Principles of Chinese Calligraphy

There are usually three kinds of paper used for Chinese calligraphy: Shuan Paper, Mien Paper, and Mao Bien Paper.

The most formal and expensive paper for Chinese Brush Arts is Shuan Paper ( 宣紙 ). Shuan ( 宣 ) Zhou is the original name of the place that is most famous for its production. Shuan Paper is made of many different plant fibers other than rice! If Chinese paper and books were made of rice, they would have been eaten by insects.

In the nineteenth century when the Europeans wanted to steal the trade secrets of Shuan Paper from China, they were misinformed it was made of rice. Hence, most people in the West call it "rice paper" either as a misnomer or for convenience's sake. This widespread misnomer may cause the beginners or practitioners in forming a habit and inability to distinguish many other prevalent misnomers and misconceptions already widespread in learning Chinese Brush Arts (calligraphy, painting, and seal carving.) There are indeed many people who have chosen and used the wrong kinds of "rice paper" and painted or written for decades without being able to distinguish the different kinds of results by using different kinds, grades, and brands of authentic Shuan Paper. Some of them may realize later that there are actually many kinds of Shuan paper such as mulberry paper, bark paper, gampi paper, sized or unsized paper, Single Shuan Paper, Double Shuan Paper, aged Shuan Paper, and etc. - they regret wasting their time, efforts, and money by choosing the wrong paper and being unable to produce satisfactory texture strokes in Chinese Brush Painting or beautiful Chinese calligraphy strokes. They could have avoided these at first by not calling it "rice paper" or not buying from unauthentic dealers who label various kinds of Asian paper simply as "Oriental Rice Paper."

Xuan Paper from Anhui Province ( 安徽 ), Jing County ( 涇縣 ), is one of the Four Treasures of the Chinese study. Jing County was Xuan Zhou ( 宣州 ) during the Tang Dynasty.

This article was based on the statements by the heir of the Xuan Paper maker in Jing County, Cao Tiansheng ( 曹天生 ). Doctor Cao had his Ph.D. from the Political Science Research Center at The People University in Beijing and was also once a historical committee member of the Chinese Paper Making Association. He is also the author of the book Chinese Xuan Paper ( 中國宣紙 ) that describes the papermaking history and industry of China. (http://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!853381!0#focus)

Suggested search keywords on Google: 安徽涇縣 + 青檀木

Qing Tang tree & paper making

Since the mid of 19th century, numerous spies from England and Japan faked into the villages of Jing County to learn about the secrets of making Chinese Xuan Paper. After these people went back to their own countries, they wrote and published how the Chinese made their Xuan paper. In 1909, the Japanese even took some samples of Qing Tang tree ( 青檀木 ) to Japan, but the researchers cannot identify the tree because it's not grown in Japan. After 1937, using the opportunity of invading China, the Japanese shipped some Qing Tang bushes to Japan. But the climate in Japan did not fit the tree to grow well. The paper made from the tree fiber was inferior. Later after China opened it's door, spying on the technique of making Xuan Paper became much easier. But no matter how other paper makers imitated the technique, no one can make the same Xuan Paper as made in Jing County. This is because the minerals in the water of the Jing County springs and the local climate for growing the special tree fiber are vital for the quality of the absorbency of the paper.

Excellent places to shop for Cao Family Shuan Paper ( 曹氏宣紙 ) online:

www.xuan-paper.com/profile.htm (in China)
www.chinatradesky.com/ (Worldwide shipping from Dallas, Texas, USA, phone calls preferred, minimum order is 100 sheets in one pack per order, or email titled "Calligraphy referred by Joshua Hough", complete products from the "Cao Family Shuan Paper ( 曹氏宣紙 )" not listed on Internet or eBay, guaranteed lowest prices, no more bargain. All traditionally hand-made, no machine pressed.)

Shuan Paper is suitable for the absorption of Chinese ink and colors and motions of Chinese writing and painting brushes. Its high quality feature makes it the best choice for formal Chinese calligraphy and painting artworks. If a work of Chinese calligraphy or painting is gifted, it is better to be done on Shuan Paper to show politeness and respect. Shuan Paper, if preserved properly, can last at least 1,000 years.

Shuan Paper is the world famous paper noted for its resistance to aging and deterioration. The paper was first produced in Shuan Zhou, Anhui Province. Later Shuan Paper became the generic term used for various Chinese calligraphy and painting paper, even if the paper is produced outside Anhui Province. Shuan paper is soft and flexible, and has just the right degree of absorbency for Chinese brush-and-ink calligraphy and painting, so the art and the material complement each other superbly to produce optimal results. The paper is available in different sizes, thicknesses, smoothness, and absorbency of water by being sized with different amounts of alum. Some kinds of Shuan Paper contain a basket-weave pattern that can become visible and form part of the texture with dry ink application.

Nowadays machine-made Shuan Paper for practice is available at lower prices than the traditionally handcrafted brands. However, with the lower grade of machine-made Shuan Paper, the calligraphy written on it will be inferior. That means the quality of the artwork will suffer at the compensation of prices. The compatibility between ink, brush, and paper must match in order to create high quality of Chinese calligraphy or painting artworks. In China's calligraphy forums, such as www.sf108.com, there are topics specifically dedicated to the discussions of paper and ink compatibility and absorbency issues related to brush motions. There are many brands of Shuan paper - some are thinner and others may be very thick. It is a personal preference to choose one's favored brands or kinds. This depends on the calligrapher's insights, styles, brushes, writing speeds, ink qualities, sizes of Chinese characters, and a lot more factors.

Mien Paper is very popular for practicing Chinese painting and calligraphy. It’s cheaper than Shuan paper. Nowadays, manufacturers produce Mien Paper of long rolls that are a lot of longer than standard-sized Shuan Paper (usually 26 x 52 inches.) Mien Paper is usually called Cotton Paper by Chinese but it is not made of cotton. The reason why it is called Cotton Paper by Chinese is that when it is torn or scattered, the fibers look like cotton.

The so-called "Oriental Rice Paper" in sheets and especially rolls sold in many art stores outside Asia are mostly Mien Paper. They are neither real Shuan Paper nor "rice paper," though the labels say it's made in certain Asian country. Its absorbency and function cannot be compared to those of Shuan Paper. Shuan Paper is rarely available in "uncut" long rolls, say longer than 52 or 80 inches.

Mao Bien Paper (Bamboo Paper) is cheaper than Mien Paper. Most beginners start practicing calligraphy with Mao Bien Paper with printed grids for positioning of strokes.

Like Shuan Paper, Mao Bien Paper also has a smooth side and a rough side. We can tell the difference by feeling the front side slippery and the back side rough with our fingertips. Most people prefer to write on the smooth side (i.e., the front side) of Mao Bien Paper.

Depending on the brands of Mao Bien Paper, to create the theoretical effects of Gi & Se ( 疾與澀 ), I usually prefer to practice on the rough side of Mao Bien Paper. It can create more friction with the brush hairs and generate more “internally frictional power” and visual effects. But with the slippery side, we are just writing and not generating frictional and thrusting power going into the paper ( 力透紙背 ). In fact, many brands of Mao Bien Paper in the market today are very slippery since they are machine-made and the manufactures or businessmen do not study the theories of Chinese calligraphy. Yen Jen-Ching stated how his teacher Zhang Shui passed to him the secrets of using a brush. He pointed out that Chinese calligraphy should look like drawing on sand with an awl ( 錐劃沙 ). ( 疾與澀 and 錐劃沙 are the cores of all Chinese calligraphy theories.) Since sand is never slippery or smooth, it’s more reasonable to use the “rough side” for the theoretical ideal of Gi & Se if the front side is really too slippery. "澀 Se" literally means "not slippery" and is one of the unique features of traditional Chinese calligraphy that distinguishes it from other cultures of calligraphy in the world.

Mao Bien Paper may become very uneven after we have written on it. Most beginners tend to dip their brushes with undue amount of water and ink and make Mao Bien Paper even more uneven just right after writing a few strokes - then they throw the paper away and try another pieces... eventually or immediately they wonder whether they are talented enough to continue.

From my teaching experiences, I usually do not tell how much water to grind with an ink stick and how much grinded ink to dip at first. Most beginners will start with excessive water and ink and cause a "flood" on the inkstone. Then I may advise by showing how to use water and ink sparingly - so sparingly to their surprises and contrary to their assumptions!

It's absolutely true that without learning to grind ink one can never be good at Chinese calligraphy and painting. Many people have complained how time consuming and tedious just to grind ink and decided to use the bottled ink which contains preservatives or chemicals that harm the brush hair and cannot create shades of different blackness as compared with the grinded ink. There are, of course, methods to grind ink in the least amount of time and efforts and proper ways to dip the brush with ink to make to brush tip pointed and create beautiful strokes easier.

In fact, dipping brushes with ink and the preliminary preparation of ink grinding are as important as the Center Tip Principle and are closely connected to many other principles and theories. (This is absolutely different from water color painting or Western calligraphy.) Grinding ink and dipping the brushes with ink are often neglected by beginners without close supervision of a teacher. The brushes need to dipped "linearly" - one direction at a time to make sure the hairs are straight and groomed; otherwise, the strokes will not be satisfactory no matter how talented we are!

One way to make Mao Bien Paper even and flat after writing is to stick it to the bathroom mirror during (or after) a hot shower. Another better way is to spray it with water and flatten and smooth it with a wide brush.

Water Writing Paper ( 水書紙 ) or called "magic paper" let students practice with water instead of ink. A student may dip the brush with water and write on it. When the water dries in about one minute, writing disappears and the paper can be used repeatedly for nearly 2,000 times. However, if we don’t use clean brush for this practice, ink residue may stay on Water Writing Paper permanently.

Since the densities of ink and water are quite different, if the student is getting used to this convenience, s/he must also adapt to real ink and paper later.

A lot of people today use newspaper for practicing Chinese calligraphy. They say that newspaper has an excellent ability to absorb water and ink and it's a free or low-cost substitute for calligraphy papers. Consequently, most students won’t practice seriously and progress may be even more limited if they also cannot get away from music or TV during practice. Some people who enjoy practicing on newspaper may brag about the quantity of their practice and wasted paper instead of mention their artistic achievement and enlightenment. We often hear a guy practice Chinese calligraphy very diligently with a large quantity of newspaper and dozens of bottled ink, but have we heard of any Chinese brush painter practicing on newspaper? Many virtuoso pianists used to say, “You may play a lousy piano, but you should never practice on a lousy piano.” Likewise, newspaper is full of distractions and can potentially, unconsciously, and unawaredly make beginners to form really bad habits of various kinds in practicing Chinese calligraphy. Overall, it is not suitable for practicing Chinese calligraphy. It's recommended that a beginner practices with Mao Bien Paper, Mien Paper, or even Shuan Paper for a good start and abundant progress.

Ink sticks from a particular maker are especially prized. There are several different colors: blue-black, brown-black, and a true black, depending on the part of the pine tree that has been used. The sticks are made from pine-soot ( 松煙 ) or oil-soot ( 油煙 ) and resin. It is the amount of resin that makes the sticks so variable. A flesh ink stick will have a pleasant smell, often of sandalwood or pine, or some Chinese herbs. Since top quality ink sticks may also contain some herbs, they were also used to treat diseases in ancient China.

For practicing Chinese calligraphy, we usually use the pine-soot ink sticks. As for Chinese painting, the oil-soot is preferred. In some parts of the world, the climates may be less humid than in China and this is usually the reason to cause the ink sticks to crack. We may use a plastic wrap to prevent cracking as shown in the picture.

Inkstones (or ink slabs) are vessels in which ink is ground with an ink stick. Among the numerous inkstones produced in China, the most outstanding four types are:

Among them, Duan Zhou and She Zhou inkstones are unanimously agreed to be the best and thus they are very expensive. A top quality Duan Zhou or She Zhou inkstone with artistic carving of landscapes can be as expensive as U.S. $10,000. It is said that in ancient times when people were digging stones in the rivers of Duan Zhou to make the inkstones, the workmen had to be naked while the governors were observing for any theft. Recently Taiwanese businessmen had bought out the rights to explore the Duan Zhou stones, the prices of Duan Inkstones tend to increase a lot in the market. Though Duan Inkstones are usually ranked before the other three, some say She Inkstones are not inferior to Duan Inkstones and maybe even superior. In the West, it is not easy to acquire a good and authentic Duan Zhou or She Zhou inkstone at a fair price.

There are inkstones for the sake of decoration, collection, and practice. For the sake of practice, one should choose an inkstone with less beautiful carvings since carvings are sometimes used to add value to stones that are not top qualities. For beginners, a plain inkstone of the size of a hand with less carving is recommended. A beginner's inkstone should neither be as small as in this set nor as huge as a decorative one. Yishui Inkstones ( 易水硯 ) are also among the top ranks in China and their affordable prices are appealing to many beginners or first time buyers.

It's a serious mistake for beginners as well as experienced practitioners to think that grinding ink is unnecessary and unimportant.

Throughout the Chinese history, master calligraphers and painters have spent their thoughts on different ways and possibilities to grind ink sticks on their ink slabs. They have also studied and experimented the timing and duration between touches of brush tip and the paper, various pressures to grind ink sticks, percentage of water and grinding time, and so on.

The quality of grinded ink will affect the quality of brushstrokes from technical, philosophical, and spiritual perspectives. The Ink Methods ( 墨法 ) are closely related to Brush Treatments ( 筆法 ) and further progress in making fine brush strokes rely on the coordinated movements of the practitioner's Palm Methods, Finger Methods, Wrist Methods, Shoulder Methods, and even body postures. Chinese calligraphy theorists say, "The secrets of Ink Methods just come out of the brush strokes; the refinement of brush strokes relies on the Ink Methods." ( 墨法之妙，全從筆出；筆法之精，墨法之功。 ) A finely executed brush stroke with varieties of ink nuances will look more lively than poorly grinded ink or bottled liquid ink.

The ancient Chinese said basically there are five colors of grinded ink ( 古人有墨分五色之說 ). The five main descriptions of ink colors are: burnt ink, thick ink ( 濃墨 ), dry light ink, light ink ( 淡墨 ), and wet ink. When a calligraphy work is done with proper Ink Methods, it will look more rhythmic, lively, and spirited; while with the bottled liquid ink, it will look monotonous and less lively.

Disadvantages of Bottled Ink (Liquid Ink)

Using only bottled ink without grinded ink at all may result in Swollen Ink ( 濃肥 ). Such results are regarded by Chinese calligraphers and connoisseurs as vulgar and disgusting. ( 董其昌所著《畫禪室隨筆》中說：“用墨須使有潤，不可使其枯燥，尤忌濃肥，肥則大惡道矣。”) Oftentimes we see people in public occasions doing Chinese calligraphy without grinding ink stick and they pour out large quantity of bottled ink into a dish or a container (rather than an ink stone because they never or seldom want to grind ink), they write big Chinese characters superficially and speedily without considering Gi & Se...trying to impress people, then they immediately use a towel or napkin to absorb excessive ink to prevent the ink spreading beyond each stroke. Such results are most likely the Swollen Ink.

Bottles of liquid ink vary enormously in quality, and even some famous brands are poor. With the poorer kinds it is difficult to obtain subtle shades by dilution. Bottled ink also contain preservatives or chemicals that will damage the brush hairs eventually. Its residues are more difficult to wash away, and in a shorter time will compromise our executions and results of Brush Treatments.

Even for some famous brands of bottled ink, the processes of mounting calligraphy into a scroll may result in the so-called Running Ink ( 跑墨 ). The ink will look like bleeding or spreading beyond each stroke and may or may not be fixed. The following example of dragon was written with one of the most famous brands of bottled ink which is not made in a conventional way since it contains something that should not be used to make an ink stick. (The brand name is kept anonymous here.) While with grinding quality ink stick, the calligraphy can be mounted even right away without the disaster of Running Ink.

Running Style written on sized, single Shuan Paper. The paper is sized with alum to decrease the absorbency of ink so that it permits the brush to stay for a longer time on the paper without causing the ink to spread. The ink was grinded on a top quality Duan Zhou Ink Stone ( 端州硯 ) with a high quality ink stick of the Tsao Su Gong brand ( 曹素功 ). The fine brush was made by Yang Zheng-Hua ( 楊振華 ) in Shanghai. The top qualities of the Four Treasures help to write more controlled and smooth brushstrokes. Without patiently grinding the ink to a desired level, even the best tools of the Four Treasures will be of no avail.

Experiments of ink colors by a famous Chinese brush painter in Beijing who also makes and burns his ink sticks

The ancient Chinese also advised "never let a brat handle an inkstone" and "wash inkstone daily after use." Unused ink should better not be left on the inkstone overnight, otherwise it becomes Overnight Ink which is commonly referred to as "宿墨". "宿墨" also refers to unused ink dried on the inkstone; it does not necessarily have to be "overnight." "宿墨" can mean Overnight Ink or simply dried ink.

Overnight Ink is not usually appropriate for practicing calligraphy, especially for beginners. However, Overnight Ink or dried ink can be used to create some special effects in Chinese Brush Painting. Thus, using Overnight Ink (or dried ink) is also one of the Ink Methods. Though some experienced calligraphers also use Overnight Ink to create some special effects in their strokes, beginners are advised to wash their inkstones right away when they do not intend to use it for a while, say a few hours.

Overnight Ink staying on the inkstone should be washed away before practicing again.

A final advice is simply to grind an ink stick and experiment different possibilities of the Ink Methods.

Convenience Ink 方便墨 - Chinese Painting & Calligraphy

Where to get convenience ink ( 方便墨; Pinyin: fāng biàn mò )
(1) Asiade Bookstore in Dallas http://www.asiade.com/whyp.asp
Phone: 972-238-8408 Their brand is somewhat smaller than the one shown in this video and is not listed online.
(2) Forbidden City on e-Bay http://stores.ebay.com/Big-Teapot-Brush-Jade-Dress-eStore__W0QQ_fsubZ336676QQ_scZ1QQ_sopZ1
Phone: 972-758-7238 (This is where I purchased the convenience ink in 2008. As of February, 2010, all convenience ink packs are sold out from Forbidden City. New imports coming soon.)
Phone calls are preferred for these two stores.
(3) Google search: "方便墨" or "convenience ink"

本影像為介紹方便墨, 並非提倡以墨汁或方便墨來取代研磨
This video is for introducing convenience ink which is not intended to substitute for ground ink and inkstones.

At night when I come home late or during busy days, sometimes I use inexpensive bamboo paper and convenience ink to warm up and practice painting for a while. Chinese say 拳不離手 (fists do not get away from a martial artist's hands) and 曲不離口 (singing songs do not get away from a singer's mouth). The more we get used to practice, the more it becomes easier.

However, I must state I do not use convenience ink to practice large painting or calligraphy since it is not meant for serious practice.


Medium Sized Yishui Inkstones ( 易水硯 ) from www.chinatradesky.com	Students Inkstone from www.acornplant.com

P7: Choosing Paper, Ink, and Ink Stone & Grinding Ink