Traces of the Brush: The Art of Japanese Calligraphy

Calligraphy is an art defined by movement and rhythm, which also contains the language of Japanese literature and philosophy, explain the authors of this lavishly illustrated volume.""It is a script brought to perfection, a visual art resonating with words,"" they write. Accompanied by full-color details from scrolls of poetry, clerical wooden booklets and screen paintings, this elegant book details the history of this ancient art form. Japanese calligraphy grew out of Chinese ideograms, which, along with Buddhism, arrived in Japan by way of Korea in the sixth century and were adapted to the Japanese language. By the ninth century, the ideograms, which are graphic symbols that only refer to meaning, gave rise to a Japanese phonetic script called Kana. From the first Chinese pictograms incised on tortoise shells to the current day incorporation of foreign words, the authors painstakingly examine calligraphy's styles, artists and tools in this visually stunning history.