Zhou Huijun teaches Wei Stele.

Author: Zhou Huijun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: In the history of world civilizations, the unique art that uses writing as its subject matter has only been the Chinese calligraphy, which has a long history and is rich in variety. Those strings of shining artistic masterpieces continue to inspire our spirit of the times. In ancient times, the character "shu" had both the meanings of writing and calligraphy: clear and correct writing for practical communication, while calligraphy met people's aesthetic needs. Pictographs are the foundation of Chinese character construction, but as history evolved, Chinese characters became increasingly abstract and symbolic. Interestingly, the richness of the form structures of Chinese characters and the diversity of their lines have created a vast space for the art of calligraphy. According to Guo Moruo's research, "consciously treating writing as an art or making writing itself artistic and decorative began in the late Spring and Autumn period." Today, calligraphy art is still respected and loved, becoming the art of the masses, which is inseparable from its gradual transition from the practical use of writing. Understanding this background, people will realize that learning calligraphy and practicing good handwriting have become a lifelong learning course for Chinese people from childhood to old age. Of course, this is also the reason why our publishing house has been continuously planning and editing and publishing calligraphy teaching books for calligraphy enthusiasts.
Calligraphy learning has several stages. When starting, it is crucial to accurately grasp the knowledge of writing skills. In traditional teaching, methods like holding the brush and manipulating it, the roles and relationships of fingers, wrist, elbow, and shoulder while writing, were mostly explained in writing. Even with some illustrations, it was difficult to describe the precise positioning during writing movements. For example, when practicing different calligraphic styles, traditional teaching methods mostly involved "double-hooking" and "red tracing," which relied more on self-experience. The ancients said, "Calligraphy is aimed at the use of the brush." In traditional learning models, self-learners often spent excessive energy pondering and exploring writing methods but failed to grasp the essence, causing many to lose interest in learning. Others could not accurately grasp the key points of brushwork and, after long-term practice, developed bad habits, becoming discouraged and disheartened.
Today, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House has planned and published the "" (Series of Calligraphy Tutorials by Renowned Masters) in response to the demands of calligraphy enthusiasts, combining calligraphy learning with advanced methods of modern education and linking book content with audio-visual teaching. Calligraphy learners sitting at home can achieve the same effect as being in a classroom. The publisher has specially invited renowned calligraphers to provide tutorials for everyone. They not only help learners with in-depth and easy-to-understand calligraphic knowledge but, more importantly, demonstrate brushwork in person, allowing learners to repeatedly observe and progress step by step, truly achieving good learning results.
We hope that the creativity of this series will be well-received by readers, helping them quickly grasp the key points and difficulties of the introductory stage of calligraphy, avoid detours, improve their writing skills, and develop a greater love for the art of calligraphy.