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1981
Volume 11, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2051-7041
  • E-ISSN: 2051-705X

Abstract

This article examines the popular practice of water calligraphy () across Changsha, Guiyang and Chongqing to demonstrate its aesthetic potential. Specifically, it suggests that can be interpreted as a new expression of calligraphy and an exemplary case of living aesthetics. To demonstrate this, this article discusses the author’s on-site observations and conversations with water calligraphers alongside the longstanding aesthetic principles of traditional calligraphy and the experimental works by Wang Dongling (b. 1945) and Song Dong (b. 1966). Moreover, by adopting a socio-geographical and historical lens, it views water calligraphy as a living, familiar and slow practice against China’s spectacular and fast urban rhythms. Overall, this article demonstrates that water calligraphy can contribute to the discourse of living aesthetics by favouring sensual encounters within the familiar, collective and slow-paced everyday. Last, this article can contribute to shaping a new aesthetic paradigm that favours the in a non-western context.

Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Leverhulme Trust Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship (Award ECF-2022-476)
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2024-06-27
2026-04-19

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/content/journals/10.1386/jcca_00094_1
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Water calligraphy: A living aesthetics in China’s south-western cities
Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 11, 51 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1386/jcca_00094_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jcca_00094_1
/content/journals/10.1386/jcca_00094_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): Changsha; Chongqing; dishu; everyday aesthetics; Guiyang; twenty-first-century China; urban space; visual arts

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