I saw parts of an historical fantasy movie the other night, a subtitled Chinese film that seemed very reminiscent of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon actually (shared an actor and magical fight sequence or three), and one scene had a character doing calligraphy in a sandbox which was smoothed clean after each ideogram was rendered.
There was a narrative going on at the same time in earnest tones explaining how amazing were these foreign - to me - squiggles (there was a direct, albeit magical, connection between the quality of the calligraphy and the ability of the actor and his associates to ward off an invading army - sounds ludicrous when I write it but I was only picking up snippets from the written text on the bottom of the screen and I didn't have the benefit of having seen the film from the beginning). I think the actor was 'speaking' to someone while describing his deft sand work, advising how a certain swish or whoosh modified the meaning in subtle but powerful ways and therefore were marks of distinction in his calligraphic and warring abilities. For the mostpart, as far as I remember, it was all about specific types of swords, this being set some hundreds of years ago of course.
Anyway, this solemn little scene reminded me just how far from my meagre understanding is the puzzling body of artistic work, Chinese calligraphy. It's not quite the same as some elusive oddities of modern art where an explanation is required just to recognise the bloody thing as a piece of art (at least in somebody's artistic sense). No, Chinese calligraphy announces its intrinsic artistic nature proudly, but I've always found that my connection to it is shallow, short lived and, like modern art, requires explanation before I'm able to develop any vaguely deeper appreciation. Even then, the squiggles don't really come alive, they don't intone some nuanced life observation or gently poetic expression. I mean, we all know that this huge and historic body of work is important, profound and a great manifestation of human endeavour because we are told so or, less robotically, we see it, we know it by virtue of its ubiquity and its obvious huge importance to the largest nation on earth. A billion people can't be all wrong can they?
Yes, I'm an ignorant fuck.
Anyway, I came across a couple of (connected) links that I haven't yet properly read or pondered but they seem to be the type of approach - western appreciation at least - that might be helpful in becoming better acquainted with the art.
The HeavenTree series of posts on calligraphy.
MountShang's long post following a visit to the Taipei Museum (image and wonderful quote below from them).
"In Hui-tsung, I still feel the child-at-play --
but now the child has moved into a ballet class --
with all of its formal elegance --
but losing none of its explosive enthusiasm."
