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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