Calligraphy

=  Japanese Calligraphy (日本語しょどう）  =

**Japanese calligraphy (しょどう）**is an beautiful art used regularly in Japan (日本).

__**Calligraphy**__ **(しょどう）**is an art with many tools involved, each tool has its own special purpose in each piece created. It originated form cave paintings and can be traced back to the origins of China. Many of the Japanese principles and techniques are similar to those of the Chinese. Calligraphy is most often written with ink (すみ) on mulberry paper (わし), can also be written on hanshi, and has five basic writing styles. This includes seal script (てんしょ), clerical script (れいしょ), regular script (かいしょ), semi cursive (ぎょしょ), and cursive (そしょ).

__**Bu**____**nchin**__　 (ぶんちん) - A paperweight of sorts, used to hold calligraphy paper (はんし) in place. The bunchin dates from the early to mid Japanese Showa period (1926-1989)

__**Shitajiki**__ （したじき) - There are many different types of materials used as shitajik (したじき), used mostly to either prevent marks on sheets below, or to create a better surface to write on. In English, they are referred to as //pencil boards.// Generally, they are made of plastic and 1mm to 2mm in thickness making them flexible, but durable. They are usually made of dark blue or black felt and are sold in a variety of different sizes.

**__Washi__** （わし）- A type of paper made in Japan that is commonly made using fibers from the bark of the gampi tree, the mitsumata shrub, or the paper mulberry, as well as bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. Washi comes from the //wa// meaning Japanese and //shi// meaning paper. There are three types of washi paper; ganpishi, which has a smooth, shiny surface and is used for books and crafts, kozogami, which is made from paper mulberry, has a tougher texture, closer to cloth, is the most widely made and is not weakend when treated to be water-resistant, and mitsumatagami, which is ivory-coloured, has a fine surface and is used for shodo as well as printing 

__**Suzuri**__ 　(すずり) - Used in both Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, it is a stone mortar for the grinding and containment of ink. With Chinese ink, it was usually made into a soild round stick for easier transportation and preservation, so that with even a small amount of water applied to the end of the ink, it could be ground with the flat surface of the ink stone. The ink brush, inkstick and the Xuan paper are the four writing implements traditionally known as the Four Treasure of the Study. This inkstone originated in East Asian calligraphy and painting, or other forms of brush painting.

__**Sumi**__ 　(すみ) - Sumi is an East Asian type of brush painting also known as **wash painting.** Sumi, or wash painting, was developed in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). The art was developed further during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) as a more polished style. Using a inkstick over and inkstone to obtain ink is the general way to do wash paintings or calligraphy. They are usually made of pine or oil soot combined with animal glue (にかわ).

__**Fude**__ 　(ふで) -A traditional Chinese ink brush also used by the Japanese and is used for calligraphy and for traditional paintings. Each brush differs in terms of sizes, texture, material and cost. The stalk of the brush is usually made of bamboo, but can also be made of exotic materials such as gold, silver, jade, ivory, red sandalwood, or spotted bamboo. The hair of the brush is often made of goat, Siberian weasel, pig, mouse, buffalo, wold, rabbit hair, or for the more exotic brushes, tiger, fowl, deer, or even human baby hair (from the first hair cut a baby gets; is said to bring good fortune while taking the Imperial examinations. Certain brush texture are better for writing certain styles than others are; soft, mixed or hard. The sizes are classified as either big, medium or small. Most calligraphy is written with a medium-sized brush. Often, the small brushes are used for small pieces and for fashioning designs for seals. The medium brushes are used by skilled artists and can produce a variety of thickness in lines. The largest brushes are used only for very large pieces. A primative version of an ink brush that was found in a tomb of a Chu citizen during the Warring States Period (475-221) had a wooden stalk and a bamboo tube tube that secures the bundle of hair to the stalk. Today, Japanese companies such as Pentel and Sakura Colour Products Corporation manufacture pens with brushes that are similar to a small ink brush as tips.

__Seal Script:__ (てんしょ）
In Chinese, Seal script means decorative engraving script. It's an ancient Chinese script that evolved out of the Zhou dynasty and rose in the Warring State of Qin. It became a standard type of script and was adopted as a formal type of script used all over China in the Qin dynasty. (22 BC - 207 BC). Most often, this type of script was used for engraving by artists and signests during the Han dynasty. Today, most people are unable to read this script.

__Cursive Script:__ (さしょ__)__
In Chinese, Cursive script is translated as grass script. It is a very difficult form of calligraphy to read and is a much faster style to wright than any other. The Japanese developed this faster way to write through techniques such as taking out part of a graph, merging strokes together, replacing portions with abbreviated forms, and modifying the stroke style. Cursive script can also be divided into the unconnected style where each character is separated or the style where the characters are connected to the other characters. Cursive script is te origin of Japanese hiragana script and was thought to be suitable for woman, while the clerical script was thought suitable for men.



__Clerical Script:__ (れいしょ）
Clerical script, translated in Chinese, is the chancery script. it is the most archaic style of Chinese calligraphy and was created in the Warring States period to the Qin dynasty, but was most dominant in the Han dynasty. Many artists today still use this script in a variety of medias such as healines, signboards, and advertisements. It's structure is generally similar to regular script, but is square and wide rather than square and tall. Often, Clerical script is very wavelike and has multiple, isolated strokes that are fairly dominant rightward or doenward on a diagonal stroke. Archaeologists are not sure exactly where the Clerical originated from but they do know that it has evolved through the centuries.

__Semi Cursive Script:__ (ぎょしょ）[[image:Semi-Cursive.png width="154" height="154" align="right" caption="Semi-Cursive"]]
Semi-Cursive is slightly cursive but not as wild-looking. Translated into Chinese, it means running script. After the creation in the Han. of semi-cursive script, it was used as the regular style of handwriting.



__Regular Script:__ (かいしょ）
Translated, it means the block script. It is the newest form of Chinese script style and was created in the Cao Wei Dynasty in 200CE, and fully developed around the 7th Century. When it was first created, very few people wrote in regular script and was not dominant until the 5th century. It is considered to have matured stylistically during the Tang Dynasty. It is used very often today by many people.



__Calligraphy Brush Painting:__ (すめいえ）
Brush painting with the calligraphy brushes has evolved from the art of Chinese Calligraphy. It is also known as wash painting or sumie (すめいえ). It was developed in China in the Tang Dynasty. Wash painting is used with an inkstick, either an inkstone or prepared inks, and often made of pine or oil soot combined with anima glue (にかわ). The brushes are similar to those of regular Calligraphy brushes, but are moulded to a fine point at the tip of the brush.

Youtube Videos of Japanese Calligraphy :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jBcsWt79z0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a7wS5mBKzY&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bta8ToxN0kY&feature=related

Power Point Presentation: