• Fude.
  • A brush, is a long, usually wooden-handled brush tipped with horse, sheep, goat, raccoon, or weasel hair.^[2]
• Sumi.
  • A black ink made from charcoal soot and glue, usually compressed into an inkstick and ground with water.^[3]
• Hanshi.
  • A thin, absorbent Japanese washi paper designed for calligraphy.^[4]
• Suzuri.
  • A fine inkstone with a depression in which the ink is ground.^[5]
• Shitajiki.
  • A thin wool sheet that evens the pressure on the paper and protects the table beneath.^[6]
• Bunchin.
  • One or two wide paperweights used to keep the paper flat and steady.^[7]

First Century edit

The first kanji, or Chinese pictogram, characters are believed to have arrived in Japan as early as in the first century AD, on a seal given by the Chinese Emperor Kuang Wu to the king of Na, as the state of Japan was then known by China. The first recorded Chinese characters written by Japanese people are believed to be an inscription on a sword found in the ancient Eda Funayama tomb. Early works of calligraphy were carved, not written. Before paper was invented by the Chinese around 200 BC-AD 100, materials used for writing included stone, metal, and bone.^[8]

Sixth Century edit

When Buddhism and Confucianism were introduced to Japan around the sixth century AD, more Chinese calligraphy entered the country. These pieces were mostly sutras (Buddhist chants or mantras) and commentaries, written in a variety of scripts using brush and ink on paper. The earliest extant handwritten text by a Japanese calligrapher is thought to be a sutra known as the Commentary on the Lotus, which is purported to have been written by Prince Shotoku (574-622), a regent to Empress Suiko. It is written in the clerical, cursive style that was current in China from 400 to 600. During the Nara era (714-794), the copying of sutra grew in popularity; the Shakyojo, or Sutra. In 607, Japan began sending monks to China to study Buddhism, and the practice, named kentoshi, lasted until the late ninth century. Monks who travelled to China of the Sui dynasty (589-618) and the Tang dynasty (618-907) returned to Japan with the latest fashions and cultures, including new developments in calligraphy.^[9]

Tenth Century edit

During the tenth century, writing shook itself free from Chinese ways. It transformed itself into an elegant style based purely on the Japanese aesthetic, with more emphasis on roundness, flow, and harmony. This was the time of the Three Brush Traces: Sanseki-Ono No Tofu (894-966), Fujiwara No Sukemasa (944-988), and Fujiwara No Yukinari (972-1028).^[10]

Eleventh Century edit

The eleventh century provided Japan with a golden age of literature. Many also see it as the time when Japanese culture found its identity. With many of the best-known works created by women, the Heian period still influences art, calligraphy, and aesthetics today. In calligraphy, kana writing has kept the cultivated elegance it developed in the literature of this time. Noblemen became so fascinated by the elegant style in which these books were written that when the Kokin Wakashū, the first poetic anthology selected by the Emperor, was compiled around 910, it was written in kana, even though more than 100 of the 127 poets featured were men. Nostalgia for the art of the Heian period has been a characteristic of Japanese culture for many centuries.^[11]

Twelfth and Thirteenth Century edit

In 1192 the Heian period ended and the Kamakura period (1192-1333), which saw the beginning of the rule of the warlord samurai, began. As Japan became more unstable, people searched for new religious meanings, and many new Buddhist sects were established at this time. Zen Buddhist monks produced a clean, strong writing style, named Boku seki, which incorporated the latest fashions from Song dynasty and Yuan dynasty China.^[12]

Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century edit

The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries saw a vibrant development of the Japanese economy, which promoted the spread of the arts. Originally an interest only of the imperial or aristocratic classes, cultural pursuits became popular among the samurai and merchant classes. The tea ceremony, developed from its medieval Buddhist beginnings by a merchant and Zen follower Sen No Rikyu, was much practiced. As calligraphy spread out of the court, poets and tea ceremony masters started to show their unique talent. Reinventing the tea ceremony as a ritual of humility, simplicity, and self-cultivation strongly influenced by Zen teaching, Sen No Rikyu introduced a calligraphy scroll or drawing as part of the ceremony, to be hung in the alcove of the tea room to welcome guests. Sen No Rikyu appreciated calligraphy more than any other form of decoration, so many calligraphy works, especially early kana works, were cut into strips and arranged as hangings in the above.^[13]

Matsuo Basho established a new form of poetry, the haiku, which aims to express the most complex human emotions with wit and insight, using only 17 syllables. Basho's way of expressing deep emotions lightly reflects his pursuit of spiritual profundity.^[14]

Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century edit

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Zen Buddhist priests dominated calligraphy. In the mid-seventeenth century, much of the Buddhist Huangbo (Obaku) sect had arrived from China. Many Obaku monks were poets, painters, and calligraphers, and it was their influence that led to the rise of zenga (zen painting). Zenga describes the enlightenment of Zen in a simple painting, usually in black ink. Works by Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) are dynamic and bold and promote Zen teachings. Sengai Gibou (1751-1839) was probably the most original zenga. His delightful, whimsical mix of humour is typical.^[15]

Today edit

Today, Japanese calligraphy has diversified through kana, kanji, and chow-tai-a harmonious style of writing modern poems with kanji and kana mixed. This rich variety reflects the history of Japanese calligraphy: cultural influences have constantly been imported and assimilated to create something new and unique. The best way to learn the secrets of calligraphy is to study the masterpieces, in which we can see the secret skills of brushwork and gain an insight into the minds of the masters who created them.^[16]

• Yoko, Takenami (2004). The Simple Art of Japanese Calligraphy. Toronto Ontario Canada: Sterling Publishing Company. ISBN 1-4027-1439-4.

• An Introduction to Shodo: Japanese Calligraphy
• Fish shaped water dropper at the Art Gallery of New South Wales
• Water droppers at the University of Michigan Museum of Art
• Water droppers at the British Museum
• "Object of the Week: Rat water dropper" from the Seattle Museum of Art