CALLIGRAPHY

Lina Liu has had a passion for Chinese art and calligraphy since an early age. She learned Chinese calligraphy in school and also learned privately with a Chinese calligrapher when she was 14. She completed her BA dissertations on "The Aesthetics of Chinesre Art and Calligraphy." Her work has been exhibited in Johor, southern Malaysia on several occasions. The pictures above are examples of her work.

Lesson Plan

Student Objectives

Demonstrate an understanding that calligraphy is an ancient Chinese tradition.
Describe the principles of Chinese calligraphy.
Identify specific characters and symbols.
Create a personal work of art employing Chinese calligraphy techniques.

Materials

Write Chinese: The Principles of Calligraphy
A Chinese Calligrapher: Preserving the Ancient Chinese Art
The Five Principles of Chinese Calligraphy
Newspaper to cover desks
Butcher paper, one large sheet per student
Computer with Internet access (optional)
Examples of Chinese symbols and characters
Black ink
Calligraphy brushes
White paper

Discuss the five principles of Chinese calligraphy

Posture: It is important to sit up straight.
Good knowledge of the tools: Demonstrate with brushes
Control: You must know how to control the brush.
Rhythm: The characters should flow smoothly down the page.
Balance: Make sure all the lines are the right thickness and length.

Give students the examples of Chinese characters, words, and symbols, and tell them to choose two to reproduce on white construction paper. The following Web sites have examples:

www.ocrat.com/ocrat/chargif/

www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese_evolution.htm

www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese_types.htm#types

www.chinapage.org/word/chineseword.html

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