Page 162 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

Fig. l. Cangjie, legendary inventor of the Chinese
characters. Computer-generated image.

and dots is inaccessible to outsiders. It is true that 7
the well-trained viewer of calligraphy must, at a ^
minimum, be able to read Chinese characters, but it
mjrm
is largely unknown that Chinese calligraphy is, in
fact, a remarkably open art, one that actively mi f»^;'if
engages its viewer in a manner unlike that of any ^' T-WK'$&| : r
other art form of any culture. Little can be done -
(I ' ft
—about the language divide hence, that sense of
""^^^&»^J
democratic engagement will remain largely beyond
the reach of most of us. Nonetheless, a fairly Fig. zb. Oracle hone, inscribed. Shang dynasty. Tortoise
informed appreciation is possible once some of the
rules, techniques, aesthetic qualities, and history of plastron. National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing.
Chinese calligraphy are introduced. Most
accomplishment. There is no need to dwell on this
important, one can understand why calligraphy is
so engaging and thus why it is truly a unique art. —ancient myth Cangjie joins such other celebrated

FROM ORACLE TO AUTOGRAPH culture heroes as Fuxi (inventor of the trigrams)
and Shennong (the inventor of agriculture) as
Early sources attribute the creation of the Chinese curious personifications, convenient though vague
markers of the early progress of Chinese
written language to Cang Jie, an official in the civilization. There is, however, an important point
employment of the legendary Yellow Emperor and
a man whose remarkable vision and ability to to be noted in Cang Jie's story: the characters, or
communicate with the spirit world was signified by
graphs, in a sense are found, determined from
his four eyes (fig. i). Ancient texts recount that
patterns cast by images of the natural world. Cang
Cang Jie fashioned graphs in the form of pictorial Jie, or whomever Cangjie represents, created not

images after being inspired by such natural

phenomena as bird tracks, animal paw prints, and
shadows cast by trees. "Millet rained from heaven
and demons howled in the night," 1 reads one, a
clear indication of how momentous was Cang Jie's

CALLIGRAPHY