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Chinese
Calligraphy As “Heart Painting”
("Mind Image" or "Picture of the Soul")
In the Han Dynasty, a scholar names Yang Hsiung ( 楊雄 ) stated that "Scripts are the Mind Image ( 字即心畫 )." Today some people even state that Chinese calligraphy is the electrocardiogram of the human spirits ( 書法，人類精神的心電圖 ). (www.yhsf.org/html/24/14/14816/1.htm)
A Chinese calligrapher’s goal is to vividly and honestly convey his or her mind and intention. It does not only rely on the strokes, styles or appearances of the calligraphy. The intrinsic essence and substance must be over the form in a Chinese calligraphy artwork. Chinese calligraphy is called Heart Painting or Mind Image ( 字即心畫 ) by ancient calligraphers and other artists. We may paint a tree or landscape, but how can we “paint” our mind in a highly encrypted or abstract form consisting only Chinese characters and their strokes that can also look both beautiful and profound?
Two characters that are both beautiful and profound
書畫同源
唐張彥遠曰：「造化不能藏其秘，故天雨栗；靈性不能遁其形，故鬼夜哭。是時也，書畫同體而未分，象制肇創猶略，無以傳其意，故有書；無以見其形，故有畫……又周官教國子以六書，其三曰象形，則刻畫之意也。是故知書畫異名而同體也。」
宋郭若虛在《圖畫見聞誌》中亦云：「畫衣紋林木，用筆全類於書。」
宋趙希鵠在《古畫辨》中云：「畫無筆跡，非謂其墨淡模糊而無分曉也，正如善書者藏筆鋒，如錐畫沙、印印泥耳。書之藏鋒在乎執筆沉著痛快。人能知善書執筆之法，則知名畫無筆跡之說。故古人如孫太古，今人如米元章，善書必能畫，善畫勿能書，書畫其實一事爾。」
元趙孟頫以其顯赫之地位，深厚之學養，強調書畫同源，提倡以「寫」代「描」，開啟了文人畫之風氣風，成一代畫壇領袖。元朝以後，影響至廣及久遠。趙孟頫《秀石疏林》圖，畫面左方題上：「石如飛白木如籀，寫竹還於八法通，若也有人能會此，方知書畫本來同。」該圖以飛白之筆作石，勁挺之筆寫竹，筆墨蒼勁簡逸，文人秀雅之氣蘊于筆端。
In ancient Chinese paintings, one can find animals, birds, flowers and humans that were not only accurately depicted in shape and manner. Their internal substance, emotions, ideas and aspiration were also captured by the artists. Compared with Chinese painting that has a physically observable subject, Chinese calligraphy has a more abstract subject to paint – the mind. Even though Chinese calligraphy relies on its character form, structures and brushwork, then in what approach can a calligrapher paint his or her heart and speak for the soul? This is why all Chinese calligraphy masters emphasize that the mind always leads the brush ( 意在筆先 ). Since Chinese calligraphy is regarded as heart painting and a heart has no appearance or a physical object, the study of philosophy and metaphysics are required for serious calligraphers at all stages.
Images I visualize mentally before writing
Unlike Western calligraphy, dry brush strokes are viewed as a natural impromptu expression rather than a fault in Chinese calligraphy.
Dry Brushstrokes
While Western calligraphy often pursues font-like uniformity, homogeneity of Chinese characters in one size or written neatly inside grids is considered only a craft in Chinese calligraphy. To the artist, Chinese calligraphy is a highly condensed mental activity that coordinates the mind, body and spirit to express the artist’s inner world with a beautiful style honestly and directly. It is a highly disciplined yet soothing art indeed for one's physical and spiritual well being. In judging Chinese arts, we look for the energy flow since the intrinsic beauty can only be found within the art that embodies a high energy and awareness level from the artists. This principle can be applied to all Chinese arts. Unlike oil painting, Chinese people emphasize and value the skills without amendments or retouches ( 描 ) when practicing Chinese calligraphy. While one may add more strokes over an unsatisfied area in oil painting or Chinese brush painting, however, Chinese calligraphers focus on capturing the mindset at that very moment when they are writing with the brushes without any makeup or retouches. If any retouch is repeated on a Chinese calligraphy stroke, not only the ink densities will be inconsistent but the image of mind will be affected or twisted. It’s because this “finality” that makes Chinese calligraphy unique from other abstract arts.