Practicing Chinese Calligraphy & Its Longevity Benefits

Chinese calligraphy is not only a beautiful art, its practice is also an effective way to enjoy healthy life and longevity. Many medical reports and research studies in Asia have rated practicing Chinese calligraphy as the number one activity for longevity among other twenty activities or so. Chinese calligraphy is both an artistic and physical practice. It can elevate one's body, mind, and spirit from internal and external practices. It has been regarded as a good way to strengthen one's will and lead to a healthy life.

Many principles and benefits of practicing Chinese calligraphy are very similar to meditation, Qi Gong, and Chinese internal martial arts. While one is practicing Chinese calligraphy, one has to calm the mind, body, and breath and focus on writing. The breath is very smooth and the mind is very peaceful.

For Chinese calligraphers, literally, we are "writing" the characters. Technically, we are "carving" the characters to some extent. Mentally, we are "projecting" the characters - that's why Chinese calligraphy is also called "heart painting" or "mind image." ( 字即心畫 ) To project our characters and images beautifully, Chinese calligraphers need to enter a meditative mode for artistic creation. This is not in a religious sense. More and more medical and scientific studies have proved the value and benefits of meditation. Meditation for the sake of the art of Chinese calligraphy is to cleanse and purify our body, mind, and spirit from inside out and corroborate the external and internal conditions for the visualization, creation, and enjoyment of art. One of the ways to "project" writing from our mind is to treat the hairs of a writing brush as our extension of nerves with the mind being the commander. In order to write beautifully, we also train and fine-tune our nerves and hand movement with correct body mechanics which benefit our well being. The upright and ergonomically correct postures required during practicing Chinese calligraphy as well as one's enjoyment and focus upon writing beautiful characters can lead one to a higher coordination of mind, body, and spirit and attain longevity without specifically working on it.

More articles about the longevity benefits of practicing Chinese calligraphy can be found by searching "calligraphy ( 書 法 )" and "longevity ( 長 壽 )" in Google and "http://lsl.sinica.edu.tw/LibraryResources/Journals/avtype.php?classtype=DVD." Since Chinese calligraphy is also a very meditative, disciplined, and relaxing practice, master calligraphers and those who enjoy practicing it have been known to outlive their contemporaries throughout the history of China. The following chart lists some of the ancient masters with their ages. 

Because of environmental, medical and other conditions in ancient China, the average life of a person, say, of the Tang Dynasty, was about 60 years old. The following chart lists the ages of the most famous poets in the Tang Dynasty adapted from "http://www.zhsc.net/Article/scll/lwjx/200504/20050425184742.html." Some of them, such as He Zu-Zhang and Lee Bai, were also famous calligraphers. As Du Fu wrote in one of his poems, "... It's common to be treated with free wine, but from ancient times it has been rare to reach 70." (“人生七十古來稀”是中國的一句老話。在唐詩中始見于杜甫的《曲江》詩：“酒債尋常行處有，人生七十古來稀。”後來白居易在《感秋詠意》詩中也有類似的詩句：“舊話相傳聊自慰，世間七十老人稀。”白居易作此詩時已年逾七十，故應用了這句老話，引以自慰。白居易又有《對酒閑吟贈同老者》詩云：“人生七十稀，我年幸過之。”可見在唐代，這句老話即使在大詩人中間也非常流傳，而且年過七十後，便會情不自禁地自我慶慰。古人由于當時政治、經濟、社會、醫療、衛生等原因，一般人的壽命均較短，不僅詩人為然。“人生七十古來稀”這句老話概括了舊時代的實際情況。)

It was rare to see a man who could live up to 80 in ancient China, with the most exceptions found among calligraphers.

There were two emperors in the Ching Dynasty, Kun Xi ( 康熙 ) and Chian Long ( 乾隆  ), who lived longer than most Chinese emperors. Most emperors of China had shorter lives than ordinary people, mostly due to excessive indulgence. Emperor Chian Long (1711-1799) lived up to 89 and had the longest life among all Chinese emperors. He had a nickname as "The Old Man of The Complete Ten Talents." Besides keeping a peaceful mind and eating vegetables, multigrain, and natural food, and training martial arts, he also loved to practice calligraphy throughout his life. He practiced more diligently than most other members in the royal families. He still enjoyed himself with practicing calligraphy even after his inauguration. The quantity of his poems and literature written in calligraphy and still existed throughout the territory of China was exceeding all other emperors in the Chinese history!

Emperor Chian Long's Fondness of Chinese Calligraphy

Emperor Chian Long in His Study Practicing Calligraphy

With the improvements of modern living conditions, Chinese calligraphers are enjoying longer lives than many ancient masters. More detailed discussions of combining Chinese calligraphy and longevity and their practices will be added in other WebPages in the future. A brief preview of guidelines can be found at http://www.art-virtue.com/philosophy/index.htm#7. 

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