大家好

lzz123
 December 28, 2009, 01:49 AM posted in General Discussion

chinese calligraphy is one of greatest writting arts in this world i think .

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changye
 December 28, 2009, 02:32 AM

Hi lzz123

I totally agree with you. Would you please show us your calligraphic works?

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chanelle77
 December 28, 2009, 02:58 AM

Side note: when I had a name seal made, I asked how one becomes a "master" or get that profession. Is there a "seal school" or do you have a teacher? He told me you have to start with years of caligraphy, before one can make the seals. When one "mastered" that, one is ready to shift. I found that very interesting....

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changye
 December 28, 2009, 03:27 AM

Hi chanelle77

The traditional art of Chinese seal cutting is called "篆刻" (zhuan4ke4), which usually employs ancient "小篆" (small seal scripts). Interestingly, "篆刻" (seal cutting) have long been a kind of "hobby" among literary men and scholars in China, especially after the era of Song dynasty (宋朝). Why not make it yourself?

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chanelle77
 December 28, 2009, 03:42 AM

Changye,

Thank you for your info :-). Actually I tried that, for a few RMB I bought the little carving tool and (soap)stone (皂石？), but it was much harder than I thought it would be. I ended up with a silly seal. But, practice makes perfect! The 篆刻师傅 was not very happy to help me at first, but when I said I really would like to understand more he started 1.5 hour lecture! and showed me beautiful work. He could teach me, but first I need to learn to write "properly" (calligraphy). That will not happen within the next decade I guess :-)

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orangina
 December 28, 2009, 11:41 AM

哈哈 chanelle, I almost bought the carving tools and stone the other day but I guessed (it seems correctly) that I was getting ahead of myself. I would like to take calligraphy classes, as well as painting classes while I am here... I just bought a calligraphy brush today. But I think for practical reasons I should get a speaking tutor first. Then perhaps things would go more smoothly at the bank every time I forget my PIN and have to go in to get my card fixed... 我卡坏了 just isn't working for me.

On second thought, maybe if I went into the bank with a beautiful hand written scroll with a lovely poem explaining my dilemma, I would get better customer service...

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chanelle77
 December 28, 2009, 11:58 AM

@orangina, I am not sure if those incredibly helpful and motivated employees would appreciate such fine art :-) let me know what happened when you showed your beautiful calligraphy autograph....

For the tool: I'd say: for 20 RMB you will have a lot of fun! I understand where you are coming from: have the same thing: I want to do writing, calligraphy, painting, carving etc. Have the brush, have the paint, have the book (I am sure you have seen the fabulous "step by step flower paintings"), sheets etc., but time after time I return to normal study activities :-). Which proof to be more helpful in daily life. It is all so interesting, but cannot do it all.

Note to self: *must focus* :-).