Dongba Pictographic Calligraphy and Seals: The Dimension of Aesthetics and Artistic Self-Consciousness
Chen Longhai examines Dongba pictographic script (1,340-2,120 characters, per Fang Guoyu's and Li Lin-ts'an's respective dictionaries) as a basis for calligraphy and seal art. He surveys Dongba religion's pantheon and cosmology (the celestial, earthly, and underworld realms; the human-Shu sibling myth; ghosts and demons) to argue for the script's poetic, sacred quality, then analyzes its "primitive beauty" and "Eastern beauty" (animism, and an agrarian-rooted, intuitive mode of thought). The bulk of the paper proposes concrete strategies for artistic innovation in Dongba calligraphy and seal-carving -- adapting brush technique, tools, stroke order (left-to-right versus the Chinese right-to-left), format (scrolls, couplets), and seal composition -- while preserving the script's distinctive rustic, childlike character, illustrated with Dongba couplets and seal examples.
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