Japanese Calligraphy, Shodo, its Chinese Origins and Zen Bond

Japanese calligraphy, called shodo in Japanese, is the calligraphy brushed in Japanese. As it happens with many different art manifestations in Japan, Japanese calligraphy has its beginnings in Chinese calligraphy. For many centuries one of the most praised calligraphers in Japan was Chinese Wang Xizhi that lived in the 4th century.

Still, since the Hiragana and Katakana syllabaries were attached to the Japanese writing system, Japanese calligraphers began to shape native Japanese approaches of calligraphy.

Styles of Japanese Calligraphy

The traditional types are roughly the same in Chinese calligraphy as in Japanese calligraphy. They are the following:

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

2. Regular Script, kaisho in Japanese, also named 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 Eastern Calligraphy

The 4 essential tools you need for traditional Japanese calligraphy are the 4 Treasures and they are: the brush, ink stick, rice paper - also called mulberry paper in the West- and  the inkstone to liquefy the fresh ink.

Chinese Calligraphy Roots and Start in Japan

Chinese calligraphy goes back three thousand years, when pictorial symbols or pictographs were engraved on bones mostly with religious motivations. Later on, in the Qin reign, the writing was standardized as it had became an important tool for the administration of the Chinese state.

The Chinese tradition of calligraphy was introduced to Japan around AD 600. Since then, in Japan calligraphy has been practiced continuously. It has developed its own style especially in the Zen tradition.

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

Finally, the emergence of performance calligraphy has made it a fashionable interest practiced together in clubs by the younger generation. Performance calligraphy has also been introduced to the Western world and it seems to captivate many people.

Japanese Calligraphy and Zen

Zen Buddhism has had a significant influence in Japanese calligraphy. The most popular representation of the Zen school of Japanese calligraphy is the enso circle. The calligrapher depicts the enso circle of enlightenment in one single free-flowing stroke that is never adjusted or altered.

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