User:Asoer/Debate around East Asian calligraphy as an art

East Asian calligraphy is normally regarded as one of the "arts" (Chinese 藝術 pinyin: yìshù, Japanese 芸術 geijutsu) in the countries where it is practiced. But there is actually a debate rather East Asian calligraphy is a practice, or is an art. The English word "Calligraphy" referring to "hand written" include both repetitive uncreative practices and specific artistic creation, and thus confuse more the debate.

Names

The local name for calligraphy is Shūfǎ 書法 in China, literally "The way/method/law of writing";, Shodō 書道 in Japan, literally "The way/principle of writing"; and Seoye (서예) 書藝 in Korea, literally "The skill/criterion of writing". The calligraphy of East Asian characters is an important and appreciate aspect of East Asian culture.

As a practice

Calligraphy is, at the basic level, a practice －書法 Chinese: shūfǎ, "the rules of writing Han characters"－ focused on repetition and copy. Students have to copy and copy again the more elegant writing of famous calligraphic masters. Elders practicing temporary calligraphy focus on practicing and smooth moves, without aspiring to artistic creation. Here, the regularity of characters and good balance is critical.

Moreover, some Chinese scholars have recently taken issue with this. The following are their views.

• Until the 1930s, the Chinese term for East Asian calligraphy, 書法 (Chinese: shūfǎ), was defined as "the rules of writing Han characters,". This included rules such as Ouyang Xun's 36 Rules in the Structure of Chinese Characters.
• The view that it is an art is the result of recent careless application of the term art to many crafts.
• Yìshù, as a term for "art", is a modern term introduced to describe a Western concept. When it was first introduced to China, it was not used to describe handwriting, although it was used to describe other works such as painting.
• That which was considered to be good handwriting is correct, concise, and aesthetically pleasing. Although good handwriting was appreciated for its beauty, something appreciated for its beauty is not necessarily "art".

As an art

But calligraphy is also elevated to an art －艺术 Chinese: yìshù, recent word meaning "art"－ by its masters. When specific creativity is involve, when the vivacity of the writing as well as the oscillations in the writing create a very specific piece, that become an art appreciate by East Asian connoisseurs. Such are some famous pieces of calligraphy, where words' size, style, speed, may oscillate following the semantics and emotion of the text.

See also

• East Asian calligraphy/Chinese calligraphy
  • Japanese calligraphy
• Calligraphy