Japanese/Chinese Calligraphy Brush Set, Small and Medium Size (2 pcs)

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a b Solana Yuko Halada. "Shodo History". Japanese Calligraphy in Zen Spirit. Archived from the original on 2011-01-02. Japanese calligraphy can be challenging, especially when aiming to master the art form and achieve a high level of skill. Here are a few reasons why Japanese calligraphy can be considered challenging: People in Japan décor their houses with calligraphy that are painted with meaningful Kanji symbols such as they feature the Kanji symbols of Love, Longevity, Happiness, Peace, Prosperity, Dragon and etc.

For beginners, I always recommend using what is called a combination of hair brush. These brushes are made with brown hair (horse, raccoon, weasel, or wolf) with a white hair layer (goat, sheep, or wool) either wrapping the outside or blended within. Sometimes, there is synthetic hair at the core for added strength and stability.

4 Basic Calligraphy Lines

The oldest hand-copied sutra in Japan is the Kongō Jōdaranikyō. Copied by the priest Hōrin in AD 686, the calligraphy style shows influences from the work of Ouyang Xun. Katakana symbols, however, are primarily used for writing loan words, foreign words, the names of people, the names of geographical places, and onomatopoeia. Japanese Zen Calligraphy Use of more or a consistent amount of ink depends on the artist’s preference. Japanese Calligraphy Tools Before you begin writing, you inhale. Then on the exhale, you write a single stroke. You inhale again, exhale, and write the second stroke. If I had done that with typing every letter in this sentence, I would have hyperventilated by now.

I have used dozens of brushes over the years. Most of them were cheap ones. Some of them were reasonably priced and of good quality. And only a few have been of really high quality and steep price. Purchasing a brush has always been a struggle. There are so many questions one needs to answer before deciding what brush to buy. Because the brush is made of organic materials, it is considered a living thing full of energy and vitality (kiai). When we write, our kiai wields the brush, and the kiai of the brush merges with our own, therefore creating lively and harmonious characters. Consequently, it is essential to select our brushes with care and use them with respect. However, I should also mention that just like a good chef can cook with any knife, a good calligrapher will write a masterpiece with any brush. However, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking we are that skillful. For now, we must spend countless hours learning how to write with one good quality brush. RecommendationsIndividual Style: While following the traditional rules, calligraphers also strive to develop their own unique style and artistic expression within the framework of Japanese calligraphy. Meanwhile, Italic nibs are firm and have a blunt edge tip. Most calligraphers use Italic nibs for writing Italic and Gothic styles. If you’re interested in Gothic calligraphy then make sure to get a calligraphy pen that has an Italic nib. The mixed hair or combination brushes are a special category. They are used very much in sumi painting. These calligraphy brushes are made from different types of animal hair, and combine brown and white hairs. The stiff brown hairs from the inner core of the brush are used for their resilient quality, while the outer white hairs ensure the suppleness of the brush tip. In the 7th century, the Tang dynasty established hegemony in China. Their second Emperor Taizong esteemed Wang Xizhi's calligraphic texts and this popularity influenced Japanese calligraphers. All of the original texts written by Wang Xizhi have been lost, and copies such as Gakki-ron (楽毅論) written by the Empress Kōmyō are highly regarded as important sources for Wang Xizhi's style. However Wang's influence can barely be overstated, in particular for the wayō (和様) style unique to Japan: "Even today, there is something about Japanese calligraphy that retains the unchanged flavour of Wang Xizhi's style". [9] Heian period [ edit ] Cry for noble Saichō (哭最澄上人), which was written by Emperor Saga for Saichō's death. Saga was a scholar of the Chinese classics. He was also renowned as a skillful calligrapher.

Chinese and Japanese use different types of animal hairs to make calligraphy brushes, mainly goat’s hair and wolf’s hair. The goat’s hair calligraphy brushThe ascension of Minamoto no Yoritomo to the title of shōgun, following the Hōgen and Heiji rebellions, and the victory of the Minamoto clan over the Taira, marked the beginning of the Kamakura period (AD 1185–1333), but not quite yet to a return to peace and tranquility. The era is sometimes called "the age of the warriors" and a broad transition from court influences to a leading role of the military establishment pervaded the culture. It is also, however, a time when exchanges with China of the Song dynasty continued and Buddhism greatly flourished. Zen monks such as Shunjo studied in China and the copybooks that he brought with him are considered highly influential for the karayō (唐様) tradition of the time, expressing a clear kaisho style. [10] But this was not the only example, indeed a succession of Chinese monks were naturalized at that time, encouraged by regent Hōjō Tokiyori. Rankei Doryū founded the Kenchō-ji temple in Kamakura and many of his works have been preserved. However, with the rise of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism a less technical style appeared, representative of Zen attitudes and exemplified in the works of Musō Soseki who wrote in a refined sosho style, or Shūhō Myōcho (1282–1337; better known as Daito Kokushi), the founder of Daitoku-ji in Kyoto, who had not traveled to China to study. In terms of wayō (和様) style, the works of Fujiwara no Shunzei and Fujiwara no Teika are considered outstanding examples of the late Heian and early Kamakura. [11] One technique for trying to practice is the way of holding the brush. There are a handful of ways that true calligraphers hold their brush. One of the most popular methods is the Tanhoko method, where the brush is held like a pencil, using the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. In the Sohoko method, the calligrapher will also add their index finger. A cloth ( 下敷き, shitajiki ) to place under the paper (often newsprint is used as well) to prevent ink from bleeding through. Japanese kanji calligraphy is made up of over ten-thousand complex and unique symbols that each have a specific meaning, like sun, five or rice. You can also combine more than one symbol to create more words. Many kanji symbols have more than one meaning and pronunciation, depending on the context in which it is used.

Many Zen Monks went to China to study Buddhism and they bought some objects from there. One of the objects they bought was the copybooks that are considered highly influential for the karayō (唐様) tradition, expressing a clear view of kaisho style. Zen monks used to create Zen calligraphy by clearing their minds following a rule that the brush strokes cannot be corrected.Shodo is reliant on the technique of the brush strokes, the flow of brush and ink, the accurate composition of characters, the way the brush is handled, the shading of the ink, the placement of the characters…the list can go on and on and on. Put your hand under the flowing tap water and form a well with your palm. Place the brush tuft in this well and rotate it in the water that collects in your hand gently and without pressure. Do not put the brush directly under the tap water as you could damage the hairs. Soon you will notice that the tuft hairs start to loosen. Continue soaking and rotating the calligraphy brush until all hairs are fully loosened. Some calligraphers or sumi painters open the calligraphy brush only one third or two thirds. This depends on the type of hairs and the technique you use. Suzuri (ink stone): This is what artists use to rub the Sumi to create the ink. This is made from hard slate. When I met Yamazaki-san, a craftsman and traditional brush maker in Toyohashi, he said the handle was the least important part of the brush. He often preferred a simple handle, either made of plastic or bamboo, with no decorations or design elements. However, he admitted to creating different styles of handles over the years because customers asked for them, but in his view, that was not important at all. The handle’s look is the easiest way to tell if the brush was made in China or Japan.