East Asian Calligraphy

Catalog description

Originating over 2000 years ago, Calligraphy is one of the most essential art mediums in East Asia history (China, Japan, Korea), a supreme visual art form more valued than painting and sculpture, and a means of self-expression and cultivation. Calligraphy cultivates patience and diligence, conveys social beliefs and philosophy, nurtures concepts of aesthetics, and offers a path to a righteous heart. Through lectures, readings and writings, discussions and presentations, and hands-on experiences, this course provides an interdisciplinary study of East Asian calligraphy in its artistic, cultural, and historical contexts. It introduces students to the immediate aspects of calligraphy as a traditional art form. Then, it reaches beyond the classically defined discipline to examine the aesthetic values, intellectual metaphors, and moral criteria that East Asian calligraphy embodies.