THERE is an old Chinese saying: "The way Chinese characters are written is a portrait of the person who writes them."

In other words, the art of calligraphy (shu fa) is more than communication, it's a window into character. Calligraphy with an ink brush and rice paper requires skill, great patience, discipline and diligence, long practice and a feel for the inner meaning of characters.

Practicing calligraphy was virtually a spiritual pursuit of ancient scholars, as well as a pleasure.

Most people learned calligraphy with ink brush in school; but as adults, few pursue it - calligraphy is so painstaking. Now Shanghai public primary schools provide weekly writing courses for pupils, and many parents send their children to calligraphy classes for enrichment that looks good on their school and university applications.

But as some people get older, they come to appreciate calligraphy as art. Some turn to it as a hobby, something that can provide tranquil time. Some collect it. Some use it show off, since it's a traditional sign of a cultivated mind.

"When I was young, I was mad about Western artists such as Picasso and Monet. Chinese calligraphy to me seemed rustic and outdated. It was so pale when compared with the brilliant and dazzling colors on a canvas," says Zhang Lixing, a Shanghai journalist in his 50s.

But he recently bought a big house and needed art for decoration. He tried various oil paintings, watercolors and prints but none seemed right. "Almost by chance I hung a scroll of calligraphy on the wall. That was it. I can't find the right word to describe it, but it just feels comfortable," Zhang says.

Unlike Zhang who has just started to appreciate calligraphy, others have already picked up their brushes to practice.

Zhang Qing, one of the most famous curators in China, says he practices calligraphy every day for one hour after lunch. "This is real relaxation for me, leaving behind the outside hustle and bustle. It is like self-cultivation. Now I believe I know the secret of the longevity of many Chinese calligraphers."

Likewise, Jimmy Zhang, general manager of a small firm in Shanghai, is fascinated by calligraphy and has picked up his brush.

"I copied some ancient calligraphy masterpieces and felt that I was totally drawn in by the hand movement along with these curves," Zhang says. "Calligraphy is a mental exercise that coordinates the mind and body. It is a most relaxing, yet highly disciplined exercise for physical and spiritual well-being."

Four arts

Calligraphy is one of the four basic arts of the Chinese literati and of cultivated gentlemen, together with the guqin (a six-stringed plucked instrument), the board game go (sometimes called Chinese chess) and ink-wash painting.

Calligraphy (shu) and painting (hua) are China's two leading art forms, and it was calligraphy that inspired painting. The development of calligraphy also traces the country's cultural development.

"It's a strange but common phenomenon that many Chinese, especially intellectuals, are lacking traditional Chinese art and culture education these days," says Feng Yalan, a psychological consultant in Shanghai. "When they were young, they wanted a colorful material life. But when they are over 40 or 50, they have accumulated enough material wealth and suddenly realize that material things cannot guarantee them a harmonious and happy life. What they need is a spiritual dimension to their inner lives."

For some, practicing calligraphy helps provide this dimension. All that's needed is an ink-stone, paint brushes, rice paper and a book of ancient masterpieces to copy.

"I am fully occupied in my daily work," Zhang, the general manager says. "I don't have time to learn something new. Unlike other hobbies, calligraphy gives me a purely world of my own."

A sense of tranquility, connection and self-cultivation, as well as convenience, are among the reasons professionals, scholars and even officials take cup calligraphy. It has been a tradition for important officials to leave their calligraphy on monuments or scrolls at scenic spots, universities and other places they visit.

"Don't you think this is the best way to appear to the public to be a lover of culture?" asks Wu Jun, an employee of an auction house. "Frankly, calligraphy is considered as a shortcut to prove one's taste in culture and art, because who can't write calligraphy, plus there are many styles."

"But never mistaken a calligraphy lover with a calligrapher," says Zhang Sen, a top calligrapher and adviser at the Shanghai Calligraphers' Association. "I have met many calligraphy lovers who believe themselves to be calligraphers, but that's a big joke. Looking back over history, there were quite a few calligraphy masters, but a master might appear only every several hundred years."

"It is an emotionally balanced art that can only be sensed, rather than explained in words," says Ding Shenyang, vice president at Shanghai Calligraphers' Association.

For example, the structure in calligraphy is an important element, involving the suitable and artistic arrangement of the strokes based on the basic form and the writer's aesthetic sense.

Great calligraphers are said to have profound knowledge absorbed from previous masters as well as a personal brush style.

Zhang, the hobbyist, observes that calligraphers today are less accomplished than they ancestors.

"Just imagine, ancient calligraphers wrote without the disturbance from the outside world, they were more in touch with nature and their inner selves," Zhang says.

How to judge

Zhang says he has been asked a thousand times by friends and government officials how to appreciate calligraphy or what is the standard to judge a piece of calligraphy.

"My answer is that there is no fixed rule for calligraphy. It's better to read and practice ancient masterpieces more. The more you engage yourself in it, the more you will know the essence of calligraphy."

He urges people not to write too many characters in a day "because if you are going in the wrong direction, this will drive you further away from the right track," he says. "It's like overloading your brain with too many occasions."

Zhang also advise beginners to begin with kai shu or regular script, which is most common in modern writings and publications, instead of cao shu or cursive script that features connected strokes.

"Don't think of yourself as a calligrapher, since even the ancient Chinese calligraphers believed that they were merely playing with the brush," Zhang says. "Calligraphy expresses the abstract beauty of lines and rhythms, reflecting a person's emotions, moral integrity, character, level of education and intellectual taste."