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< Chinese Characters ~ How to Hold the Brush
Jojo
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 2:22 pm
Site Admin Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 1098 Location: Peking
To practice Chinese calligraphy, one must learn the proper way to hold the brush, which is related to body posture. The brush must be held properly and one must also learn how to use his or her
wrists and elbows while writing.
Body posture:
1) Posture depends on the size of the written characters and the writer's physical condition. Proper posture will affect the speed of one's progress and also his or her health. A contemporary
calligrapher named Tang used the wrong posture, and although he became a calligrapher, he also became a hunchback; hence his name, Tang the Hunchback.
The correct posture for writing requires balanced shoulders and a straight back. The legs should be apart, with the feet evenly and firmly on the ground. The page is held down by the left hand as
the brush is held in the right hand. The head is bent slightly forward, but not too low. The eyes should be fixed on the spot where one intends to write. The eyes and the tip of the writing brush
should be 30 cm apart. The entire body should feel natural, and one should not pay too much attention to the posture or the body will become stiff or rigid. Correct posture simply prevents deformity
and enables one to write properly. When writing characters larger than 10 cm, one should stand up. Use the appropriate posture depending on the situation.
Finger method:
1) The important thing about holding the brush lies in the rational way of positioning the five fingers and the coordinated use of them. The functions of the five fingers are called ye, ya, gou, ge
and di.
Ye (to press down the thumb): The thumb should press the brush on a slant from inside to outside.
Ya (how the index finger holds the brush handle): Move the finger slantwise and bend it slightly from the outside to the inside. The index finger and the thumb cooperate so that while one presses
the other holds the brush handle.
Gou (hook; the way the middle finger hooks the outside of the brush): Move this finger forcefully from left to right to hook the brush. The middle finger must cooperate with the third finger to
write the characters.
Ge (the way the third finger presses the brush): The third finger is placed on the inside of the brush handle pressing the handle from the inside to the outside. It cooperates with the middle finger
so the two fingers exert an even and balanced force.
Di (work of the little finger): It is placed under the third finger to support it.
Points to remember while holding the brush are that the fingers must exert substantial force and the palm does no actual work. Calligrapher Xu Chengyi recommends the following:
The tiger's mouth is like a crescent moon.
The palm is shaped like hiding an egg.
If the five fingers cooperate with each other, the movement of the brush will be agile.
Method of using the wrist:
Apart from the fingers, one must use the wrist and elbow to write Chinese characters. The wrist is crucial and must be used with agility. Use the wrist to manipulate the tip of the brush. The four
positions of the wrist are to rest, cushion, lift and suspend.
Rest the wrist of the right hand on the table. This will enable one to use his or her fingers well. Employ this method when writing very small characters ¡ As small as the head of a fly, the Chinese
say.
1) Cushion the wrist of the right hand with the left thumb or the left wrist, which will lift the right wrist. This method is very often used for writing ordinary, small characters.
2) Lift the right wrist from the table. Some people call this suspending the wrist, which is used to write medium-sized characters.
The last position is suspending both the wrist and the elbow, neither of which touches the table. This method is used to write big characters.
The four wrist positions are relative. If one intends to raise his or her calligraphy to the art level, he or she must practice the suspended-wrist position from the very beginning. Would-be
calligraphers must not fear difficulty. He or she must acquire this basic skill.
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shixin
Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 5:18 pm
Joined: 16 Apr 2007 Posts: 1
I like Chinese calligraphy.
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marlene
Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 7:22 pm
Moderator Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 905
shixin wrote:
I like Chinese calligraphy.
Me, too.
Maybe we should do some virtual calligraphy practice.
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Rachel_S
Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 1:46 pm
Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1854 Location: Beijing, China
I like doing Chinese calligraphy in theory. The problem is that I have the patience of a gnat. I love how beautiful the strokes are and how lovely it looks when it's finished, but I can't sit still
long enough to do the job really well.
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Rachel_S
Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 9:33 am
Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1854 Location: Beijing, China
davidfriesenfreelance wrote:
Just as there is a 'right' and 'wrong' way to play notes on a guitar (after all, A is A and C is C no matter what your technique), it is the way you arrange these notes and the feeling you put into
them. Anything that is a form of expression can be called art. And certainly it is not a science.
I think the science, like Opal said, comes in mastering the basics. There is quite a science to understanding chord progressions (using your guitar example), and I feel that especially deeply
considering I studied music theory for about six years. There is a very mathematical precision in music especially.
That said, of course PERFORMING is an art and CREATING is an art. They have to be since creativity is too essential to those processes. But music in and of itself does have a science to the
TECHNIQUE. It's a bit of both art and science, and I doubt you could do one without the other and still do music well. The only difference is: one can be taught, and one cannot. You can't teach
others to be creative, only unleash what creativity they already have. But you can teach even a cat to play the piano (just check out YouTube if you don't believe me!).
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Bartleby
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 9:28 am
Joined: 14 May 2007 Posts: 17
davidfriesenfreelance wrote:
There is a science behind virtually everything we do, but I still believe the essential essence of any musical playing or calligraphy or painting or suchlike is artistic in nature rather than
scientific.
I think what she is saying is that in learning a craft, there is much focus on the science, but in the process of creating, performing, or exhibiting something like music or art, it's often more
about the "artistic-ness."
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Rachel_S
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 4:12 pm
Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1854 Location: Beijing, China
Bartleby wrote:
davidfriesenfreelance wrote:
There is a science behind virtually everything we do, but I still believe the essential essence of any musical playing or calligraphy or painting or suchlike is artistic in nature rather than
scientific.
I think what she is saying is that in learning a craft, there is much focus on the science, but in the process of creating, performing, or exhibiting something like music or art, it's often more
about the "artistic-ness."
That's pretty much it, yeah. I didn't mean to offend your sensibilities. lol But with calligraphy specifically, there is a right and a wrong way to do it, and in that sense it is quite scientific in
its nature. That is not to say there isn't an artistic element to it as well. But, with calligraphy in mind, much of the artistic, expressive element comes not from a creative standpoint, but from
the way your muscles happen to move and the way your arm and hand are structured, rather than some sort of "artistic eye."
And since when is "suchlike" a word, Dave?
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Rachel_S
Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2007 4:24 pm
Moderator Joined: 30 Jan 2007 Posts: 1854 Location: Beijing, China
davidfriesenfreelance wrote:
Who is really to say who is the great masters and if there really are 'right' and 'wrong' ways to do things you can still bend the rules and make something completely new if you want. I think that
reducing everything to science and technique like this is really missing the beauty of all things. Whether that is a painter, a musician, or even a boxer or fighter. There is something artistic to
be seen in them all, and whilst you might know there is science or technique behind it I think you are missing something if you see it in that way.
I believe every word your saying. I guess I just filter out the technique elements from the artistic elements. I feel they should be analyzed separately. While the teaching of a craft is more based
in science, the production and presentation of works is definitely thoroughly artistic and should be viewed and analyzed as such. However, in this analysis, one can also look at the technical
elements in both artistic and scientific lights and the scientific elements often reflect back on the teacher or mentor (or natural ability if neither is applicable).
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