Calligraphy and Seal Arts

The word "calligraphy" in Chinese (書法) means "the rules of writing characters" -focus on writing well. However, it is also a discipline for writing beautifully. According to the art of calligraphy, there are at least 9 script in this art, such as the word "horse" can be seen/written in the following scripts: Oracle script, Bronze script, Seal script, Clerical script, Cursive script, semi-cursive script, and regular script .  UMD students learned the regular script on Tuesday, Dec. 31 before going to watch the new year's eve firework. What they wrote on the red paper were all good wishes for the new year that can be displayed on the house door as Spring Posts (春聯;春联).

 On the New Year's Day, the class had an excursion to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial. Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣介石,1887-1975) was a political and military leader, who unified China and led China in WWII against Japan. After WWII his KMT party lost the civil war to communist party and retreated to Taiwan. Chiang was a dictator in Taiwan where he imposed the martial law and created a "White Terror" period. During that time, people would be prosecuted if found critical to his regime. The Memorial was built by Chiang Junior, who was the president three years after his father's passing. It is now famous monument, landmark, and tourist attraction in Taipei, Taiwan.

The seal carving  is a "sister art" of Chinese calligraphy. The hands-on class took place on Jan. 2, and students really did a wonderful job putting their Chinese in use. Their works can be seem as below.

We are heading for a weekend excursion to Tainan and Kaohsiung to visit sites that representing the Taiwanese history and religion. Stay tuned until next Monday!