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Calligraphy (from Greek καλλι calli "beauty" + γραφος graphos "writing") is the art of decorative writing. A particular style of calligraphy is described as a hand.
Calligraphy at every point in time is a conscious art, which is distinguished from the studies of epigraphy or palaeography in general. The study of permanent inscriptions engraved in metal or chiselled into stone and the forms of letters used in them is called epigraphy (q.v.). Epigraphy is a branch of the broader study of ancient handwriting in more general terms, called palaeography. Graffiti inscribed on wall surfaces lie between the two.
Early alphabets had evolved by about 3000 BC. From the Greek alphabet evolved the Latin alphabet. Capital letters were developed first and lower case letters were invented considerably later.
Long, heavy rolls of papyrus were replaced by the Romans with the first books, initially simply folded pages of parchment made from animal skins. Reed pens were replaced by quill pens.
Christianity gave a boost to the development of writing through the prolific copying of the Bible and other sacred texts.
Uncial letters were used by monks in Ireland, Scotland and other places, hence the name 'Insular style' for this type of writing. This was also the heyday of the illuminated manuscript.
Charlemagne made a big difference to the spread of beautiful writing by bringing Alcuin, the Abbot of York, to his capital of Aachen. Alcuin undertook a major revision of all styles of script and all texts. He then developed a new 'hand' named after his patron Charlemagne: "Carolingian minuscule style".
The Gothic alphabet followed in the 11th century, and Italy contributed Chancery and Italic scripts.
What followed was the heyday of the illuminated manuscript.
Hand-written and hand-decorated books went out of fashion for a while after the invention of printing by Johann Gutenberg in the 15th century.
However, at the end of the 19th century, William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement rediscovered and popularised calligraphy. Many famous calligraphers were influenced by Morris, especially Edward Johnston, Eric Gill and others.
Some important contemporary calligraphers are Author Baker and Hermann Zapf. As handwritten forms of communication have become more rare, calligraphy is often reserved for special occasions and events, most notably the addressing of wedding invitations and announcements.
Chinese calligraphy typically uses ink brushes to write Chinese characters (called Hanzi in Chinese, Kanji in Japanese, and Hanja in Korean). Calligraphy (in Chinese, Shufa 書法, in Japanese Shodō 書道, or "the way of writing") is considered an important art in East Asia and the most refined form of East Asian painting.
Calligraphy has influenced most major art styles in East Asia, including sumi-e, a style of Japanese painting based entirely on calligraphy.
| English name | Hanzi | Pinyin | Romaji |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seal script | 篆書 | Zhuanshu | Tensho |
| Running script (Semi-cursive Script) | 行書 | Xingshu | Gyōsho |
| Grass script (Cursive script) | 草書 | Caoshu | Sōsho |
| Clerical script (Official script) | 隸書 (隷書) |
Lishu | Reisho |
| Regular script (Block script) | 楷書 | Kaishu | Kaisho |
For regular script characters, the character basically fits into a square space, with each character of roughly the same size and proportion. Learners of Chinese characters are likely to encounter this form first, and in learning to write Chinese characters the form enables the student to appreciate the proportions of each part of the character as well as each character stroke. Though brushpen has been used for over two thousand years, today, most students begin with pencil or pens, and the calligraphy of modern handwriting is also a challenge to read for those with expressive running hand script.
Grass script is notorious for its economy of individual penstrokes. Quite often different characters written in the regular script form may resemble each other when written in grass script.
The clerical script is highly stylised, a development from seal script form. They are highly angular in appearance, and as a precursor to regular script, for modern readers of Chinese characters, they are highly legible, compared to grass script, or seal script.
Seal scripts are regularised scripts, which are noted for the uniformity of thickness and space of vertical, horizontal and curved lines. By its very name, the main use are found on seals or chops. Seal carving is one branch of Chinese calligraphy, and considered as a high art, since it expresses the carver's calligraphy and artistic expression in fitting a number of characters (the majority of which are of seal script form) into such a small area of space, and carved in reverse so that the imprint obtained gives the characters in their proper form. Moreover, due to the nature of the size of seals and lack of space, the development of Chinese characters have been affected by seal carving, since simplification of characters has often been practised.
Arabic calligraphy is often displayed in Muslim art, because it serves as an inspiration. When used decoratively, the writing is so fancy that it is almost unreadable. Submit more information
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