My First Book of Chinese Calligraphy is a fun and engaging introduction to one of China's most popular arts and crafts for kids. Calligraphy—the art of producing decorative handwriting or lettering with a pen or brush—has been around for thousands of years. In this fun calligraphy for kids book, readers will follow along with Mimi, an eight year old, who takes her first steps towards learning this magical art. Dive in, and explore: The Evolution of Chinese Writing—how Chinese characters first began, thousands of years ago, and how they have evolved The Order of the Strokes—learn how to write the strokes in the correct order The Radicals—what are they, and how to unlock their secrets The Four Treasures of Calligraphy— the four essential tools to get started Movements and Position—how to master your mind's focus, your breathing and even how to move The Five Styles of Calligraphy—Zhuan Shu (seal), Li Shu (clerical), Kai Shu (regular), Cao Shu (cursive), and Xing Shu (running) The Eight Strokes— how to draw the 8 strokes; with them, you can write anything Writing a Character in Calligraphy—create an entire character in calligraphy

As one of the most fascinating artistic form in the world, Chinese calligraphy has long been an area of interest to both novices and researchers. This easy-to-use guide introduces all the basic elements of the standard Chinese calligraphy script, Kaishu, with step-by-step instructions and diagrams for each of the 8 basic strokes.The purpose of this book is two-fold. On one had, it contains a short history of Chinese calligaphy and an introduction to Kaishu style, which embodies the very essense of the "Eastern arts" for those who find themselves interested in the arts of the Asian countries. On the other hand, for those who know about Chinese calligraphy and want to try their hand at it, the book, with Kaishu as a starting point, introduces the basic skills of the ancient and exquisite art of Chinese calligraphy. The rules and methods contained in the book will make the learning process easier with clear diagrams and images.

This is the classic introduction to Chinese calligraphy. In nine richly illustrated chapters Chang explores the aesthetics and the technique of this art in which rhythm, line, and structure are perfectly embodied. He measure the slow change from pictograph to stroke to the style and shape of written characters by the great calligraphers. It is a superb appreciation of beauty in the movement of strokes and in the patterns of structure--and an inspiration to amateurs as well as professionals interested in the decorative arts.

Fold-out front and back covers include examples of lettering.

Written Chinese can call upon about 40,000 characters, many of which originated some 6,000 years ago as little pictures of everyday objects used by the ancients to communicate with one another. To convey more abstract ideas or concepts, the Chinese stylized and combined their pictographs. For instance, the character for “man”—a straight back above two strong legs—becomes, with the addition of a head and shoulders and arms held sternly akimbo, the character for “official.” This book, modeled after a classic compilation of the Chinese language done in the 18th century, introduces readers to the 214 root pictographs or symbols upon which this writing system, whose rich complexities hold a wealth of cultural meaning, is based. These key characters, called radicals, are all delightfully presented in this volume, with their graphic development traced stage-by-stage to the present representation, where even now (in many of them) one can easily make out what was originally pictured—with the author’s guidance. Centuries ago, when the Japanese took up writing, they also adopted these symbols, though they gave them different names in their own spoken language.

Explores the interplay of politics and the art of writing in China today to explain the complex relationship between tradition and modernity in Chinese culture.