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Calligraphy, literally "beautiful writing," has been appreciated as an art form in many different cultures throughout the world, but the stature of calligraphy in Chinese culture is unmatched. In China, from a very early period, calligraphy was considered not just a form of
decorative art; rather, it was viewed as the supreme visual art form, was more valued than painting and sculpture, and ranked alongside poetry as a means of self-expression and cultivation. How one wrote, in fact, was as important as what one wrote. To understand how calligraphy came to occupy such a prominent position, it is necessary to consider a variety of factors, such as the materials used in calligraphy and the nature of the Chinese written script as well as the esteem in which writing and literacy are held in traditional China.
书法，字面上讲，就是漂亮的书写。在世界的诸多文化中，书法作为一门艺术为人们所欣赏，但是它在中国文化中具有的高度却是无以伦比。在中国，早期书法不仅被看做装饰艺术，而且也被视作极具观赏性的视觉艺术形式，其价值超越了绘画和雕塑艺术。书法作为一种自我表达和体现个人文化素养的方式和诗歌齐名。事实上，一个人如何写和写什么同样重要。为了弄明白书法如何占有突出的地位，有必要考虑以下各种因素：书法用的材料，汉语书写的特点，以及写字和识字在传统中国所受到的尊崇。
The earliest extant examples of Chinese writing are the inscriptions that appear on so-called oracle bones (animal bones and turtle shells) and on bronze vessels, the oldest of which date back to the Shang dynasty (ca.1600-ca.1100 B.C.E.). Shang kings used these objects in important divination rituals, and some scholars have argued that this early association of writing with ritual and political authority helps to account for the special status conferred upon those who could read and write.
现存最早的中国汉字是书写在所谓的甲骨文（动物骨头和海壳）和青铜器（最古老的、可追溯到商代1600-1100BC）上。商王把这些东西用在重大的占卜仪式上。一些学者认为早期的和文字书写有联系的仪式和政权有助于说明那些能够读写人的特殊地位。
These early inscriptions were made on the surface of an oracle bone or a bronze mold with a sharp, pointed instrument. As a result of this process, the characters (or "graphs" as they are also called) generally lack the kinds of linear variation and other attributes considered prerequisites of true calligraphy. Those qualities began to emerge very clearly during the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.), when Chinese artisans perfected the manufacture of the basic materials still used by calligraphers today: brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
这些早期的甲骨文是用尖而锋利工具刻在甲骨的表面或青铜器上，因此，一般这些文字（或被称作图形）缺乏线条的变化和真正书法的其它属性，而这些被认为是真正书法的前提条件。这些特点在汉代（206B.C.E.-220C.E）才开始明显显现出来。当时的中国工匠进一步完善了书写文字所用的基本材料，至今仍被书法家所用：毛笔，纸张，和磨研。
Although archaeological evidence confirms that brushes were known in China at a much earlier date, it was during the Han period that their use became widespread. A typical brush consists of a bundle of animal hairs (black rabbit hair, white goat hair, and yellow weasel hair were all very popular) pushed inside a tube of bamboo or wood (though jade, porcelain, and other materials were also occasionally used). The hairs are not all of the same length; rather, an inner core has shorter hairs around it, which in turn are covered by an outer layer that tapers to a point. Brushes come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes that determine the type of line produced. What all such brushes have in common, however, is their flexibility. It is this feature more than any other that allows the calligraphic line to be so fluid and expressive.
尽管考古证据证实了毛笔在中国出现的更早，但毛笔的普遍使用就是在汉代。一支标准
的毛 笔是一束动物毛发（黑兔毛，白羊毛和黄鼠狼毛当时都比较流行）插在竹管或者木管内（当时玉制的，和瓷质的偶尔也有使用的）。毛发并非完全等长，核心部位的毛要比周围的短些，这样便于被周围的笔毛遮盖，从而形成锥形的笔头。书写线条决定了毛笔的形状大小各异。然而他们的共同点是具有柔韧性。就是毛笔的这种特点才使得书法的线条如此的流畅和富有表现力。
The ink employed in calligraphy is usually made from lampblack, a sooty residue created by burning pine resin or oil underneath a hood. After being collected, the lampblack is mixed with glue and then pressed into molds. The resulting hardened cakes or sticks can then be ground against a stone and mixed with water, a process that allows the calligrapher to control the
thickness of the ink and density of the pigment. Eventually ink cakes and ink sticks themselves became a decorative art form, and many well-known artists created designs and patterns for their molds.
书法用的墨汁通常有油烟制成，油烟就是燃烧的松油和燃油在灯罩下留下的乌黑的残渣。油烟被收集起来之后，便和粘性的胶混合，然后进行压模成型。由此产生的硬饼或条状便对这石头研磨并和水混合，这个过程可以让书者控制墨汁的浓淡。最终，墨饼和墨条本身也成了一种装饰艺术形式，由此许多知名的艺术家也为他们的模子进行了创造性地设计和装饰。
The invention of paper is widely appreciated as one of China's major technological
contributions to the world. Tradition credits the discovery of the process to Cai Lun in 105 C.E., though recent tomb findings demonstrate that paper was known at least a century earlier. Paper was made from various fibers, such as mulberry, hemp, and bamboo, and provided an inexpensive alternative to silk as a ground material for calligraphy and painting.
纸的发明被广泛认为是中国在技术方面对世界的一项重大贡献。尽管最近的陵墓挖掘表明纸的出现至少提前100年，但传统上认为105CE.是蔡伦发明了造纸术。纸是用各种各样的纤维做成，如桑树，大麻和竹子，并为书法和绘画提供了一种廉价的可替代丝绸的材料。
Together with the inkstone—a carved stone slab with a reservoir for grinding ink and mixing it with water—brush, ink, and paper are known in China as the Four Treasures of the Study
(wenfang sibao), indicating the high esteem in which the materials of calligraphy are held. These Four Treasures are the same materials employed by traditional Chinese painters. Some critics have pointed to this as a way of explaining why calligraphy has a higher status in China than elsewhere. The argument goes something like this: In Europe, for instance, painting is a high art; calligraphy does not use the same materials as painting; therefore, calligraphy is not accorded the same high status as painting. In China painting and calligraphy use the same materials; therefore, calligraphy is considered to be a high art akin to painting.
和砚台（一块刻有槽的平板石，用来盛研磨的墨汁和水）一起，毛笔，墨汁和纸张就是中国为人所熟知的文房四宝，此番称谓表达对书法说用材料的高度尊重。这四宝材料同样为传统的中国画家所用。一些评论家以此指出，这就是书法在中国比别的地方享有较高地位的原因。例如，有这样一种说法：在欧洲，绘画是一门较高的艺术；书法没有使用和绘画相同材料，因此，书法没有和绘画享有同样高的地位。而在中国，绘画和书法使用相同的材料，因此，书法被认为是一门类似于绘画的较高的艺术。
The problem with this argument is its basis upon the unfounded assumption that painting in China, as in Europe, was the most valued visual art form. In fact painting in China practically from its inception was considered secondary to calligraphy as a visual art. Moreover the argument that painting and calligraphy share the same materials was used in the eleventh and twelfth
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2023-01-09
