The Beauty of Chinese Characters

The Beauty of Chinese Characters - Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition

“The Beauty of Chinese Characters” Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition was held in Sydney on July 3, 2012 as part of Australia’s “Year of Chinese Culture”, providing Australians with the valuable opportunity to better understand Chinese calligraphy while promoting authentic cultural exchange between China and Australia.

“Byobu“ featured at this year’s Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition as a new and exciting way to communicate the origins and evolution of Chinese calligraphy through text and images, including explanations of the civilizations and historical context behind Chinese calligraphy alongside character patterns and their literal meaning. The exhibition also featured more recent calligraphic works that were created by sixty contemporary Chinese calligraphers, including antithetical couplets, central scrolls, circular fans, horizontal scrolls, seal carvings, lettering in the form of regular script, running hand, grass writing, clerical script, seal script and doufang (sheets about one foot square with inscriptions that are adhered to the walls).

Works featured in this exhibition mainly consisted of ancient poetic prose and essays that showed the rich undertones of China’s long-standing culture. Some of the pieces even spoke to our universal longing for world peace and the importance of maintaining a harmonious relationship between humankind and nature.

“Chinese calligraphy” and “Chinese seal carving” were officially classified as important parts of China’s intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in September 2009. Chinese calligraphy is a unique form of art that developed from the Chinese character writing process over the course of thousands of years. A calligraphy brush, ink and paper are all essential tools for any piece of Chinese calligraphy. Calligraphy isn’t just used as a means for communicating information, it also fulfills the essential role of reflecting specific philosophies and the core values that inform Chinese culture as well as giving expression to the essence of our human spirit, dignity, emotion, and uniquely human characteristics. Calligraphy is even widely recognised as a representative symbol of traditional Chinese culture and heritage throughout the world.