Calligraphy_101

The 5 main scripts for Chinese calligraphy are:

About calligraphy:

Northern Wei script
Opening characters of the Orchid Pavilion Preface
The most famous piece of Chinese calligraphy is the Orchid Pavilion Preface.  This is poems written by Wang Xizhi at  a drinking party at the Orchid Pavilion in 353.  Those present composed poems, and asked Wang to write  an introduction (translation).  There are now several copies and rubbings of this xing shu work, but the original has disappeared.  It is still referred to, copied and studied.

Famous calligraphers:

Some videos:

“How-to” videos – note that there are some videos out there that do not show correct brush hold or method.

NüshuScript.jpg

One unusual script is Nüshu: