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THE FOUR ARTS OF THE CHINESE SCHOLAR
THE FOUR ARTS OF THE CHINESE SCHOLAR, otherwise known as siyi, is a term used to describe four main requirements of the Chinese scholar gentleman. They are qin (guqin), qi (the game of go), shu (calligraphy) and hua (painting).Qn refers to the musical instrument of the literati, the guqn. Although it exclusively meant this instrument in ancient times, it has now come to mean all musical instruments, but essentially it refers to guqn only considering the context. The guqn is a seven-stringed zither that owes its invention to the Chinese society of some 3,000 years ago. During the reign of the imperial China, a scholar was expected to play the guqin.
Q refers to a board game, which is now called WiQ, literally meaning "surrounding game". Current definitions of q cover a wide range of board games, and, given that in Classical Chinese q could also refer to other games, some argue that the q in the four arts could refer to xiangqi which is, however, a much less popular game.
Shu refers to Chinese calligraphy, and art of nearly unequaled beauty and an infamous requirement of finesse. Calligraphy dates precisely to the beginning of history, since history was in fact not history until there was the chinese script to write it with. Chinese calligraphy is an expression of one's poet nature, as well as a test of ones dexterity in the hand, wrist and fingers. Chinese calligraphy has evolved for thousands of years, and its state of flux stopped only when Chinese characters were unified across the empire. Chinese calligraphy differs from western calligraphic script in the sense that it was done with a brush instead of metal implements or quill. Calligraphy was the art in which a scholar could compose his thoughts to be immortalized. It was the scholar's means of creating expressive poetry and sharing his or her own learnedness.
Hu refers to Chinese painting. Brush painting is the final of the arts that a scholar is expected to learn, and is unarguably the greatest measure of individual creativity. Through painting a chinese noble would demonstrate his mastery over the art of line. Often times Chinese paintings would be done on a sheet of plain white rice-paper or silk using nothing but black ink and a single brush. These paintings were made to demonstrate the power of a single line, and in them was reflected a skill that valued intentional and calculated strokes over instinctual erratic creation. In a Chinese painting was reflected the artist's ability to evaluate his own imagination and record it clearly and concisely. Chinese painting can be traced back even farther than calligraphy. Some examples date back to the decorative paintings that were emblazoned on neolithic pottery. To add tonal quality to paintings the artists would often paint portions of the subject then wash the cloth before continuing. This made for beautiful landscapes and depictions of ritual.Painting was the art by which a scholar could separate him of herself from the others and take a name.
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