Japanese Calligraphy, Shodo, its Chinese Roots and Zen Link

Japanese calligraphy, known as shodo in Japanese, is the calligraphy brushed in Japanese. As it happens with many different artistic expressions in Japan, Japanese calligraphy has its roots in Chinese calligraphy. For many centuries one of the most respected calligraphers in Japan was Chinese Wang Xizhi that lived in the 4th century.

However, since the Hiragana and Katakana syllabaries were incorporated into the Japanese writing system, Japanese calligraphers began to develop native Japanese ways of calligraphy.

Types of Japanese Calligraphy

The classic styles are roughly the same in Chinese calligraphy as in Japanese calligraphy. They are:

1. Seal Script, tensho in Japanese, an very old type of calligraphy

2. Regular Script, kaisho in Japanese, sometimes called Standard Script in English

3. Clerical Script, reisho in Japanese

4. Semi-Cursive, gyosho  in Japanese

5. Cursive, sosho in Japanese, sometimes called Running Script in English

The Four Treasures of Asian Calligraphy

The 4 basic tools you use in traditional Japanese calligraphy are called the Four Treasures and they are: the brush, the ink stick, rice paper - also known as mulberry paper in the West- and  the inkstone to ground the fresh ink.

Chinese Calligraphy Roots and Introduction to Japan

Chinese calligraphy goes back 3000 years, when pictorial figures or pictographs were carved on bones generally with religious motivations. Later on, during the Qin dynasty, the script was standardized as it had became a major instrument for running the Chinese state.

The Chinese tradition of calligraphy was introduced to Japan around AD 600. Since that time, in Japan calligraphy has been practiced unbrokenly. It has unfolded its own ways especially in the Zen tradition.

Nowadays in Japan pupils train in the art of Japanese calligraphy and it can be practiced in high school or universities along with other art disciplines such as painting or music.

Finally, the appearance of performance calligraphy has made it a fashionable interest practiced together in clubs by young people. Performance calligraphy has also been made known in the Western world and it appears to fascinate many people.

Japanese Calligraphy and Zen

Zen has had a notable impact in Japanese calligraphy. The most common symbol of the Zen school of Japanese calligraphy is the enso circle. The calligrapher draws the enso circle of enlightenment in one single free-flowing stroke that is never adjusted or altered.

Japanese Zen calligraphy, the Way of the Brush, is a sort of meditation in action.