Calligraphy is an art of writing scripts , referring particularly to writing Chinese scripts with a writing brush . The Chinese calligraphy is a special art taking shape in a long course of practice and development of the Chinese scripts , It has both a practical value and an aesthetic value , and is and excellent traditional art .
The writing brush is the principal instrument for Chinese calligraphy . It was originated early in the primitive community . It has been discovered that various thin and thick , smooth and pretty lines were written with elastic brushes on pottery in the primitive Chinese society . Gradually writing scripts with a brush has developed into an art. This art involves mainly the technique of writing , the vigor of writing , the momentum of writing and the mood of writing . The technique of writing includes the writing of the starting stroke , closing stroke , curved stroke , straight stroke , mid-tip stroke , lateral tip stroke , apparent tip stroke , hidden tip stroke and the raising and pressing , turning and bending of the brush , etc ., The vigor of writing means the vigor of the strokes , robust or gentle .
A stroke shows a certain inner vigor . The momentum of writing means the tendency of the strokes . Strokes may not be continuous , but their tendencies are continuous . Dots and strokes can be written in different forms , but their tendencies are unified . The mood of writing means mood of the spirits and sentiments of the writer disclosed in the written scripts. In calligraphy, structure of the script involves the suitable, artistic arrangement of the strokes based on the form, and the writer’s aesthetic interest. The principles of the artistic arrangement are : dense and sparse , void and full , slant and forthright , concentrated and scattered , 
proportional , harmonious , coordinated , etc ., These principles and the skills of the writer contributed to the beauty of the scripts to be appreciated by viewers .
Chinese calligraphy stresses the overall layout among words and lines. Beside the dense and sparse, proportional arrangement of the strokes of the words, a piece of calligraphy must have an overall harmoniousness that is not lack of changes. Especially the calligraphy of the cursive script and the running script often increases the interconnection between the words and the continuity of the momentum in order to achieve music like rhythm. Beside the brush , ink and paper are also instruments of calligraphy . Together they produce varied effects. Calligraphists often pay much attentions to the methods for the use of ink , which include the use of thick ink , light ink , dry ink , missing ink , wet ink , withered ink , swelling ink , etc .,
