Japanese Calligraphy
by Goh Yii Sheng (Malaysia)
Foreword:
Hey there! You may or may not have read my previous work about the vast derivatives of African languages. My name is Goh, a writer at YCS, and I hold a very deep passion for writing. (though years of procrastination lagged me out of what I could have learnt boohoo)
I had an idea to switch the tone of this article to somewhat of a memoir - to hopefully conduct this sentiment to you. Do share with me about your personal experiences with calligraphy (or anything really)!!
Contact me on instagram: @yiishengg_
*No generative AI was used in the production of this article, with the exception of minimal use during research. For more info, please visit onmarkproductions! This website has been a great help, and is my source of info.
Fun fact starters
In Malaysia, it is customary for vernacular schools to practice calligraphy using brushes with middle sized hair (中楷). I discarded my works upon graduation, because have you ever laid eyes on smear marks trying their best to shape themselves into a distinguishable character, but they just couldn’t because they look absolutely horrendous? Well, there you have it.
Some timestamps that you may find helpful:
Heian period, sometimes referred to as the Fujiwara period (A.C. 794-1185)
Edo / Tokugawa period (A.C. 1600-1868)
Adapted from japanese.about.com (site is taken down)
Digging a little deeper into Shodō (書道), its origins can be traced back from China, with the master Wang Xizhi credited as the creator. Shodō was introduced into Japan in the 8th century, with Heian contemporaries
Kukai
Emperor Saga
courtier Tachibana no Hayanari
named the Sanpitsu 三筆, often recognised as true artists who breathed life into Chinese calligraphy’s eternal beauty.
Succeeding them were the Sanseki 三跡,
Ono no Toufuu 小野の道風 -- Yaseki style []
Fujiwara no Sukemasa 藤原佐理 -- Saseki style []
Fujiwara no Yukinari 藤原行成 -- Gonseki style []
These three masters pioneered the Wayō (uniquely Japanese) calligraphy styles, with each leaving room for significant breakthroughs by future calligraphers.
Fujiwara no Yukinari’s Gonseki style inspired the formation of the Sensoji school.
Ono no Toufuu’s calligraphy was a prototype used by the Shōren school, later evolving into the Oie style. This style is used widely for official documentations in the Edo period, and was simultaneously taught as a prevailing style in Terakoya 寺子屋 schools.
Japanese calligraphy styles:
Kaisho 楷書 - blocky, adapted and most seen in modern media like magazines, books, journals, and many other publications.
Gyosho 行書 - semicursive, used for special effects in publications. Not as blocky but not as flowy as neither Kaisho nor Sosho.
Sosho 草書 - also called grass script (草 means grass!) It is cursive and is written with rapid strokes blended with slender lines. Most often used in formal Japanese calligraphy.
Seal script 篆書 - as its name suggests, it is used for chops or letter seals. There also exists an Edo variant.
Sōmyo 草名 - also read Sona / Souna, a signature in cursive script. Features two characters combining to form a symbol, and was adapted in opening paragraphs of letters during the Fujiwara period.
Genpitsu 減筆 - also Ryakuhitsu 略筆, this technique utilises only the elements of an object, be it scenery or human figure, with minimal brushstrokes.
Thought to have originated in the Tang dynasty (618 to 907), this style that closely resembles the cursive Sou style of the Shin Gyou Sou is greatly admired by Japanese calligraphers, with Liang Kai’s “Li Po Reciting 李白吟行図” hanging in Tokyo National Museum.
“Li Po Reciting”, courtesy of Tokyo National Museum
Ashide 葦手 - lit. “reed-hand script”, it is a decorative style created in the 9th century at which cursive characters are drawn in the shape of reeds (ashi 葦),
streams, rocks, flowers, birds, and more. A marsh scene with Ashide characters was a motif utilised by under-drawings (下絵) to decorate papers of poetry anthologies, or as the pattern observed on textiles and lacquerware. Its matured form was shown in the 1160 anthology Wakan Rouseishuu 和漢朗詠集, written by Fujiwara no Koreyuki 藤原伊行. After the 13th century, the style evolved to no longer only depict Marsh scenes.
Moji-e 文字絵 (credits to JAANUS) - pictorial calligraphy, which trait uniquely incorporates Japanese syllables.
Its derivative, ashide-e 葦手絵 (as aforementioned), uses entwined grass, flowers or water motifs to shape the syllables.
In the Edo period, it gained popularity and creative expression within folds and outlines of garments donned by samurai or women. This artstyle is also seen utilised by many painters in the 1700s.
Ko, character for “child”. Painted in the Yi dynasty of Korea, courtesy of Japan Folk Crafts Museum
Adapted from an excerpt about Kukai by onmarkproductions
Kukai (also Kobo Daishi) is one of Japan’s most adored historical figures. In the beginning of the 9th century, he studied both the Chinese main scripts and the Sanskrit Siddam script.
He had a very impressive resume throughout his time in Japan, where he performed rituals for the emperor, constructing large reservoirs for the civilians in Shikoku, and building the first publicly accessible school. He was credited with many things, from inventing the kana character to the introduction of homosexuality.
As a renowned sanpitsu, his name was celebrated as a calligrapher, and was said to have published Japan’s first dictionary. He reportedly founded hundreds of temples across Japan, and the Shikoku Pilgrimage to 88 Sites is a pilgrimage often attributed to Kukai.
“Comment from the author: I recommend looking into the relationship between Sanskrit seed syllables and Japanese esoteric sections. A very interesting read for me!”
Closing: my personal thoughts
To start off, I would never imagine myself drawn to calligraphy in any way. I was told by my teachers that I genuinely had no talent in it (I got a D- grade for EVERY assignment), so it felt like a chore in the late stages of my elementary school years. Life sure does change.. I do wonder what they would say if they saw this article.
Researching this artstyle has fulfilled me in some sort of manner, because it felt like I was talking to myself a decade ago. To see that each stroke had its own story to tell makes me wonder if the authors had a haphazardly chaotic life, after all stories are best told not by the bystander, but its eyewitness.
What I have included in this article only briefly touches upon Japanese calligraphy and its history, and I hope you learned a thing or two today. (I sure did, and I am happy to share it with you!) As always, try searching around if you find this interesting! I’m Goh, and I hope to see you soon.
