Between Heaven and Earth: A History of Chinese Writing
Shi Bo has organized calligraphy expositions in Bejing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong and has taught the art of Chinese writing internationally. By approaching calligraphy as a writing system and stressing the evolution and refinement of Chinese writing, he provides structure for our understanding. He introduces and illustrates "forms of composition" categorized as "pictograms," "ideograms," "composite phonetics," "transferred," and "borrowed" characters, providing the history of these stylized ideographs. Beginning in the seventeenth century B.C.E., he traces the evolution of seven seminal Chinese writing styles, all linked to the history of China's emperors, who commissioned new styles of writing with which to record their victories. This handsome coffee-table book, which also serves as an introductory text on calligraphy with information on materials and techniques, is amply illustrated with archival and contemporary examples. Its appendixes include not only a bibliography but a chronology of Chinese history, dynasty by dynasty, making it a must-have for those interested in Chinese language and writing systems and their histories.Whitney ScottCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved