Learn Calligraphy & Brush Painting

This is a good brush for writing Kai, Xing, or Grass scripts.

Learn how to say and write Happy Thanksgiving in Chinese.

See it and Hear it.

This is a good book for the beginning Chinese calligraphy learner and anyone who wants to know the history and basic principles of the art. It explains “the four treasures” — the brush, ink, paper, and the ink stone — and shows how to choose the right ones. It has beautiful calligraphy writing, superior to what is found in many other books on the same subject.

The book contains many easy-to-follow projects. The book does not explain this, but on page 107 it presents the “mounting” project. The two characters shown make the name Tai Shan, also known as Mount Tai, a famous mountain in Shandong Province. Interestingly enough, Tai Shan is also the name for the National Zoo’s baby panda. If you are in the mood, you can copy the characters and present the copy to your father-in-law to show your respect. After all, Tai Shan is also one way to address one’s wife’s father.

I did find a small mistake in the book. On page 123 the last character in the last line should be Gan with the first tone, meaning dry or dried, instead of Gan with the fourth tone, meaning the trunk of a tree.

Overall a very good and eye-pleasing book. Highly recommended.