For well over a century Western art has been influenced by the ancient Chinese art of calligraphy. This week, Year 9 Mandarin learners have been dipping their pens into this skill with amazing results. Pupils have practiced calligraphy with chosen poems written by Li Qingzhao (1084 – ca. 1155), one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. Pupils were engaged, competent and successful with this task.

Although this is many of the pupils’ first contact with Chinese calligraphy, they have quickly made an introduction to extremely advanced skills. This includes how to hold the brush correctly, applying their brush movement using the correct amount of ink and to beginning to express links between harmony of motion, semantic content and ‘artistic’ expression. When rendering strokes with one’s brush, one will experience the basic movements of Tai Chi and the delicate balance of Yin and Yang.