Experiencing writing at our recent Chinese calligraphy workshop

A summer workshop led by Roland Buckingham Hsiao presented Chinese calligraphy as embodied research: learning by doing rather than only reading. The session combined a historical overview - highlighting the Lanting Xu preface and how copies famously preserve original mistakes - with hands-on practice that foregrounded posture, breath, and material control. Practical experiments extended beyond brushwork to other writing materials, recalling previous clay sessions where unexpected technical details (such as wedge direction and clay wetness) reshaped understanding of how marks form. Participants used facsimiles to copy characters, discussed definitions of calligraphy (aesthetics, performance, implements, affect), and reflected on stroke order and the directional logic of characters.

Substantive techniques and outcomes emerged from starting with Seal Script to train steady line weight and geometric composition before attempting Cursive Script’s flourishes. Instruction emphasized a free brush hold with elbow off the table, rotating the brush to start and “tuck” stroke ends, and attending to controlled separations that clerical script combines with expressive strokes. An experimental strand applied Chinese calligraphy tools to the Lisu syllabary (invented by Ngua-ze-bo in the 1920s), exploring how calligraphic traditions might be developed for minority scripts. The session proved both pedagogically revealing and quietly restorative, praised for clear, attentive teaching and focused collaborative atmosphere.