What you will need
Ideally you will be able to obtain the “Four Treasures of Calligraphy’’ bunpō shihō, namely a brush, some paper, an ink stick and an ink stone. In the Orient these are readily available, but as they are virtually unknown commodities in many places of the west, a brief explanation is required, (see appendix).
The Brush Fude
Brushes come in various sizes and qualities, but for the beginner the best quality is unnecessary.
Nevertheless there are some things to keep in mind when buying a brush. The shaft of a brush is normally made of bamboo into which bound hairs are inserted and glued. This shaft ought to be 18 to 20 cm long and the bristles 5 to 6 cm, an overall length of about 24cm. Also examine the width of the bristles where they join the handle-about 12 mm is ideal. If you happen to be in a Japanese shop ask for a chūbude (middlesized brush). The hairs of brushes are starched so that they form a point. Do not buy one that has had the starch worked out as they are very difficult to control while you are writing. Still you will notice the shop probably has both starched and loose haired versions of the same brush. Pick up the “opened” brush and look at it carefully. Pull it gently through your fingers to see if the hairs come loose, or when inverted the hairs do not either collapse to one side (too soft) or seem to be hard and springy like the bristles of a hair brush. Ask the shopkeeper for a brush made of sheep’s hair yōmō. These are the best and will tend to have white hair instead of brown or black. An expensive one is unnecessary, but one that is too cheap is really more expensive in the long run because the hairs moult, the glue may rot and from time to time the bamboo may split. An inexpensive one is quite adequate. There’s a saying that goes, “Kobo fude o erabazu”, meaning the famous calligrapher, Kobo Daishi never chose his brush, but wrote with whatever was at hand. Once a professor at the university where I was studying calligraphy, wanting to illustrate a point, had no brush within reach, so he rolled up a piece of paper and used that instead. For the beginner though I recommend using a brush.
The Paper Kami
The paper used in calligraphy is different from that generally available in the West, It is much thinner and more textured than ours, has little sheen, a markedly rough reverse side and is also absorbent. The size to use for shosha or shūji, copying works for practice, is 24cm by 34cm, but if nothing that size is available, at a push newspaper can be used. Try to get some without distracting articles all over it. Japanese paper comes In set sizes and the size you will use is called hanshi. In ancient days paper was a luxury and many people could not afford it. The Chinese Han Dynasty calligrapher, Cho Shi, always practised on fabric so he could wash it out and start again. The result was he turned the pond, in his garden where he washed his cloth, permanently black.
The Inkstick Sumi
Inksticks look like bars of black chocolate, and are sometimes decorated with motifs and gold writing. The average size is about 12 cm long, 4cm wide and 2cm thick. In poorly lit surroundings they are easily distinguishable from chocolate by their musty smell and the very Chinesey boxes they come in. Much of the best ink comes from China and has rings on the top showing the degree of blackness, five being the blackest.
Making the ink is a laborious task, but the effort is worthwhile as the end product is a good quality ink. Recently great advances have been made in the manufacture of ready made liquid ink called bokujū. Though it makes work easier, its colour and quality are inferior by far, as you will come to realise during your studies. Most calligraphy teachers will not permit the use of bokujū, for the above reasons and also for a spiritual reason. They maintain this world runs at too fast a pace and the simple act of making ink will clear the mind of extraneous worry and help calm the spirit. The feelings of a nervous, anguished or hurried person is reflected in his calligraphy.
Indian ink, poster colours, or the like cannot be used as they do not dry well enough or congeal too quickly.
The Inkstone Suzuri
The inkstick is rubbed over a shallow slate dish with a reservoir at one end. This receptacle ought to be large enough to hold sufficient ink for your work.
Amounts of ink should neither be so small that all the ink will disappear as soon as you put the brush in it nor so large that it takes all day to make sufficient amounts. An interior dimension of an actual grinding stone of about 8 cm x 14cm is just right. Stones that have been machine cut to a rectangular shape are far cheaper than those that have been carved by hand from natural stone.
Other Things
Most of the above tools are available in supermarkets and folk craft shops in the Chinatowns of large Western cities. They often come in ready made sets, but have a look inside to see what you are getting before you buy.
You will need three other small things that can be prepared at home-a paperweight, a container of water for adding to the ink, and a piece of good quality felt for an shitajiki undercloth. Normally (his cloth is in a restful colour such as green, dark blue or black and it is to be laid under the paper. The ink will often seep through the paper and as felt repels water, the ink has no chance of getting through to the table. Anything 28cm x 36cm or larger is fine.
All should be laid out in front of you (as in the example) with the work you will be copying, (he tehon, (e.g. the examples given later in the book) at your left. The ink and brush should be placed on your right. This will facilitate writing and save knocking over the indelible ink. It was easy to recognize the house of Chinese calligrapher, Chung Yu as everything from the rocks and trees in the garden to the floors and doors of his home was spattered with ink. Beware!
Things to know
before getting started
There are only two rules in calligraphy, easy to remember, but hard to carry out sometimes. Firstly the characters must be written in a certain stroke order. There are general rules on this, but like the best kept rules exceptions do exist. The stroke order has been given for the examples in the text. Secondly the characters must be written only once. That means no altering, touching up or adding to them afterwards. Unlike oil painting where mistakes may be scraped off or painted over, in calligraphy mistakes must stand as they are. This is what gives the characters “life” and movement; writing a stroke twice nijūkaki kills the feeling and burdens the character down. Occasionally the ink runs out in the middle of a character kasure. This is permissible so long as the form of the character remains discernible.
It is advisable to make lots of ink and any left over may be put, in a jam jar with the top screwed on tightly to slow evaporation. Another idea is to slip a couple of copper coins in with the mix as this will help stop the ink going off.
While making the ink study the example carefully so that you may fully understand the stroke order and what has to be done. This enables you to begin as soon as the ink is ready without interrupting the state of concentration you have built up while making your ink.
The average number of characters written on a sheet of hanshi