the brush, combined with an artist’s understanding of the function and quality of line, variations can be used to create a painting.
These brush strokes are characteristic of kan-ga, Japanese paintings which were influenced by Chinese calligraphy and painting. After he returned from China, the “saint of suibokuga” Sesshu (see page 20) used these brush strokes in almost all of his paintings of trees and rocks in outline form. The Kano School, the major school appointed by the Shogunate, also used this kan-ga technique in their paintings.
Wa: Harmony—The Three Styles
We can learn another helpful introductory lesson from writing the character for “harmony,” wa, in the three different styles: kaisho (formal), gyosho (semi-formal) and sosho (informal). It is possible to write these three styles using one type of brush. However, because the styles are so different—from the rigidity of formal writing to the flowing lines of informal writing—professionals and beginners alike find it much easier to use a proper brush for each category. We will discuss brushes in greater detail in Chapter 2, but some information is important to understand now because the use of each brush is directly related to the making of variations and quality in lines.
For writing ideograms in the formal style, called kaisho, the best brush is made with coarse hair. The power required in writing formal ideograms necessitates a stronger and springier quality for the brush, which is generally made from the weasel-sable type of hair. This “springy” aspect contributes to forming the definite beginnings and endings that the formal style may require.
The semi-formal style of writing, gyosho, requires an extreme balance while moving from wide to narrow and back to a wide line again. Generally speaking, in this style one continuous motion is used to complete the ideogram; the word gyo means “motion,” in this sense “without definite stops” as each stroke continues to the next. The brush for writing in semi-formal style has whiskers of small mammals such as a weasel or rabbit in the center of the bristle to create a springy effect, with soft sheep hair on the outer edge surrounding that core.
The informal writing style is known in common Japanese terminology as sosho: the “grass style” of writing. In this most simplified style of writing, a very soft brush is customarily used and all of the lines flow together in one ideogram; moreover, each word in a sentence continuously flows on into the next one. In Western cursive writing the letters of a word are connected, but in grass writing all of the words are also connected. In the example here, wa was completed as a single unified line. To make the one continuous line with effects that are wide to narrow, wet to dry, the brush that is used must be composed solely of soft sheep hair with bristles that are longer than in most brushes.
The spirit of ink is called bokki (boku = ink ; ki = spirit, energy). Again, it is essential when working in ink to focus your energy and transfer it to the page. It is not uncommon when viewing ink works to find examples where a person may have executed his calligraphy with bokki but his signature may not show the same dynamic vibrancy because the spirit of bokki was relaxed and the concentrated power was dissipated.
If a person is exposed to masterpieces and if the mind and spirit are pure and open, a mysterious power and force can be felt. When I was young and just entering my teens, my Japanese painting mentor would take me to a museum in Kyoto to contemplate great masterpieces. These experiences faded in my memory as I grew older. But in the 1970s while I was deeply engrossed in teaching sumi-e at the University of Illinois, scientists in Japan, by using an electron microscope with a magnification of 50,000 times, discovered that in the ink of some of the sumi-e works by great masters, the carbon particles show distinct patterns depending upon the energy expended at the moment the strokes were executed. (In English, a good summary of this study is found in Zen and The Art of Calligraphy by Omori Sogen and Terayama Katsujo, translated by John Stevens [Routledge & Kegan Paul, London], 1983.)
Simply stated, if it has been painted with chi, a line created in sumi ink (which is made up of carbon particles) shows a particular alignment of electrons, compared to the alignment of electrons in lines not painted with chi. Stick ink which is ground on a grinding stone must be used for this interesting alignment of carbon particles to occur. During the process of grinding the ink stick, the friction activates the electrons. When a person loads a brush with freshly ground ink and has the proper physical and mental preparation, that energy affects the electrons in the ink. The line created in calligraphy can record the energy of the artist. This “recording” of the electrons’ alignment will last for many centuries.
Wa in kaisho style
Wa in gyosho style
Wa in sosho style
Similar to being equipped with “antennae,” some artists, Zen priests, and other people with acute sensitivity are able to sense and respond to these unseen electron alignments. A common comment used to describe this sensing of traces of energy is, “I am moved by that work.” It is only recently that this scientific information was documented. But great artists of past generations seemed to intuitively understand that this dynamic energy or force had an effect on their work. Students were taught to open up their senses and receptivity so that they could “tune in” to these great works of art when viewing them.
Today science continues to be used to better quantify and qualify the energy in other ways. A new training system was developed in Japan for younger students to help teach how to recreate the energy of chi or ki. Sensors are attached to various parts of the body to measure brain waves and the physical state of the body. By seeing the changes made visible on a monitor, a student can more immediately understand how controlled breathing and concentration used as physical preparation can bring about a meditative condition, a state of chi or ki.
A famous Zen saying states, “The way of art is the way of the Buddha.” This basically means that at birth the mind is innocent and pure but as the years go by, our minds accumulate desires and trivia of all kinds. Zen meditation purports to remove those countless interferences, bringing one back to a clean slate, so that one is ready to face the world again. In any creative act, when a person is totally focused on that process or performance with heart, mind and soul, it is similar to the Buddhist zazen process; the mind is completely cleared of extraneous thoughts. This is the wonder: that over the ages, ink particles can convey artistic impact with depth and feeling when created in such a state.
In this calligraphy by Zakyu-an Sensho, notice the nijimi effect (nijimi = ink spreads beyond the original lines) of the beginning brush “dot” in the first (top) ideogram. When arriving at the third ideogram, the brush movement is somewhat slower so that the paper will absorb the remaining ink. The brush is then reloaded with ink and writing is resumed with the fourth ideogram, “Buddha.” Note that the second and fifth ideograms are the same word and mean “way.” In the art of calligraphy when writing in semi-formal style, it is common practice to vary the visual image if the same word should appear in the same phrase. Word for word, a direct translation of this would be “Art way is Buddha’s way.”
LEARNING FROM CLASSIC MASTERPIECES
One vast change in our society since the beginning of the twenty-first century is how very tight security has become. These safeguards apply to transportation, mail of all kinds, even e-mail; and to many buildings, including museums. When you enter a museum in most countries, you will go through security and your bag will be searched, or you may even be asked to check it. But there was a time in the past when it was a common sight at museums to see art students, with a complete set of equipment such as oil paints, setting up an easel in front of a well-known