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Calligraphy and puppetry, two arts of China
by Andrew Seguin
 When we think of beautiful writing, we primarily think of metaphors and images that can transform words on a page into palpable emotions. Rarely, in this age of type, do we consider the manner in which the words are presented — the actual forms of the letters that comprise them. But for millennia, calligraphy has been an art, particularly in Chinese culture.
“Calligraphy is one of the highest forms of art in China,” an instructor at the China Institute told girls in Class 8. “It surpasses even poetry.” It wasn’t news to the students, who have been studying the country extensively as part of their history course. The girls visited the China Institute to learn more about calligraphy and shadow puppetry, another popular art form in China.
“Calligraphy is a form of meditation,” the teacher explained, before demonstrating the open position that calligraphers use when writing. The girls were seated around two tables, an array of ink, paper and goats’-hair brushes made from bamboo stems laid out before them. The instructor wrote a few Mandarin characters on a sheet of paper, explaining that the forms of the character can visually mimic that which they define. The character for water, for example, resembles a fountain, or water splashing. Each girl then practiced writing some characters of her own, either copying from the teacher’s examples or writing characters she had learned in one of Chapin’s Chinese language classes.
If holding calligraphy brushes in their hands didn’t bring the Chinese culture to life, the exhibit of shadow puppets certainly did. The puppets dated from the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1911. Made from animal hide that has been dyed with pigment, the puppets were displayed in some of the institute’s backlit gallery cases, achieving an effect like the one they’d have if they flickered across a stage during a live performance. The girls learned that a puppet’s identity is indicated by its headdress, that demon puppets almost always have open mouths, and that a master puppeteer might control four or five simultaneously.
Though handling a puppet was all the puppeteering the girls were able to do, they achieved a newfound appreciation for an art form and culture that, prior to their visit, had only existed for them in their textbooks. Like good writing, field trips can transform words studied on the page into something palpable.
Click here to see a photo gallery of Class 8 writing calligraphy.
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