Self Help Chinese Calligraphy Video Tutorial
[ Chinese Version 中 文 版 * ]         [ Step By Step Structured Video Courses * ]

Updated: 04/19/2008

Preface

This video tutorial is designed to guide beginners to learn the basics of Chinese calligraphy. Whether you know Chinese or not, learning Chinese calligraphy can be fun and inspiring. Anyone who is interested in this art can start learning by finding a good teacher or following the instructions in each lesson here. For those who don’t speak Chinese, a basic understanding of Chinese language and culture is recommended. We may learn the Chinese language and brush calligraphy at the same time, just as the way the Chinese kids were taught in the ancient times.

It's a misconception that kids can make more progress than the adults, or vise versa. Learning Chinese calligraphy can be started at any age if we know the right methods. It doesn't matter when we actually started. What matters more is how well we understand the basic principles and apply them carefully. Besides, we have lots of time in our life to learn over and over again ... In fact, some masters of Chinese calligraphy and brush painting actually started later in their life.

Lesson 1 - Knowing the Tools "The Four Treasures"

Paper, brush, ink stick, and ink stone are the “Four Treasures of A Study. ( 文  房 四 寶 )”

Watercolor brushes and Indian ink sold in many American art stores won't be suitable for Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.

§ 1.1 - Find some paper

Xuan Paper ( 宣 紙 ) or Shuan Paper is the best paper for Chinese calligraphy. Rice Paper is a misnomer used in the West because Shuan Paper contains no ingredient of rice. (Many brands of "rice paper" sold from American art stores are not actually Shuan Paper. They are so-called Cotton Paper "Mien Paper" in long rolls which is also not made of cotton.) It’s sort of expensive for beginners to practice on Shuan Paper. Mao Bien Paper ( 毛 邊 紙 , Bamboo Paper) is a cheaper substitute for practice. It's recommended not to use newspapers to practice Chinese calligraphy. As newspaper is free and full of distractions, we may not want to focus and our progress will be limited.

Mao Bien Paper is usually categorized into two types: the Nine-Palace Grids (Nine Chequers, 九  宮  格 ) and the Rice-Character Grids ( 米 字 格 ). Each type helps beginners to position the strokes for the structure of a Chinese character. It is also a misnomer to call Chinese characters "symbols." Chinese characters are made of strokes, section headings, and radicals. They are not letters or alphabets. (Eventually, you will have to practice on paper without grids as you become more familiar with the positions of strokes.)

A. Nine-Palace Grids

B. Rice-Character Grids

You may get practice sheets from www.acornplanet.com/books.shtml or local Chinese bookstores. 

If we get a practice sheet like above right picture (B.), we may not need a “Copy Book 字 帖 ” now. All we have to do is fill in the strokes without amending any unsatisfactory stroke to make it look better. Amending or Retouching (called “Miao 描 ” in Chinese) is considered a "failure" and "dishonest" in Chinese calligraphy. It’s forbidden for all students and calligraphers at all levels. In the ancient times, calligraphers, literati, officers, or emperors might lose trust to people if they were found to retouch their strokes in writing.

§ 1.2 - Buy a calligraphy brush

You may buy a brush in local Chinese bookstores or online. Choosing a brush is the most critical point of doing good Chinese calligraphy. A lot of brushes on the market, especially those not made specifically for Chinese calligraphy, may not conform to the requirements in practicing Chinese calligraphy. If we do not pick up a good brush, we might get frustrated and give up very, very soon because we cannot produce satisfactory strokes even if we are very gifted. Some details and characteristics of brushes are explained at "P1: Selecting, Preparing, and Maintaining A Brush."

§ 1.3 - Buy ink and an ink plate

We have to use the ink made specifically for Chinese calligraphy. Other ink such as Indian ink, colors, or paint won’t do. Traditionally people grind an ink stick on the ink stone, which is absolutely an indispensable step to master the Art of Chinese Calligraphy. (Using bottled ink may hinder brush motions to certain extent because it does not contain "all natural" ingredients and will affect the quality and life of brush hairs.) Most people today use bottled ink to save the labor and time. Grinding an ink stick may be time consuming for beginners but it produces shades of beauty. We may adopt a compromising way by mixing a little water with bottled ink together on the ink stone. Then press and move the ink stick in a circular motion clockwise on the ink stone a few times, say, for a couple of minutes. This may save our time and also will preserve some advantages of using the "all natural" ink sticks. The secret to produce good ink is to press the ink stick hard downward and gently rotate clockwise. )  

We also need a black mat (felt, usually made of wool) or some smooth and totally flat newspaper to prevent the ink from running through on the surface of the desk. The felt is shown under the paper in the picture. The student has to be very careful to move the felt as he or she moves the writing sheet, otherwise the wet spots on the underside will make blotches on the calligraphy. We also have to make sure that the felt is wrinkle free so we can produce even and smooth strokes; otherwise, the stokes will be twisted, distorted, uneven, or even look disconnected. Many people have neglected these important points and have concluded that either they are not talented in doing smooth strokes, the brush quality is not good, or their hands are not steady.

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Lesson 2 - Selecting A Style

§ 2.1 - Select a Form Book (“Zu Te  字  帖 ”, a.k.a. Copy Book or Character Model) to Start

There are five major styles of Chinese calligraphy – Seal (Zuan), Clerical (Li), Running (Tsao), Walking (Hsin), and Standard (Kai) Styles. Each major style has numerous derivatives (sub-styles) throughout Chinese history by different calligraphers and people. Choosing our first style will greatly influence our thoughts, styles or our artistic accomplishment in the future. Choosing an improper style will confine our progress and points of view.  Different calligraphy teachers have different assertions about choosing the first style. Except for Running and Walking Styles, the other three styles can be selected for beginners. (Running and Walking Styles both have many irregularities and demand a faster speed during writing.)

The following charts list choices for beginner's first styles, their features and contributions to future progress if a beginner focuses on any one of them and then goes from there.

Beginners may also refer to Free Models for practice sheets. (currently under construction)

Character Models (or Form Books) are the best lifetime teachers for learning Chinese calligraphy. Every ancient Chinese calligrapher went through a long process in their life emulating (“Lin Mo  臨 摹 ” or “Lin Te 臨 帖 ”) from Character Models. The more we dive in and the more humble we are, the more learning and knowledge we can retrieve from those masterpieces. The more details and likenesses we realize and transfer to our practice, the more progress we will make. The saying "If you start mimicking other artists, that's when you lose your own identity" does not apply in learning Chinese calligraphy and painting at the early stages. Besides mimicking the shape, structure, and size of each character in tiny, tiny details, also pay attention to start, connection, turning, closing, shading, and even overtone of connection between several characters. Those nuances are the decisive factors that determine the level of an artist.

A Character Model (left), 3 sheets of rubbings of Bronze Inscription and a thin paperweight (top), 
and 3 sheets of emulation practice (center and bottom). The brushes are placed on a bamboo roll.

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Lesson 3 - Correct Posture

§ 3.1 - Learn how to hold the brush & write with a good posture  

Learning how to hold the brush correctly is as important as choosing a good brush. Just as a swordsman needs to learn a good way to hold his weapon, Chinese calligraphy students will need a good way to hold the brush to guarantee their success in the art.  

The following are some incorrect or inappropriate ways to hold a Chinese calligraphy brush for beginners. While there are no absolute rules in arts, experienced calligraphers may have different or contrary views. Like a violin player or a swordsman, the "holding" of brushes play undeniable roles in doing beautiful and good Chinese calligraphy.

Incorrect or inappropriate ways to hold a Chinese calligraphy brush for beginners

Always try to keep the brush and brush hair as straight and vertical as possible. This is the most important principle and foundation in Chinese calligraphy! It’s different from painting or the Western way of holding a pen. Never ever bend the brush and the hairs. You may rotate the brush when necessary with your fingertips (not knuckles). (Serious beginners may refer to the Center Tip Theory  中鋒理論  in the "Principles" section for more detailed discussion.)

A correct posture helps to make more progress in practicing Chinese calligraphy.  

Keen observers may notice many tiny and coordinated movements between the fingers, palm, wrist, elbow, shoulder, brush, and the paper. The video clips in this "Tutorial" show the fundamental points that need to be observed carefully during practice.

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Lesson 4 - Basic Strokes

§ 4.1 - Lifting and pressing the brush vertically

The Chinese term “chi bi  起 筆 ” (start) literally means to begin writing a stroke. The term “so bi  收 筆 ” (close) means to end writing a stroke. In writing characters each stroke involves “start” and “close”. (The complete cycle for each stroke may contain "start", "connecting", "turning", and "closing.")   If the strokes of a Chinese character are regarded as the building blocks of each character, “start” and “close” are indispensable for the structure, connection and firmness of each character.

Another point to remember is to lift and press the brush with different forces. As we are writing each character or even a single stroke, don't use the same force all the time. We first lift the brush up, then press it down to “start”. Writing involves several alternate processes of lifting up and pressing down. When we use more force to press down, the strokes appear to be thicker. When we use less force to lift up, the strokes become skinny.  In this way the strokes give each character varieties of changes, nuances, and rhythm.  

§ 4.2 - Understanding basic strokes and sequence of strokes in Chinese characters

In order to simplify texts, only Kai and Li Styles will be demonstrated here in this "Tutorial.”

Each Chinese character is consisted of strokes (   筆  劃  ). It also has its component sidepiece called “Head Section, Section Header, or Bu So (   部   首 ).” For more information, please refer to other Chinese language textbooks or visit “Online Chinese Lessons” in the "Links” section.  Chinese characters are arranged by Section Headers and then the number of strokes of each character in the Chinese dictionaries.

Typically, the stroke sequence ( 筆劃順序 ) of a character starts from left to right and top to bottom. The sequence is important to write a character as well as to create its beautiful shape and structure. Without understanding the sequence of strokes, when we are emulating (practicing) we are just copycatting a shape of a picture rather than a character. When we build a 10 stories high building, we cannot start from the 10^th, or 5^th floor. We must start from the foundation. Likewise, we cannot write a Chinese character without knowing the proper sequence of strokes. We cannot start from the bottom stroke and then finish with the upper stroke. 

  Some examples of stroke sequences:

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Lesson 5 - Improvements & Review of Basics

Congratulations! You have just learned how to start Chinese calligraphy on your own! The next step is to find someone who knows the Chinese language to give you some comments. Keep on good work if you are receiving compliments. Don’t be disappointed if they are not giving positive comments or they are not artistic enough to give you good opinions. Be humble and learn to take comments of any kinds! 

“Repetitions make perfect. Practice makes perfect.” 

Remember the “Form Books (Character Models)” adapted from the ancient masterpieces are always the best lifetime teachers (even for experienced calligraphers.) Repeat and repeat as we are heading for more progress and perfection. Chinese calligraphy is a very thoughtful, detailed, and deep art. The strokes should never be done lightly without enough understanding and planning. There are no such things as "The Simple Art of Chinese Calligraphy" or "Complete Guide to Chinese Calligraphy," otherwise it will not be a high art of China. 

The fastest way to be good at Chinese calligraphy is to expect no fast results. It usually takes an average Chinese kid a few months or even years to make smooth strokes. Observation, understanding, mental focus, planning, and steady hand execution and coordination are always indispensable, just to name a few. 

The following short articles may be reviewed before proceeding to the "Principles" and "Theories" sections for more understanding of the basics.

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