Chinese characters are unique as the only ideograms in use today and the only art form with words as their artistic carriers．

Based on these attributes，it is of great significance to figure out why they have developed into an art．

In addition to the aesthetic factors mentioned above，their aesthetic features rank as the most important reason．

In The Aesthetic Features of Chinese Characters and Their Calligraphic Art and Norms ，Dong Kun summarized the aesthetic features of Chinese characters into three opposite，but unified parts，namely，concrete beauty and abstract beauty，dynamic beauty and static beauty，and beauty in form and poetry．

（1）Concrete Beauty and Abstract Beauty．

Since calligraphy，like painting，belongs to modeling arts，its beauty is concrete and lies in its image．

The creation and nature of Chinese characters make them beautiful images．Legend has it that Cang Jie created Chinese characters in ancient times，and this was recorded in Analytical Dictionary of Characters-Preface by Xu Shen in the Eastern Han Dynasty．Cang Jie，the official for Huangdi，claimed that the footprints of birds and beasts，if acknowledged and classified，could be used to identify different species．This is how he created Chinese characters．In the beginning，they were imitations of the shapes of various objects and thus were called Wen ．Later pictophonetic characters were added to increase the size，and were named Zi ，meaning the offspring．As a matter of fact，the creation of characters can never be credited to anyone in particular，but the general public．Yet it can be inferred that the creation of Chinese characters did start from the imitation of traces of birds and beasts according to their categories，which are objective．The earliest Chinese character，Wen，was defined in Analytical Dictionary of Characters as pictographic words with crossed strokes．It was also the early way of writing the character as in，meaning drawing pictures．Many of the early characters are like pictures，such as those on the pottery of Dawenkou Culture in Shandong Province，the bird-like inscription on the jade slips armorial of Liangzhu Culture in Zhejiang Province，and the armorial inscriptions on the bronze wares in the early Shang Dynasty（though some scholars believe they are not characters）．There are more pictographic characters in oraclebone inscription in the Shang Dynasty and bronze inscription in the Western Zhou Dynasty．Xu Shen's remark，“characters are all about resemblance”，recognized the resemblance between characters and objects．Basically a large number of pictophonetic characters， Zi ，was also developed from pictographs．Therefore，the traditional belief that painting and calligraphy are of a common origin has logic and reason behind it．

Evolving in writing techniques and styles，Chinese characters naturally became less pictographic．In Lu Xun's words，they are“pictographs that are not pictographic at all”．However，ancient calligraphy theorists stressed the link between the form of Chinese characters and objects in nature．Cai Yong in the Eastern Han Dynasty said，“Writing originated from the nature．”（from Nine Principles of Handwriting） and“the form of a character should resemble that of an object：squatting or walking，flying or moving，coming or going，berthing or rising，depressing or delighting；and dependent on its shapes，like insects eating tree leaves，sharp swords and dagger-axes，strong bows and arrow heads，fire and water，clouds and mist，the sun and the moon．The combination of strokes should form an image to make a character，”（from On Handwriting ）emphasizing the beautiful images of Chinese characters to display the beauty of calligraphy．

However，if calligraphy is only beautiful in its image as described above，it would not stand out as an independent art；instead，it would fall into the category of painting．Its aesthetic attributes also derive from its abstract beauty，which stem from Chinese characters．

In the first instance，its abstract beauty is chiefly reflected in the beauty of lines，which can be independent of a certain object．Strokes of early characters in oracle-bone inscriptions were vigorous and forceful and varied in shape and thickness as they were created by knives．However，many of them were not pictographic and even impossible for interpretation（for the oracle-bone inscription was already a mature writing system）．Yet we can still appreciate the abstract beauty of calligraphy from the lines．Also called strokes，these lines are the very basis of the structure of a character．Secondly，the image of Chinese characters，often not pictographic and quite abstract，together with the layout of different parts and strokes，seemingly weird for those with no contact with Chinese characters（mainly Westerners），can still arouse their aesthetic emotion．What is more，the abstract beauty of Chinese characters is demonstrated through the meaning conveyed in their structure，especially for the large number of associate compounds，which combine the structures and meanings of different parts to present a totally different new word．For example，the character休，a compound of人（people）and木（tree）means“people take a rest against the tree”；the combination of人（people）and言（words）makes a new character信（believe in people's words）and we have武（to stand firmly as to fight）if we add止（toes）to戈（an ancient Chinese weapon）．All these characters，developing from concrete concepts to abstract ones and leaving room for association and imagination，are beautiful．

（2）Dynamic Beauty and Static Beauty．

Calligraphy is the art ofboth time and space．For time，it is linear，and developing；regarding space，it is two-dimensional and static．Therefore，it embraces both dynamic beauty and static beauty，which is inseparable from its calligraphic carrier—Chinese characters．

Moving rhythms can be identified in each kind of Chinese characters，such as the curved turns in the bronze inscriptions and small seal scripts，the square turns in the clerical scripts and regular scripts，or the two types of turns mingled in the running scripts and cursive scripts．The force and rhythm of writing vary depending on whether you are at the start point of your writing，in the middle，or finishing off．For example，there are two ways to begin the first stroke of a character．One is called Lou Feng，that is，starting downwards to write a horizontal stroke，and starting to the right to write a vertical stroke；the other is referred to as Cang Feng，stressing the rule of starting left to then go right，and starting in an upward direction to go downwards．In the middle of writing，it focuses on rules to first go against the direction to start a stroke and then follow the direction to finish it，turn three times in writing a right-falling，always keep the brush point in the middle of the stroke and so on．To finish a stroke，it is important to hide the starting point and the ending traces．

Traditionally，to learn calligraphy，you have to start with the“Eight Principles ofYong”，which introduced eight types of stroke writing．A calligraphy theorist of the Southern Song Dynasty，Jiang Kui，wrote in his Con tinuation of Theories on Calligraphy ：the dot stroke，the eye of Chinese characters looking forward or backward，upward or downward，may differ from character to character in shape；the horizontal stroke and the vertical stroke，the skeleton of characters from end to end，look unyielding，upright，uniform and tidy，and lie in appropriate length and solid ending；the leftfalling stroke and the right-falling stroke，the hand and foot of characters，feature the scalability and diversity，like the fish and bird wings gracefully moving about；the raising stroke tends to express the peace in calligraphers'mind．These principles are a contributing factor in the vividness of its strokes and image．Another factor is that Chinese characters are so elastic that they are compatible with these principles．It would be impossible to expect similar rhythm and dynamics in characters only with circular lines．

Static beauty，or beauty in balance，is easy to identify．The“steady”（ Theories of Calligraphy by Wang Xizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty）and“square”（ Ouyang's Thirty-Six Methods of Character Formation by Ouyang Xun in the Tang Dynasty）structures of most Chinese characters makes it possible for them to have symmetrical balance．For instance，the vertical line in the middle of the character十，just as in中，丁and小，functions as the axis，with the left and right parts basically symmetric．Sometimes，certain strokes will be deliberately omitted and others added for such balance．Furthermore，such balance is always dynamic and involving motion．Consider the moment when the dancing suddenly comes to a halt，in that different parts of the body are not rigid in posture，but are in harmony instead．Even with the same component parts，different compounds／compound Chinese characters should vary their way of writing accordingly，for example，the same radical木is executed differently in林，竹and竝．With the exception of printed art characters，the parallel lines should actually never parallel with each other in the handwritten form，as can be observed in characters三，豆and圭．The four tiny dashes on the bottom of characters like烈，熬，照and然，no matter whether in the clerical script or the regular script，always placed at the same bottom level，vary with left-orientated and right-orientated styles to achieve a balance of differences．

As to the beauty of calligraphy from the perspective of an entire fulllength work，or the dynamic and static beauty acquired in the combination of characters，it is beyond the range of our discussion．Our focus is that the dynamic and static beauty of calligraphy cannot be isolated from the beauty of an individual character．It is also true that a dynamic dancing consists of separate static movements．

（3）Beauty in Form and Poetry．

As a modeling art，calligraphy stresses its beauty in form；yet it is different from other modeling arts，due to its uniqueness．

The shapes of Chinese characters vary at different stages：basically rectangle in the stage of oracle-bone inscriptions，bronze inscriptions and small seal scripts，mostly flat-square in the stage of the clerical scripts，and largely square in the stage of regular scripts．Since regular script has been the most popular writing style，Chinese characters are also called square characters．It is commonly known that there are three basic shapes in painting：circle，triangle and square．Among them，square is capable of more shape variations than the others．This is the reason why Chinese characters are beautiful in form．

The beautiful form of Chinese characters lies in the fact that each character has a core，a central point upon which strokes and different parts combine together systematically and in a way conforming to the“Gold Distributive Law”．Years of painstaking research carried out by Mr．Qi Gong revealed that for characters beautiful in form，the core should always sit positioned on the upper-left from the middle and the proportion of each part is in accordance with the Law ．

Ancient predecessors summarized the formation of Chinese characters in various ways．Among them is Ouyang's Thirty-Six Methods of Character Formation，written in his own name by the well-known Tang Dynasty scholar Ouyang Xun．He classified these techniques into four categories，namely“Pai Die”“Bi Jiu”“Ding Dai”（arranging the structure of the character to make the lower part support the upper part），and“Chuan Cha”（using crossed strokes to form an overall balanced structure）．The first kind refers to“the arrangement of the structure of the character and the spacing of its strokes，making them balanced，as in characters夀，藁，畵etc．”．The second means“the arrangement of the structure of the character，making strokes varied and balanced”．

In the character“Lu”，the left-slanting downward brush stroke is sharp and pointed，while the other one should be in a different style．These are the underlying methods and rules for the beauty of Chinese calligraphy．

Such beauty can be compared to that of the human body，as“any minor adjustment is absolutely unnecessary”．The self-determined form，as well as independent and inter-dependent strokes and parts，predetermine the beautiful form of calligraphy．

Excellent calligraphic work elicits appreciation of its beautiful form by encouraging people to sense its emotional appeal and understand the calligraphers'thoughts，feelings and their spiritual world．This is called the beauty in poetry．The creation and appreciation of such beauty is also inseparable from Chinese characters．

As mentioned above，Chinese characters are beautiful as their images resemble objects in nature，which can easily arouse the emotions of human beings．In Book of Songs-Xiao Ya-Cai Wei ，the song“when I went to the battlefield，I could see willows in gentle breeze”describes a vibrant spring ofjoyfulness，while“now I came back in heavy snow”depicts the image of a harsh winter with bitterness and sadness．It is how we appreciate the poetic beauty in calligraphy．

During the long history of development，Chinese characters have developed a variety of writing styles，from which different styles embody different emotional appeal．In his On the Six Writing Styles ，Zhang Huaiguan of the Tang Dynasty summarized the aesthetic features of some scripts．According to Zhang Huaiguan，the small seal script was lofty and dignified，the while Ba Fen（the clerical script）was vigorous，elegant and exquisite，the running script full of the qualities of the cursive script and the cursive script flexible and natural．This summary improved our appreciation of the poetic beauty of these scripts．

Moreover，even in the same type of script，different characters have their own independent combination of strokes and structure．Such variety also reflects the artistic beauty of calligraphy．For example，the regular script of the Tang Dynasty could be further classified into different styles：Ouyang Xun's regular script is precise，Chu Suiliang's thin and rigid，Yan Zhenqing's vigorous and forceful，and Liu Gongquan's bony and vigorous．

It should be noted that the poetic beauty of a calligraphic work manifests itself within the whole piece of work．Among the masterpieces of the running script，Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection is permeated with the fresh and clear beauty of nature，while An Obituary to My Nephew of Yan Zhenqing invites painful and depressive sorrow．Such effect cannot be achieved by a single character，and it is also true of music and poetry whose beauty cannot be expressed through an individual note or word．However，the richness of their styles and forms，after all，is where the artistic conception comes from．

In summary，the aesthetic factors of Chinese calligraphy are closely associated with the aesthetic features of Chinese characters．The former will not develop into a calligraphic art without the latter．Some people from the so-called schools of Modern Calligraphy or Avant-garde advocate an isolation of calligraphy from characters，focusing merely on lines，inky shade，etc．（some even add color to the ink）．This may be considered as art，at best，but never a calligraphic art． FbjVKDrN62eMDgTE7wpqsYCjC8dOFBjXjrXmCmZe4Ki2sRNm8aj2KmE4Oe82oltD