Calligraphy 书法

This semester I enrolled in a Chinese Calligraphy class (书法).  I love it!  The teacher is great and for most of the period he plays ancient Chinese music while we paint basic strokes.  It is really quite relaxing.  Right now we have only practiced the basic horizontal and vertical strokes and it is more difficult than it looks.  It is truly an art.

Similar to my Tai Chi class last spring, taking this elective has given me the chance to make friends from many different countries including Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Russia, and England. And while we do not often speak each other's native tongue, we can easily converse using Chinese.

Stacks of practice paper

 Our teacher also shares interesting stories from Chinese history based on ancient art.  Yesterday he showed us this painting (which I later found on Google images).  This is Wang Zhaojun, one of China's historical beauties.  I want to share her story based on what I gathered from my teacher.  She was the wife of a Chinese emperor, but one of many wives.  The emperor had so many wives that he rarely saw each one.  So that he could better choose who to sleep with at night, he had an artist paint each of his wives.  Many of the wives gave the painter a bribe to make them look more beautiful.  Wang Zhaojun did not pay a bribe so the painter portrayed her as particularly ugly.  At this time in history, China was at war with Mongolia.  The Mongolian emperor agreed to peace if he was given a Chinese bride.  The Chinese emperor agreed, but to further insult Mongolia he wanted to choose the ugliest woman possible.  He chose Wang Zhaojun.

When Wang Zhaojun was offered to Mongolia, it was the Chinese emperor's first time to set eyes on her.  He was amazed by her beauty and wanted to take back the offer, but Wang Zhaojun was an upright woman and agreed to go.  The Mongolian emperor was so pleased by the exchange that China and Mongolia experienced many years of peace.  For Wikipedia's take on the story, click here.