Calligraphy is an art unique to Chinese characters: a brush, some ink and rice paper produce living, breathing lines. Cousin to painting, it is called "poetry without sound, dance without motion".
The Four Treasures: brush (goat or wolf hair), ink (ink stick ground with water or liquid ink), paper (xuan paper that absorbs and blurs), inkstone (the stone slab for grinding).
Five scripts: seal (ancient, round), clerical (broad and square), regular (neat and formal), running (fluid and free), cursive (wild and unrestrained).
Character and cultivation: the ancients said "the man is in his writing" - practice builds the self. Wang Xizhi Lanting Xu is the greatest running-script work.
Try it: cities offer calligraphy classes (30-60 minutes, about 50-150 yuan) where a teacher shows you how to hold the brush and write your own name; street calligraphy performances are worth watching.
Bringing home a scroll (a "fu" or "he" character) makes a wonderfully Chinese souvenir.
