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Calligraphy in Taiwan |
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In Taiwan, the earliest form of calligraphy was derived from mainland China. The island’s original inhabitants were indigenous peoples of the Austronesian linguistic family whose primary pursuits were hunting and gathering. While possessing oral language, they had no written form and naturally did not engage in transcription activities. Later on as mainland China suffered under a series of rebellions and invasions, thousands of farmers from the coastal provinces of Fujian and Guangdong risked their lives to cross the dangerous “Black Ditch” (today’s Taiwan Strait) and settled into agrarian lifestyles on Taiwan island.
According to historical accounts, the island’s inhabitants began the systematic learning of Han Chinese culture only after the arrival of Shen Guang-wen, an official of the late-Ming dynasty. When the Ching dynasty seized control of China, he fought around the country to restore Ming rule but unexpectedly drifted to Taiwan in 1651 after encountering a typhoon on the sea. Shen, himself a scholar of the Confucian tradition, settled in Tainan and established schools to educate locals in the ways of reading and writing Chinese text. He is therefore accredited as being the founder of Taiwan’s literature. Throughout its history, Taiwan has been subject to a succession of rule by the Dutch, loyalists to the Ming court, the Ching dynasty, Japanese colonialists and the Republic of China government. These transitions in political power and cultural policies brought different layers of influence upon the stylistic development of calligraphy in Taiwan. This development, excluding the Dutch era before calligraphy arrived, can be divided into five periods: Reign of Ming Loyalists (1662-1683) In 1662, a band of Ming-loyalist fighters led by Zheng Cheng-gong (Koxinga) successfully ousted Dutch colonialists from Taiwan. These loyalists then embarked on various development projects on the island intending to create a pro-Ming base of operations. Following suit came displaced government officials from the mainland, members of the royal family and wandering literati—many of whom were exceptionally skilled in poetry, literature and calligraphy, as in the case of Zhu Shu-gui and Chen Yong-hua. As visionaries of cultural and artistic learning, they devoted themselves to setting up schools and promoting education, commencing the first ever large-scale campaign to spread traditional Chinese culture throughout the island. This period represents the early stages of Han Chinese education and saw the budding of calligraphy in Taiwan.
An imperial biography of Ching dynasty Emperor Shizong (1678-1735), written in the Regular Script style (Courtesy of the National Palace Museum) Ching Dynasty Rule (1683-1895) In 1683, the Ching dynasty captured Taiwan and absorbed the island into its empire, officially ending the reign of Ming loyalists. Four years later, the Ching court opened imperial civil service examinations to local residents, which contributed to higher levels of learning and laid the groundwork for the long and stable development of calligraphy in Taiwan. As livelihoods improved and the economy prospered, the island’s
intellectual community found more time to engage in refined cultural and artistic activities. They interacted and practiced with master scholars from mainland China who were either displaced or appointed to work in Taiwan, and this helped close the gap between the two literary cultures. By the late 1800s, Taiwan’s scholars had grown increasingly learned in classical Chinese education and were passing the imperial examinations in large numbers, no longer relying on the guaranteed quota system that had long been in place. During this time, many native Taiwanese calligraphers also came to the fore but the majority merely imitated the monotonous court style of their teachers. Though these men of learning were able to render a variegation of artistic contents, their works showed little individual expression or self-consciousness. Only Lin Chao-ying and a very small number of other practitioners were in the exception. This period nevertheless built a lasting foundation for the art.
Japanese Colonial Period (1895-1945) After war broke out between the Ching court and the Japanese empire, Taiwan was ceded to the latter under a treaty in 1895. As a means of cultural assimilation, the Japanese colonial government cancelled imperial examinations and cut off the only route by which hard-working scholars could traditionally ascend to official positions. The colonialists even prohibited local literati from having contact with the mainland in an attempt to sever Taiwan from its roots in Chinese culture. During this dark era in the island’s history, the Taiwanese were downgraded to second-class citizens and denied many of their human rights.
With nowhere to vent feelings of anger and indignation, local literati turned their energies to forming poetry clubs where they could recite poetry, practice calligraphy and learn from one another. Some went on to train professionally in Japanese calligraphy and learned a more artistic manner of expression, departing gradually from the practical, monotonous court style of writing. However, except for a minority of artists, such as Cao Rong, who had mastered the breadth of classical Chinese calligraphy, most were unable to subsist for long. Fortunately, the Japanese colonialists were themselves aficionados of poetry, literature and calligraphy and so extended generous support for these activities. In fact, they encouraged local literary circles to engage in cultural exhibitions and exchanges. This stage represented an unprecedented boom in Taiwanese calligraphy. Republic of China on Taiwan (early period, 1945-1987) In 1949, the ROC government relocated to Taiwan after the rise of the Communist regime on mainland China. At that time, rare artifacts from the mainland’s National Palace Museum, Academia Sinica and Central Library were moved to Taiwan. And many of the mainland professionals that followed the ROC government hailed from the top of their fields. After arriving, they transformed Taiwan from a small island on the frontier’s edge into a base for reclaiming the Chinese cultural legacy.
Taiwan became the new nexus of cultural creativity where local calligraphy could flourish to new heights. The scholars of the day, including Yu You-ren, Tung Tso-pin, Pu Ru, Tai Ching-nung and Wang Chuang-wei, were also accomplished artists and contributed much to the literary arts. Apart from creating new works, they taught and trained their successors, injecting vitality into Taiwan’s academic development and bringing fresh hope to calligraphy education. This period saw the infusion of new blood into the field. End of Martial Law to Present (1987- ) In 1987, the ROC government lifted 38 years of martial law that sought to suppress the Communist rebellion, and resumed people-to-people interactions with mainland China. Taiwan embraced this newfound freedom as it began its course toward becoming a true democracy. Around this time, the first generation of calligraphers from the mainland began retiring from the scene and left the younger artists to face a bombardment of other cultural influences. As the new generation stood reflecting over the long-standing conventional methods of their predecessors, they were taken with fresh ideas. In addition to tracing inscriptions from traditional stone tablets, they copied directly from bamboo slates or silk books and created a profusion of works in the neoclassical style. What followed was a trend of blending the traditional with the experimental, and this ushered in an era of diversity and innovation in Taiwan’s calligraphy.
Today in Taiwan, many of these artistic heirlooms are preserved in the collections of private individuals or at fine arts institutions, where one can glean an overview of all the different periods. Calligraphy can also be found at scenic spots and on temples and buildings, appearing in the form of stone inscriptions, board carvings, hanging couplets, store signs or antique scrolls. These are accessible examples of everyday calligraphy all around us; one needs only to slow his or her pace and quiet the heart in order to enjoy the exquisite artistry and fine workmanship of ancient and contemporary calligraphers.
In practicing calligraphy, the most difficult aspect lies in its intolerant nature—that one must be able to write the words perfectly in one try without going back for corrections. This truly exacts a high level of technique and mastery. Proper calligraphy not only requires every dot and line to be full of vigor, energy and spirit, it also demands a measure of reciprocation and cohesion between the preceding and subsequent strokes. Every word, indeed, the entire composition, from its internal structure to the external environment, must be completely harmonized in order to form an organic whole. This philosophy of the richness and profound essence of qi, or energy, is at the core of Eastern practical wisdom. In East Asia, calligraphy also exists in the “cultural circle of Chinese characters”—namely Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia—but in fact each of these systems descended from ancient China. In Taiwan and mainland China, the practice is called shufa (literally, calligraphic method); in Korea, shuyi (calligraphic art); and in Japan, shudao (calligraphic way), which is an old reference dating back the Tang dynasty in China. Nomenclature aside, they all refer in essence to the same art form. In present days, because of its unique history, Taiwan remains the only place in the world to preserve classical Chinese characters and has come to play a central role in the dissemination of Chinese culture. With such a rich and fertile environment, it is no wonder that calligraphy in Taiwan has blossomed into the beautiful and exquisite flower that it is today. Original Chinese article by Tu Chung-kao
CULTURAL TAIWAN |
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Calligraphy may be likened to a rare, exotic flower that blossomed forth from Chinese culture. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Chinese developed a soft, flexible brush made from animal hair to serve as a writing tool. Today, this practical system of everyday writing has flourished into a beautiful and aesthetic art form. One reason for this popularity is the richness of emotional expression that calligraphy evokes in the practitioner’s mind. The moment the ink-dipped bristle brushes against paper, it creates a flexible harmony between the
yin and the yang that is mutually offsetting and amplifying all at once.
