China the Beautiful

[wavedancing]

Dear all,

I have a suggestion for this discussion board. When somebody put up a calligraphy work, others can write appreciations or critiques to the calligraphy. You don't have to be perfectly right. Tell us you like it and why or you don't like it and the reason. It will be not surprising that somebody like a calligraphy while somebody else hate it. That is perfectly fine. If we look back to the history, there're some people don't like Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy, some people don't like Wang Xizhi's also.

By keeping discussing, we will learn and the board will attract more people. It will become an asset on the internet later.
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Lixin

[chinapage]

Dear Lixin:

It has always been the policy and practice every since this website started nearly 10 years ago to encourage lively and open discussions. We strive for scholarship and for frank and differenes in opinions.

You should not be overly sensitive when others raise questions or differ from your postings.


It has been my observation that in the end we all learn from these lively discussions.

Ming

[sllee]

Critique of calligraphy is like critique of cuisines. It is quite subjective sometimes why certain calligraphists are liked and others are not liked by certain readers. We don't need to compare Beijing duck and Gangdong roast duck, or wunton and jiaozi. They have different flavor. We can tell some dishes are too salty or too sour even if the chef is a great one. Different calligraphists at different times have quite different styles. Even the same piece may vary in quality from word to word. Appreciation of the entire piece should supercede individual words. That is one reason why I suggested to another friend of this forum that splitting up Lantingxu into individual words is not a good idea.

That also relates to writing calligraphy. When some words look great in the entire piece, they may not look alright when separated. And certainly it would not be appropriate to write a single caoshu word which in the master piece is linked to the next word. The end stroke is fine if it has something to link to. If not, it leaves an unfinished feeling.
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SL Lee
http://www.asiawind.com