and move on to the right.
• When you come to the end of the stroke, repeat a similar pressure but in addition bring your fingertip back a bit on the line, then lift your finger up. (This horizontal line alone is the ideogram for the number “one.” You have already written a word!)
• The next stroke to trace begins at the top and moves to the left bottom. Give a slight pressure at the beginning and move down with a slight curvature, then gently release your finger from the paper. Your fingernail should be last to leave the paper.
• The next stroke begins near the joint of the horizontal and upright lines. Make contact with the paper with your fingernail first, then as you move your finger to right bottom, the ball of the finger should make contact with the paper and give pressure. Gradually release the pressure so that your fingernail is the last to leave the paper.
Now you have experienced the writing of the ideogram of “great.” This simple exercise shows how different the use of a brush is from a ballpoint pen or pencil. Energy is a key difference. In the instructive text here, “pressure with the fingers” is used as a convenient way to explain the process but in reality, these “pressures” should be internalized chi or ki, energy which is centered in the lower abdomen to form a unity of body and spirit. The pressure of the ball of your finger should be accompanied with your inner energy. In the yin-yang balance of energy, this energy is considered “yang.” When pressure is reduced while the finger is moving to the right in the first stroke of dai the energy becomes “yin,” but the increased ending pressure is again “yang.” We can say, with only slight exaggeration, that the energy balance among “yang-yin-yang” has been experienced in this one line. This is the uniqueness of the use of black ink with a brush.
This ideogram is dai, or “great.” Following the exercise steps in the text, trace over it with your index finger to better understand the intrinsic nature of brushwork.
The individual lines for the ideogram of dai.
Now try the exercise again, this time tracing not the character dai but its separated, individual strokes, focusing on each one. Follow the lines with your fingertips once more, this time focusing on your inner energy while your finger moves along the lines. The actual use of the brush with ink will feel different than this, of course. Nevertheless, this will help you to become aware of your inner energy.
PRACTICING WITH EI, DAI AND WA
Ei: Eternity—The Eight Strokes
There are eight basic strokes from which all of the kanji ideograms in Chinese, Korean and Japanese are formed (as written in the formal style). There is a character which includes all eight of these basic strokes, so practicing it is useful for beginners. This is the word ei which means “to prolong” and can be translated as “eternity.”
Ei: Eternity
To develop an understanding of the eight strokes, use your pointing finger as a brush to trace the strokes. Follow the directional lines shown in red on the next page. Feel the up and down pressure of movements across the paper. This should help to give you a feel for the visual effect you plan to create.
These brush strokes that are used to create all the other ideograms are also the basic strokes for creating a painting. For instance, Stroke 2 or Stroke 5 can be immediately used for a bamboo stalk, and Stroke 6 and Stroke 8 are essentially the shape of the leaves of bamboo.
When you do write this ideogram with a brush, some of the lines such as 2, 3, and 4 are actually formed as a single continuous line.
The movement of the energy and active empty space are the fundamental aspects in visual art and have been crystallized in this single ideogram. This is a clear illustration that the art of calligraphy is the foundation of the art of black ink.
Stroke 1 To create the “dot,” the brush should be placed lightly on the paper. The little pointed mark on the left indicates where the brush is lifted and moved on to the next stroke.
Stroke 2 The movement of the brush is directed to the right, as the red arrow shows. Notice, this line is very different from one created by a ball-point pen which is an even line from beginning to end! Substantial pressure should be given to the beginning and ending of the stroke. Give greater pressure down on the paper as you begin; then relax your fingers as you move right; but when reaching the end, increase pressure and give a slight bounce; then change the direction of the brush 90 degrees while the brush is still in contact with the paper for the downward movement coming next.
Stroke 3 In the process of changing the direction of the brush, notice how a bone-joint form is created. As Stroke 3 moves downward, relax your finger pressure and lift the brush up, then move down with pressure to the end of the line.
For Stroke 4, the brush is turned 45 degrees and moves to the left. It is lifted up to create the point. (Again notice the bone joint effect.) Note that Strokes 2, 3 and 4 are one continuous line.
Stroke 5 is similar to Stroke 2. At the end of the Stroke 5, turn the brush 45 degrees to the left and move down for Stroke 6.
Stroke 6 In this case, the transition between 5 and 6 is much smoother without added pressure. Compare the joint line between 2 and 3 with that between 5 and 6. This 5–6 joint will not result in a bone joint. Note that the 5–6 line does not touch the midpoint of 3 and is framed by the space of line 2–3–4. This is because 5 and 6 are thicker lines and the space is needed to create more active empty space. In the process of moving down for Stroke 6, lift the brush up slightly then down (more pressure), and finally the brush is gently lifted up. The tip is the last to leave the paper. Lift the brush, then move in a clockwise circle in the air to begin Stroke 7.
Stroke 7’s head is created with the definite “landing position” of the brush. As the brush moves down toward the left, it is lifted gently but the tip remains in contact with the paper. While the brush is in the air, your arm should be in clockwise movement and moving down for Stroke 8.
The line for Stroke 8 should begin with the tip of the brush. Gradually press down to the halfway point of the bristles, giving maximum pressure. Then gently lift the brush to create the end point.
Dai: Great or Big—Strokes for Painting
Dai is a simple ideogram containing three strokes. Let’s look at them again (see the facing page):
1. the A stroke is wide to wide;
2. the B stroke is wide to narrow; and
3. the C stroke is narrow-wide-narrow.
The strokes in this ideogram can be immediately transformed into the fundamental strokes for a bamboo painting.
Similar to the previous example of the eight-stroke ideogram ei, here the A stroke’s beginning and ending are given additional emphasis with pressure, while the center part is more relaxed: wide...to wide. If you create a series of consecutive A strokes, you will recognize a bamboo stalk in horizontal position. Draw them in an upright fashion, and you will successfully create a stalk of bamboo.
The joint lines of the bamboo stalk are exactly the same stroke—stroke A—but are much smaller. Each stroke has a definite beginning and ending with a slight curvature in the center.
Below that, notice how the same composition of lines, but much finer and smaller, creates bamboo sub-branches.
The B and C strokes can be used to paint leaves of bamboo. The B stroke, wide at the beginning, forms a leaf that is coming toward you.
Thus the ideogram dai has the required fundamental lines for painting bamboo. Look at Morning Breeze on page 130, one example of a bamboo painting.
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