Chinese Calligrapy for Mental and Spiritual Health
Chinese calligraphy (“Shu Fa”) is considered as the most magnificent and abstract form of art in the culture of China. Also referred to as brush calligraphy, it is a unique art of Asian culture. There are 4 basic disciplines and skills of the Chinese literati:
- Shu (calligraphy)
- Hua (painting)
- Qin (string musical instrument)
- Qi (strategic board game)
“Shu Fa” is believed to disclose one’s personality. Every “Shu Fa” stroke is permanent and irredeemable. It requires meticulous planning and a confident implementation. While executing this art form, you need to abide by the defined structure of words. But, at the same time, you can unleash your extreme creative self. This demands great skill. To bring out humanistic imagination as well as touch under a defined structure is a great art in itself.
The trick is to control the ink concentration, brush flexibility, and the assimilative power and thickness of the paper. By doing this, you can create unlimited variety of art forms and styles through Chinese calligraphy. In western calligraphy, if you use dry brush strokes and show diffusing ink blots in your paper, it is regarded an error. But in calligraphy of China, this is regarded as spontaneous creativity!
For a calligrapher, this form of art is a sort of mental exercise. It helps in increasing the coordination between the body and the mind to select the best style to express something in words. It requires discipline to achieve such coordination. On the other hand, it’s soothing too, as your inner being and your creative self becomes active.
The western world has seen two great artists – Matisse and Picasso – whose works showed the influence of Chinese calligraphy. One of Picasso’s famous quotes revealed his desire to become a calligraphy artist instead of a painter, had he been a Chinese.
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