The rise
‘There is painting in poetry and poetry in painting,’ states an ancient Chinese proverb, an emblem of the ever-existing interdependence of these two fundamental elements in the history of China. The Chinese language was born, like all languages, from the need to convey oral messages and written reasoning, to leave signs of people’s passage, imprinting them on what exists in the nature that surrounds them. In China, however, writing is more than this: it was born as a means of communication but already carried the artistic conception in itself.
Considered the mother of all arts, calligraphy has evolved over the centuries, from the engraving of bones and shells to bronze, bamboo, silk, and rice paper, containing within itself not only important historical documentation of daily life of the time, but also profound aesthetic beauty. It is a generally shared opinion in research and in-depth studies about Chinese calligraphic art, that even without knowing the Chinese language, one can appreciate its aesthetic beauty (Leung & Kaplan, 1999; Long, 2001; Yee, 1973).
Legend has it that writing was invented around the 28th century BC by Fu Xi, one of the three noble emperors of Chinese mythology (Long, 2001). The story tells that he used a series of combinations of lines to represent what he saw in front of him every day, starting from the concepts of negative and positive which, when contrasted, move the world: Yin and Yang. The ancient art of Chinese writing has always permeated the culture of the population and vice versa, as it also defines the morality and tempers the character of the person who practises writing and uses the brush, one of the four treasures of the literate. This is because the posture, the movement of the wrist and shoulders, the pressure exerted on the brush, and the concentration on breathing all contribute to the pouring of the ink onto the paper and to the outcome of the work in a sort of meditative operation.
Modern period
Through the ages, writing became standardised, then changed in style and form, simplifying or abstracting into elegant cursives accompanying the paintings. As the first contacts with other nations occurred, some elements of modernity appeared in the Chinese language.
New forms of calligraphy were created, mixed with western cultural and artistic influences (Chen, 2023). Yet, these forms of writing were secondary to what was the fledgling major concern of the times, to go towards a simplification of the characters and make it accessible to the masses.
Indeed during the first half of the twentieth century, Chinese characters took centre stage in a new way as they invaded homes and streets on propaganda posters and revolutionary slogans. The construction of a new language that was meant to re-establish the society saw great substitutions of everyday terms. Posters and slogans with new words and concepts entered society as part of a programme of rebuilding the language.
The second part of the twentieth century witnessed the following attempt to create a “linguistic harmony” and a general alphabetisation of the Chinese population by simplifying Chinese characters (Iezzi, 2013). With the simplification of Chinese characters and, subsequently, the advent of the digital age, which saw the insertion of Chinese characters with keyboards based on the Latin alphabet, the concern of a possible decline and loss of the art of calligraphy has arisen. Yet, at the end of the twentieth century, under new forms, ideograms of neon lights and graffiti became symbols of Chinese megacities, and Chinese characters may again be protagonists of the changing culture.
Contemporary times and new spaces
According to another current of thought, in the digital age, rather than considering calligraphy a dying art, calligraphy is currently emerging in various fields, imbued with new narratives, expressing new generational needs (Abrahamsen & Chan, 2004). In the new scenarios of contemporary art, some calligraphic artists are making their way by experimenting with classical calligraphy using concepts and methodologies of modern art and creating what is defined as a "Pseudo-Language" (Leung & Kaplan, 1999).
Overturning some Western conceptions according to which Chinese artists use cultural elements that only make sense to Chinese people, some contemporary artists challenge linguistic canons by creating a fake language. After all, artists are born and grow up immersed in their native culture, so they inevitably represent what they know, and completely abandoning the representation of their own set of values is not an option and would make no sense in the light of modern global development, integration, and respect of the different intellectual heritage of different populations (Unesco, 2009).
For example, Xu Bing, an artist from Chongqing who was also vice-president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts of China, created a work with 4000 characters, which is approximately the number of basic characters of daily use in the Chinese language (Leung & Kaplan, 1999). He started from the radicals of the Chinese characters that actually exist and combined them so that they seem to make sense, but creating meaningless ideograms.
Gu Wenda, a contemporary artist from Shanghai now living in New York, combines his sense of being a citizen of the world with his Chineseness (Leung & Kaplan, 1999). Indeed, in his works, he creates words merging Chinese characters of ancient dialects with other languages such as English, Hindi, and Arabic to convey messages of "internationalism" and dissolution of cultural boundaries.
Conclusion
As a tool to meet other human groups and a thread that weaves the web of people’s sense of belonging and value system, languages are messengers imbued with human identities. In the perspective of globalisation, contemporary artists therefore try to stimulate evolution, encountering the new while preserving and spreading the calligraphic practice which is one of the cornerstones of Chinese culture. In the long history of Chinese society, calligraphic art has kept pace with the slow as well as the more sudden changes that the Chinese language has gone through arm in arm with society, adapting to new needs.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alessia Mazza has a master's degree in History and Culture of China from Università degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale. She has great curiosity and passion for European and Chinese languages, literature, cultures, society, photography, and photojournalism. Currently, she is also working in international trade and development.
This article was edited by Mattia M. Sossio and René Neumann.
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