Editing Calligraphy (section)

== East Asia ==
{{anchor|East Asian calligraphy}}
[[Chinese calligraphy]] is locally called ''{{transliteration|zh|ISO|shūfǎ}}'' or ''{{transliteration|zh|ISO|fǎshū}}'' ({{lang|zh|書法}} or {{lang|zh|法書}} in traditional Chinese, literally "the method or law of writing"); [[Japanese calligraphy]] is ''{{transliteration|ja|shodō}}'' ({{lang|ja|書道}}, literally "the way or principle of writing");<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sato |first=Shozo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8_ZAwAAQBAJ&q=japanese+calligraphy |title=Shodo: The Quiet Art of Japanese Zen Calligraphy, Learn the Wisdom of Zen Through Traditional Brush Painting |date=2014-03-11 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |isbn=978-1-4629-1188-2 |language=en}}</ref> and [[Korean calligraphy]] is called ''{{transliteration|ko|seoye}}'' ({{Korean|hangul=서예|hanja=書藝}}; literally "the art of writing");<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nornes |first=Abé Markus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHZWEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA28 |title=Brushed in Light: Calligraphy in East Asian Cinema |date=2021-02-22 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-13255-3 |language=en}}</ref> The calligraphy of [[CJK characters|East Asian characters]] continues to form an important and appreciated constituent of contemporary traditional East Asian culture.{{Example needed|s|date=October 2024}}{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

{{gallery
|title=Calligraphy samples from East Asia
|File:Mi Fu-On Calligraphy.jpg
   |''On Calligraphy'' by [[Mi Fu]], [[Song dynasty]] (China)
|File:Oura Kanetake peace 1910.jpg
   |[[Japanese calligraphy]]: Two [[Chinese characters]] "[[:ja:和平|和平]]" meaning "peace" and the signature of Japanese calligrapher [[Ōura Kanetake]] (1910). [[Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts|Horizontal writing]].
|File:Chusa-Saseoru.jpg
   |Calligraphy by one of Korea's most celebrated calligraphists, [[Kim Jeong-hui]] (1786–1856)|File:Korean-Wiktionary-in-free-style.jpg
   |Modern Korean calligraphy in [[Hangul]], meaning "Wiktionary"}}

===History===
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In [[ancient China]], the oldest known Chinese characters are [[oracle bone script]] ({{lang|zh|甲骨文}}), carved on ox [[scapula]]e and tortoise [[plastrons]], as the rulers in the [[Shang dynasty]] carved pits on such animals' bones and then baked them to gain auspice of military affairs, agricultural harvest, or even procreation and weather. During the [[divination]] ceremony, after the cracks were made{{Explain|reason=The mention of cracks is placed suddenly, and while the cracks may likely be caused by the heat of the fire, it has not been verified.|date=October 2024}}, the characters were written with a brush on the shell or bone to be later carved.<ref>Keightley, 1978.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=August 2022}} With the development of the [[bronzeware script]] ({{transliteration|zh|jīn wén}}) and [[large seal script]] ({{transliteration|zh|dà zhuàn}})<ref>{{Cite web |title=Categories of Calligraphy – Seal Script |url=http://www.cityu.edu.hk/lib/about/event/ch_calligraphy/seal_eng.htm |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref> "cursive" signs continued{{Further explanation needed|reason=Cursive is not mentioned anywhere before this|date=October 2024}}. [[Mao Gong ding]] is one of the most famous examples of bronzeware script in Chinese calligraphic history. It contains 500 inscribed characters, the largest number of bronze inscriptions discovered to date.{{Clarify|reason=Awkward sentence|date=August 2021}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bell and Cauldron Inscriptions-A Feast of Chinese Characters: The Origin and Development_Mao Gong Ding |url=https://www.npm.gov.tw/exh99/bell/3_en.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018143625/https://www.npm.gov.tw/exh99/bell/3_en.htm |archive-date=18 October 2019 |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref> Moreover, each archaic kingdom of current China had its own set of characters.

In [[Imperial era of Chinese history|Imperial China]], the graphs on old [[stele]]s{{snd}} some dating from 200 BCE, and in the [[small seal script]] ({{lang|zh|小篆}} {{transliteration|zh|xiǎo zhuàn}}) style{{snd}} have been preserved and can be viewed in museums even today.

About 220 BCE, the emperor [[Qin Shi Huang]], the first to conquer the entire Chinese basin, imposed several reforms, among them [[Li Si]]'s character unification, which created a set of 3300 standardized small seal characters.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fazzioli |first=Edoardo |title=Chinese Calligraphy: From Pictograph to Ideogram: The History Of 214 Essential Chinese/Japanese Characters |publisher=[[Abbeville Publishing Group (Abbeville Press, Inc.)|Abbeville Press]] |others=Calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-89659-774-7 |location=New York |page=13 |quote=And so the first Chinese dictionary was born, the ''Sān Chāng'', containing {{formatnum:3300}} characters}}</ref> Despite the fact that the main writing implement of the time was already the brush, few papers survive from this period, and the main examples of this style are on steles.

The [[clerical script]] ({{lang|zh-TW|隸書}}/{{lang|zh|隸书}}) ({{transliteration|zh|lì shū}}) which was more regularized, and in some ways similar to modern text, was also authorised under Qin Shi Huang.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Xigui|first=Qiu|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/470162569|title=Chinese writing.|date=2000|publisher=Society for the study of Early China|isbn=1-55729-071-7|pages=103|oclc=470162569}}</ref>

Between clerical script and traditional regular script, there is another transitional type of calligraphic work called [[Wei Bei]]. It started during the [[North and South dynasties]] (420 to 589 CE) and ended before the [[Tang dynasty]] (618–907).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Z. |title=Chinese Calligraphy |url=http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/Culture/Culture_Recommendation/t1068241_2.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727065633/http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/Culture/Culture_Recommendation/t1068241_2.htm |archive-date=27 July 2020 |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref>

The traditional [[regular script]] ({{transliteration|zh|kǎi shū}}), still in use today, and largely finalized by [[Zhong You]] ({{lang|zh|鐘繇}}, 151–230) and his followers, is even more regularized. Its spread was encouraged by [[Li Siyuan|Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang]] (926–933), who ordered the [[Woodblock printing|printing]] of the classics using new wooden blocks in kaishu{{Explain|reason=A further explanation of what Kaishu is would help with general understanding|date=October 2024}}. Printing technologies here allowed a shape stabilization. The kaishu shape of characters 1000 years ago was mostly similar to that at the end of Imperial China;{{citation needed|date=January 2023}} However, small changes to the characters have been made. For example the shape of <big>{{lang|zh|广}}</big> has changed from the version in the ''[[Kangxi Dictionary]]'' of 1716 to the version found in modern books. The ''Kangxi'' and current shapes have tiny differences, while stroke order remains the same, according to the old style.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://ctext.org/library.pl?if=en&res=77358 |year=1716 |page=41 |language=zh |script-title=zh:康熙字典 |trans-title=Kangxi Zidian}}. See, for example, the radicals <big>{{lang|zh|卩}}</big>, <big>{{lang|zh|厂}}</big>, or <big>{{lang|zh|广}}</big>. The 2007 common shape for those characters does not clearly show the stroke order, but old versions, visible on p. 41, clearly allow the stroke order to be determined.</ref>

Styles which did not survive include {{transliteration|zh|bāfēnshū}}, a mix of 80% small seal script and 20% clerical script{{Clarify|reason=This sentence makes it confusing to note whether bafenshu is a style that's a mix of 80% small seal script and 20% clerical sript or if the styles not surviving were bafenshu, 80% of small seal script, and 20% of clerical scripts|date=October 2024}}. Some [[variant Chinese characters]] were unorthodox or locally used for centuries. They were generally understood but always rejected in official texts. Some of these unorthodox variants, in addition to some newly created characters, compose the [[simplified Chinese characters|simplified Chinese]] character set.{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

===Technique===
Traditional East Asian writing uses the [[Four Treasures of the Study]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=n.d. |title="Four treasures of Study" tour |editor-last=Li |editor-first=J. |url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/m/anhui/travel/2010-06/02/content_9948922.htm |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref>{{snd}} [[ink brush]]es known as {{transliteration|zh|máobǐ}} ({{lang|zh-TW|毛筆}}/{{lang|zh|毛笔}}), [[Chinese ink]], paper, and [[inkstone]]s{{snd}} to write [[Chinese character]]s.  These instruments of writing are also known as the ''Four Friends of the Study'' ({{langx|ko|문방사우/文房四友|Munbang sau}}) in Korea. Besides the traditional four tools, [[desk pad]]s and paperweights are also used.

Many different parameters influence the final result of a calligrapher's work. Physical parameters include the shape, size, stretch, and [[Brush#Bristles|hair type]] of the ink brush; the color, color density and water density of the ink; as well as the paper's water absorption speed and surface texture. The calligrapher's technique also influences the result, as the look of finished characters are influenced by the quantity of ink and water the calligrapher lets the brush absorb and by the pressure, inclination, and direction of the brush. Changing these variables produces thinner or bolder strokes, and smooth or toothed borders. Eventually, the speed, accelerations and decelerations of a skilled calligrapher's movements aim to give "spirit" to the characters, greatly influencing their final shapes.

===Styles===
Cursive styles such as ''[[Semi-cursive script|{{transliteration|zh|xíngshū}}]]'' ({{lang|zh-TW|行書}}/{{lang|zh|行书}})(semi-cursive or running script) and ''[[Grass script|{{transliteration|zh|cǎoshū}}]]'' ({{lang|zh-TW|草書}}/{{lang|zh|草书}})(cursive, rough script, or grass script) are less constrained and faster, where movements made by the writing implement are more visible. These styles' stroke orders vary more, sometimes creating radically different forms. They are descended from the clerical script, in the same time as the regular script ([[Han dynasty]]), but ''{{transliteration|zh|xíngshū}}'' and ''{{transliteration|zh|cǎoshū}}'' were used for personal notes only, and never used as a standard. The ''{{transliteration|zh|cǎoshū}}''  style was highly appreciated during [[Emperor Wu of Han]]'s reign (140–187 CE).{{citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Examples of modern printed styles are [[Ming (typeface)|Song]] from the [[Song dynasty]]'s [[Four Great Inventions of ancient China#Printing|printing press]], and [[East Asian sans-serif typeface|sans-serif]]. These are not considered traditional styles, and are normally not written.
{{Clear}}

===Influences===
Japanese and Korean calligraphy were each greatly influenced by Chinese calligraphy. Calligraphy has influenced most major art styles in East Asia, including [[ink and wash painting]], a style of [[Chinese painting|Chinese]], [[Japanese painting|Japanese]], and [[Korean painting|Korean]] painting based entirely on calligraphy and which uses similar tools and techniques.

The Japanese and Koreans have also developed their own specific sensibilities and styles of calligraphy while incorporating Chinese influences.

===Japan===
{{Main|Japanese calligraphy}}

Japanese calligraphy goes out of the set of [[CJK strokes]] to also include local alphabets such as [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]], with specific problematics such as new curves and moves, and specific materials ([[Japanese paper]], {{transliteration|ja|washi}} {{lang|ja-Hani|和紙}}, and Japanese ink).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Suzuki |first=Yuuko |title=An introduction to Japanese calligraphy |publisher=Search |year=2005 |isbn=978-1-84448-057-9 |location=Tunbridge Wells}}</ref>

===Korea===
{{Main|Korean calligraphy}}

The modern [[Hangul|Korean alphabet]] and its use of the circle required the creation of a new technique not used in traditional Chinese calligraphy.

===Mongolia===
{{Main|Mongolian calligraphy}}

Mongolian calligraphy is also influenced by Chinese calligraphy, from tools to style.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}{{Explain|reason=Further explanation or an example for the Chinese influence would strengthen this section|date=October 2024}}

===Tibet===
{{Main|Tibetan calligraphy}}

Tibetan calligraphy is central to [[Tibet]]an culture. The script is derived from [[Indic script]]s. The nobles of Tibet, such as the High [[Lama]]s and inhabitants of the [[Potala Palace]], were often capable calligraphers. [[Tibet]] has been a center of [[Buddhism]] for several centuries, with said religion placing a high significance on the written word. This does not provide for a large body of [[secular]] pieces, although they do exist (but are usually related in some way to Tibetan Buddhism). Almost all high religious writing involved calligraphy, including letters sent by the [[Dalai Lama]] and other religious and secular authorities. Calligraphy is particularly evident on their [[prayer wheels]], although this calligraphy was forged rather than scribed, much like Arab and Roman calligraphy is often found on buildings. Although originally done with a reed, Tibetan calligraphers now use chisel tipped pens and markers as well.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}