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AKARA

The Quest for Perfect Form

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Jiun

Zen calligrapher (1718-1804)

Calligraphy in China emerges as a manifestation of culture and character and is venerated as a primary art.

With the ideogram as master and king, calligraphers have served a long, hard apprenticeship to the essential characters of every character, remaining sensitive to the touch of brush-tip on paper.

Writing masters have left their indelible mark: Wang Xizhi, whose 4th century works have been writing models for over a millenium and a half; Zhao Meng Fu, the 'limpid beauty' of whose Calligraphy was greatly admired and copied right from medieval times; Wang Chong, one of the three Great Masters of the Ming dynasty; and many others including He Shaoji of the 19th century Qing dynasty.

Along with Buddhist thought, the Chinese system of writing is believed to have crossed over to Japan around the 5th century A.D., through the Korean mainland.

The Japanese writing system is full of peculiar exquisiteness. It may be called a compound system which is unique in the world. Kanji, the developed form of the original Chinese pictograms, is used in conjunction with the phonetic Kana, a simplified and 'Japonised' form of Kanji.

In Japan, as in China, Calligraphy intertwines with poetry, is honoured as a fine art, a universal cultural value revealing the writer's skill and creativity, and embodying his inner character.

Following the establishment of the Obaku (Huang-po) school of Zen at Mampukuji in 1694, a new type of Chinese-style Calligraphy was brought to Japan. Obaku Calligraphy was thicker, stronger, more cursive than that of previous centuries. Unlike the Rinzai and Seto sects, which were quickly assimilated into Japanese culture, Obaku retained its distinctive Chinese orientation.

Ichi, the 'original line' and Enso, 'the circle of infinity', are the core elements of Zen Calligraphy, called Bokuseki or Zensho.

The 18th and 19th centuries mark the golden age of Japanese Zen calligraphy. Hakuin (1685-1768), Jiun (1718-1804), Torei (1721-1792), Sengai (1750-1837), Ryokan (1758-1831), and Yamaoka Tesshu (1836-1888) were active in this era, producing a large number of splendid works.

In the 20th century, such monks as Nantembo (1839-1925) and Gempo (1865-1961) have done Calligraphy which parallels that of past masters.

Zen Calligraphy in the Obaku style by Kosen (1633-1695), Japan

Zen Calligraphy by Bankei (17th Century), Japan

'Human beings are all Buddha' Mokuan, Obaku School, (17th century), Japan

Sho' the Chinese character for writing

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