Chinese Calligraphy History (11) The callibraphy flourished after invention of papermaking technology

Before papermaking technology, the major writing media was bamboo or wood slips which are very narrow. The width of most slips were about 1 cm, very few wood slip could be wide more than 3 cm, the widest wood slip could be 6.5 cm. But most people wrote on 1 cm slips. Which dramatically limited people's writing. For example, people wrote Horse vertically like the shell bone script in below

because if they wrote horizontally

which would not be all in the slip.

Some similar animal characters are

Dog

Tiger

Pig

Elephant

and more.

The current standard printing scripts of the above characters have inherited from the vertical writing style.

When the papermaking technology made paper available and affordable to most people in West Han Dynasty. Han Dynasty Emperiors learnt the lessons from the Qin Dynasty made, which strictly controlled the people with very harsh laws, so falled down just 20 + years. The Han Dynasty greatly relaxed the control on people, art, and all field. So people were inspired to make more food, goods, create new art, including calligraphy. Many field had started flourishing. Han Dynasty became one of the two greatest dynasties (another one is Tang Dynasty) with prosperity in all fields. Chinese called themselves as "Han People" (汉人), and Chinese as "Han Language" (汉语) because they have been proud of the achievement of Han Dynasty.

Except the early Chinese calligraphy scripts like shell bone, big seal, small seal scripts in the past thousands years, all other Chinese calligraphy scripts emerged explosively in Han Dynasty almost in the same period. They are clerical script, running script, cursive script, and standard script, partially because the Han Dynasty relaxed policy, and partially because the papermaking technology.

Let's see them one by one. I chose the most popluar character Dragon and Tiger as the sample characters.

Shell bone script

Dragon - shell script

Dragon - big seal script

Dragon - small seal script

Dragon - clerical script

Dragon - standard script

Dragon - running script

Dragon - cursive script

We can see the different style of the scripts. The late four all appeared in Han Dynasty. I need to point out that the running script and cursive script are very flexible, different people wrote differently even though there are still rules to guide the writing, but people could have their own personality in writing. 

If we say the small seal script, clerical script, and standard script are formal scripts for printing as language, then the running script, and cursive script are more like art for calligraphers to express their personality, their emotions. 

Let see another famous character Tiger.

Tiger - shell bone script

Tiger - big seal script

Tiger - small seal script

Tiger - clerical script

Tiger - standard script

Tiger - running script

Tiger - cursive script

It is same as character Dragon.

We can see from clerical script, the strokes are more stretching out than the older scripts like shell bone, big seal, and small seal scripts because paper gave the writer more space to extend the strokes.

The clerical script reached its flourishing peak in East Han Dynasty (25 - 220). The running script reached its peak in Jin Dynasty (266 - 420). The standard script reached its peak in Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), which is another great dynasty in China History. Cursive script reached its peak in late Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty (960 - 1279).

Since Song Dynasty, Chinese calligraphy has more popular and many new way emerged but no revolutionary new script was created, and accepted by society.

The papermaking technology is the milestone in calligraphy history. Paper is for people to write more flexible a single characters, but also riched the whole display ways for multiple characters like a poet, or proverb, people could write tens characters on one page, which would need tens slips otherwise . In addition, with big space paper, it was possible for writers to write characters in connecting each other, created relationship between characters, which is a very important calligraphy art feature.

The calligraphy is partial art and partial language, which is unique in the world. When you see a calligraphy art, you see a picture-alive art, you also are touched by the language content.

has deeply rooted in Chinese culture from the national exam in more than one thousand years to the couplets on the each house doors, from calligraphy works in decent exhibition valued hundred thousand dollars to letters between people.

If we take away all the calligraphy in any famous historic and cultural site, such as Forbidden City, they immediately become meaningless.

Hall of Supreme Harmony (calligraphy on board) in Forbidden City

The first holy Mountain (calligraphy on stone) in Tai Shan

The first gate of the world (calligraphy on city gate board) in Shanhai Gate of the Great Wall east end.

If you don't understand calligraphy, it is impossible for you to completely understand Chinese culture.