the art of study (for Malgo), a photo from Shaanxi, Central

Photographer's Note

The art of study / the study of art

Calligraphy is art, philosophy and meditation in one. In China you regularly see it practised in public, sometimes with ink, sometimes with water. Some are real artists, others mindful amateurs, but it's always a fascinating sight, especially if you know a little bit about Chinese characters.

It is impossible to say how many characters there are. A good Chinese reader will know a couple of thousand actively. I studied Chinese for a couple of years and "at my peak" I guess I must have known a couple of hundred. But when you don't regularly practice them, they slip away, so now I'm in the rather unfortunate position of recognizing plenty of characters and knowing that I once knew them.

Studying Chinese is a wonderful thing to do, because the language and culture are so intertwined. There will be plenty of surprising insights and unexpected laughs along the way. And the longer you study, the more rewarding it becomes. but keep in mind that it takes a lot of time and motivation to reach a very basic level.

---

THIS PICTURE is dedicated to Malgo, who as I've just learned, has taken up the study of Chinese. I wish her lots of good courage and heaps of fun while studying this amazing language!

My picture shows a calligraphy artist in the streets of Xi'an. Please, don't ask me what he's written.

Let admiration suffice.

jemaflor, NickVu, jhm, PaulVDV, jean113, mcmtanyel ha contrassegnato questa nota come utile

Critiques | Translate

ifege (48019) 2022-01-31 20:50

Hi Benny
A good photo of the calligrapher at work Maybe we can set Malgo the challenge of translating it some time in the future.
cheers
Ian

jemaflor (147076) 2022-01-31 23:06

Hi Benny,
Interesting the chinese calligraphy, well presented with your well framed photo, good effect the viewfrom above, perfect sharpness and contrast, tfs.

emka (158092) 2022-02-01 1:04

Hello Benny, Thank you for the dedication! Interesting view of this piece of Chinese calligraphy. It is a real art.
I have found in YT interesting lessons of hanzi - Chinese characters. I haven't realized that there are building blocks and complex ones made from them. It is such fun to recognize it. I hope that I will learn now more efficiently. But the problem is to maintain something that has been already learned. when not practised systematically, it is easily forgotten. I am fascinated not only by Chinese but also by Arabic. Last time in Egypt, I tried to practice reading the signs, but I will probably forget it again soon.

The countries names in Chinese are so strange - Beautiful country (America), Fa country France, D country Germany.

Regards from 波兰

Malgo

PaulVDV (62880) 2022-02-01 9:44

Hallo Benny,
Ik hou ook van kalligrafie. In de eerste plaats denk ik dan aan Arabisch waar ze heel wat religieuze gebouwen prachtig versierd hebben met hun teksten.
Toen ik in China was, heb ik ooit westerlingen ontmoet die Chinees gestudeerd hadden en toen ook een rondreis in het land maakten. Ik herinner me dat sommigen iedere avond tijd vrij maakten voor hun studie van de karakters. Het risico was te groot dat ze anders te veel zouden vergeten.
Vele groeten, Paul

lousat (139220) 2022-02-01 9:45

Hi Benny,happy new year for chinese people today and a great choice for the today post, dedicated to the chinese callygraphy,very impossible to understand, i like the POV from above and the usual top quality. Have a nice evening and thanks,Luciano

jhm (211736) 2022-02-01 9:52

Goedenavond Benny,

Ik heb ook nog wel wat kalligrafie gedaan niet met de borstel maar met de pen.
Eenmaal dat men oefeningen heeft gemaakt wordt het steeds leuker om te doen.
De Chinezen zijn wel meesters in dergelijke praktijken.
Foto is zeer goed genomen, scherp en duidelijk. Bedankt.

Groeten uit Oost-Vlaanderen,
John.

abmdsudi (95869) 2022-02-03 9:32

Hi Benny
This makes a very interesting photo, complete poise, the focus and oozing concentration by the artist! It's great to see such a craft still being practiced in the computer age. Artistic approach on your part too, artfully done calligraphy and lighting is perfectly judged. Excellent composition
Best regards

jean113 (27847) 2022-02-04 8:29

Hello Benny, I don't know how you achieved this downward facing point of view but it works perfectly for this particular subject.
Chinese calligraphy is so beautiful, a real work of art.
Thanks for sharing and your interesting notes.
Kind regards, Jean.

mcmtanyel (68447) 2022-02-04 20:39

Hello Benny,
Nice bird's eye view of this man performing his art. Some scripts are more friendly to calligraphy than others.
Regards,
MT