Japanese Calligraphy, Shodo, its Chinese Roots and Zen Bond

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

However, since the Hiragana and Katakana syllabaries were incorporated into the Japanese writing system, Japanese calligraphers started to shape original Japanese ways of calligraphy.

Styles of Japanese Calligraphy

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

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

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

3. Clerical Script, reisho in Japanese

4. Semi-Cursive, gyosho  in Japanese language

5. Cursive, sosho in Japanese language, at times named Running Script in English

The Four Treasures of Asian Calligraphy

The four fundamental utensils you use in traditional Japanese calligraphy are the Four Treasures and they are: brush, inkstick, rice paper - also known as mulberry paper in the West- and  the inkstone to liquefy the fresh ink.

Chinese Calligraphy Origins and Outset in Japan

Chinese calligraphy goes back three thousand years, when pictorial representations or pictographs were engraved on bones mostly with religious grounds. Later on, in the Qin dynasty, the writing was systematized as it had became a crucial tool for the administration of the Chinese state.

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

Today in Japan students 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 emergence of performance calligraphy has made it a popular pursuit practiced together in clubs by young people. Performance calligraphy has also been presented to the Western countries and it seems to fascinate many people.

Japanese Calligraphy and Zen Buddhism

Zen has had a remarkable effect in Japanese calligraphy. The most common representation of the Zen approach of Japanese calligraphy is the enso circle. The calligrapher brushes the enso circle of enlightenment in one fluent stroke that is never adjusted or corrected.

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