Lessons in Chinese calligraphy

On September 17 and 18 we had calligraphy instruction with Liu Qingyang, Dean of the College of Fine Arts and a master calligrapher. Professor Liu introduced us to the major styles and schools of calligraphy, and gave us some examples to practice. He believes that practicing calligraphy is a way to experience Chinese culture and not merely hear about or observe culture, and he told us that he sees the arts as important cultural bridges in our world. Along with some of his graduate students, he gave us pointers on holding the brush in the proper way, how to apply and release pressure on the brush tip, and how much water to mix with the ink so that our writing was smooth but the ink did not spread. On Wednesday we practiced writing characters and also writing our names. On Thursday we each worked on writing a poem, “One Morning in Late Spring,” by Meng Haoran. The SSTers could take their supplies with them, and Professor Liu expressed his hope that we would continue to practice calligraphy when we return home.