapes, character paintings and flower - and - bird paintings. In typical Chinese painting, Chinese landscape artwork embodies a sizable collection, depicting nature, particularly mountains and bodies of water. Landscapes have traditionally been the choice of the Chinese because they manifest the poetry characteristic in nature. Accordingly, many esteemed paintings are landscapes.

The most popularly recognized form of Chinese art is “Water - ink” painting, where water - ink is the medium. Some of the vital things required for the Chinese painting include: paper, brush, ink or ink stick, ink stone, and color.

• Brush: The Chinese brush is a mandatory tool for Chinese painting. The brush should be sturdy and pliable. Two types of brushes are used. The softer brush is made from white sheep hair. This brush should be wet first, and then dried to deter curling. The latter one is fabricated from fox or deer sable fibers, which are very durable, and tend to paint better. The procedure the brush is used depends on the varied features of brush strokes one wants to obtain, such as weight, lightness, gracefulness, ruggedness, firmness, and fullness. Various types of shades are used to impart space, texture, or depth.

• Ink Stick: There are three types of Ink Stick: resin soot, lacquer soot, and tung - oil soot. Of the three, tung - oil soot is the most traditionally used. Otherwise, Chinese ink is foolproof if ink stick or ink stone are ineffectual.

• Paper: The most generally used paper is Xuan paper, which is fabricated of sandalwood bark. This is exceptionally water retentive, so the color or ink diffuses the second the brush stroke is laid. The second most well-known is Mian paper.

• Color: The most former Chinese paintings used Mo, a kind of indigenous ink, to devise monochromatic representations of nature or day - to - day life. Fabricated out of pine soot, mo is combined with water to get unique shades for telling appropriate layers or color in a painting.

Chinese painting is called shui - mo - hua. Shui - mo is the combination of shui ( water ) and mo. There are two types of Chinese painting. They are: ( 1 ) gong - bi or meticulous style, and ( 2 ) xie - yi or freehand style. The second is the most popular, not only because the objects are drawn with just a few strokes, but also because shapes and sprites are drawn by simple curves and natural ink. Many ancient poets and scholars used xie - yi paintings to express their spiritual angst.

Chinese calligraphy, like the script itself, began with the hieroglyphs and, over the long ages of evolution, has developed various styles and schools, constituting an important part of the heritage of national culture.

Calligraphy is an art dating back to the earliest day of history, and widely practiced throughout China to this day. Although it uses Chinese words as its vehicle of expression, one does not have to know Chinese to appreciate its beauty.

Calligraphy is understood in China as the art of writing a good hand with the brush or the study of the rules and techniques of this art. As such it is peculiar to China and the few countries influenced by ancient Chinese culture.

In the history of Chinese art, calligraphy has always been held in equal importance to painting. Great attention is also paid today to its development by holding exhibitions of ancient and contemporary works and by organizing competitions among youngsters and people from various walks of life.

Chinese scripts are generally divided into five categories: the seal character (zhuan), the official or clerical script (li), the regular script (kai), the running hand (xing) and the cursive hand (cao).

The zhuan script or seal character was the earliest form of writing after the oracle inscriptions, which must have caused great inconvenience because they lacked uniformity and many characters were written in variant forms. The first effort for the unification of writing, it is said, took place during the reign of King Xuan of the Western Zhou Dynasty, when his taishi (grand historian) Shi Zhou compiled a lexicon of 15 chapters, standardizing Chinese writing under script called zhuan.

The lishu (official script) came in the wake of the xiaozhuan in the same short-lived Qin Dynasty (221 - 207 B. C.). This was because the xiaozhuan, though a simplified form of script, was still too complicated for the scribes in the various government offices who had to copy an increasing amount of documents. Cheng Miao, a prison warden, made a further simplification of the xiaozhuan, changing the curly strokes into straight and angular ones and thus making writing much easier. A further step away from the pictographs, it was named lishu because li in classical Chinese meant "clerk" or "scribe"

The lishu was already very close to, and led to the adoption of, kaishu, regular script. The oldest existing example of this dates from the Wei (220-265), and the script developed under the Jin (265-420). The standard writing today is square in form, non-cursive and architectural in style. The characters are composed of a number of strokes out of a total of eight kinds-the dot, the horizontal, the vertical, the hook, the rising, the left-falling (short and long) and the right-falling strokes. Any aspirant for the status of calligrapher must start by learning to write a good hand in kaishu.

On the basis of lishu also evolved caoshu (grass writing or cursive hand), which is rapid and used for making quick but rough copies. This style is subdivided into two schools: zhangcao and jincao. The first of these emerged at the time the Qin was replaced by the Han Dynasty between the 3rd and 2nd centuries B. C. The characters, though written rapidly, still stand separate one from another and the dots are not linked up with other strokes.

The xingshu or running hand is something between the regular and the cursive scripts. When carefully written with distinguishable strokes, the xingshu characters will be very close to the regular style; when swiftly executed, they will approach the caoshu or cursive hand. Chinese masters have always compared with vivid aptness the three styles of writing-kaishu, xingshu and caoshu-to people standing, walking and running.

Although it uses Chinese words as its vehicle of expression, one does not have to know Chinese to appreciate its beauty.