{"id":28114,"date":"2017-01-05T07:38:58","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T18:38:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nzcfs.adminmouse.co.nz\/?p=28114"},"modified":"2017-01-13T18:49:58","modified_gmt":"2017-01-13T05:49:58","slug":"chinese-street-writing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nzchinasociety.org.nz\/chinese-street-writing\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese street writing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chinese
Several calligraphers practising the same characters \u201c\u901a tong\u201dand \u201c\u8fd0 yun\u201d. Note the remains of previous writings. Temple of Heaven Park, Beijing<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I must tell you something about a phenomenon that speaks \u2018words\u2019 about the Chinese love of their written word and the desire to meet like-minded people.<\/p>\n

One sees mainly women dancing in the parks and streets of many of the major Chinese cities (and for all I know, smaller towns as well). \u00a0But what of the men, particularly the older ones?<\/p>\n

Well, they \u2018write\u2019 on pavements and park squares \u2013 not with ink or paint but with water! \u00a0Of course, perhaps sadly, their beautiful calligraphy is ephemeral as the water evaporates\u2026.<\/p>\n

But even so, they often write poems or well-known expressions – illustrated below, with each expression\u00a0framed in a fan-shaped border.<\/p>\n

Usually each writer is surrounded by a number of spectators, many of whom discuss, perhaps the finer points of the calligraphy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Chinese
Closeup of Chinese ‘street’ calligraphy [dishu]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The equipment for this writing is usually a large brush with the water delivered by a tube from a bottle reservoir. I say \u2018usually\u2019 advisedly as I did observe in Kaili, Guanxi province, one writer using a \u2018normal\u2019 writing brush [m\u00e1ob\u01d0<\/em>\u6bdb\u7b14] .<\/p>\n

Apparently, this pastime started in the 1990s, and is known as\u00a0d\u00ecsh\u016b\u00a0<\/em>[\u5730\u4e66 – ground writing].<\/p>\n

One sees most styles of calligraphy: the most common is regular, or standard, script ( \u6977\u4e66 K\u01ceish\u016b<\/em>),<\/a> then occasionally the more flowing running script (\u884c\u4e66 X\u00edngsh\u016b<\/em>)<\/a> or grass script (\u8349\u4e66 C\u01ceosh\u016b<\/em>). And I have even seen one case of seal script (\u7bc6\u66f8\u00a0zhu\u00e0nsh\u016b)<\/a>. \u00a0The images below showing these styles were all taken of writing on a pavement (or sidewalk) in Kaili<\/a>, Guizhou province.<\/p>\n