The Context of Chinese Calligraphy and Dongba-Script Calligraphy
Chen Longhai argues that Dongba pictographic script -- comparable to a "pre-oracle-bone" stage of writing -- shares deep formal and developmental kinship with Chinese oracle-bone script, illustrated through a side-by-side comparison of characters (sun, moon, star, rainbow, water, left/right, body, tooth, nose, pregnancy, vessels, washing hair, overflow). Building on this kinship, he proposes concrete paths for innovating Dongba-script calligraphy by adapting Chinese calligraphic tools (the soft brush versus Dongba's hard pens), formats (scrolls, couplets, hanging panels), and brushwork drawn from oracle-bone, bronze, and Chu-state bamboo-slip calligraphy, while cautioning that overly refined, "sophisticated" strokes would destroy the script's essential rustic, childlike charm.
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