Art's Secret Stories

“[…] I have seen the wonder of a drop of dew glistening from a dangling needle. A shower of rock hailing down in a raging thunder, a flock of geese gliding [in the sky]. Frantic beasts stampeding in terror, a phoenix dancing, a startled snake slithering away in fright… Some brushstrokes are as ominous as gathering clouds, others light as a cicada’s wing. When the brush moves forward, a spring bubbles forth; when it stops, the mountains are in repose Its delicate trace is like a new moon rising in the horizon; its bright residue, like a galaxy of stars across the sky. And though varied as nature itself and seemingly beyond the powers of man, when the hand is moved by the heart’s desire, ingenuity and artistry are united […]”.

The Manual on Calligraphy by Sun Kuo-t’ing (648-703)

Text & Image Source: The Embodied Image – Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliot Collection, Robert E. Harrist, Jr. , Wen C. Fong, The Art Museum, Princeton University

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