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Japanese calligraphy is deeply influenced by China, and can even be said to be a major branch of Chinese calligraphy. Before the 20th century, Japanese calligraphers were proud of learning the brushwork of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties. Whether it was the famous "Three Brushes and Three Traces" or Ono Takenori and Kanmei Kaiya, we can all feel "familiar" from their works.

Qi Gong once wrote a poem to praise these masters: "Xi Xian was profound and pure, Xu Su was wild, and their legacy spread to Japan. Not only did they cherish the ancient ink of Sanhua, but Ono and Fujiwara were also good at it." However, as Japan "left Asia and entered Europe", it accepted the influence of Western art. Their "calligraphy" also underwent earth-shaking changes.

Western "avant-garde" art began to infiltrate "calligraphy", and painting, installation art, and performance art were incorporated into the creation of calligraphers. The characters that used to be moderate and peaceful became profound, gradually separated from the masses, and became "heavenly books" that no one could understand.

Japan's "avant-garde calligraphy" has influenced many famous Chinese calligraphers, such as Zeng Xiang, Shao Yan, Wang Dongling, Qi Gong, Cui Hanbai, etc. The contemporary Japanese calligraphers that are relatively familiar to everyone include Inoue Yuichi and Yasukawa. There is a Japanese calligrapher who once shocked the world with two words. European and American critics say that he perfectly combines calligraphy and painting, and Chinese calligraphers also say that he has profound skills. This person is Teshima Ukyo.

Teshima Ukyo, born in 1901, is a famous Japanese painter and calligrapher, and a representative of the "few-word school" of calligraphy. He learned calligraphy since childhood and was deeply influenced by Wang Xizhi, Yan Zhenqing, Xu Wei, Wang Duo and others. When he was young, he followed Kawatani Shotei and Hidaya Itenrai to learn calligraphy, and his ideas were also deeply influenced by them.

He is no longer satisfied with the traditional brushwork of Chinese and Japanese masters, but instead applies the common techniques of Western abstract art such as pointillism and splashing to calligraphy. Teshima believes that the role of calligraphy is to express emotions. The more words there are and the easier they are to distinguish, the less room for the audience's imagination. With just a few words or even a few random strokes as a guide, it is not up to the audience to understand what they can understand.

Therefore, he began to choose only one or two Chinese characters or very few Chinese characters for his creations, retaining the traditional brushwork and ink method, focusing on cursive script, creating the beauty of the shape, color and imagery of the characters. In 1957, he took his two-character cursive work "Collapse" to participate in the Pinarayi Art Exhibition in Sao Paulo, Brazil, which caused a sensation around the world.

According to him, the brushwork of this work was based on Wang Xizhi, combined with the meaning of the word "collapse", and absorbing the transcendental mentality of ancient Zen monks when writing, he finally completed this work. A few years later, he exhibited another work "Holding the Cow", which still caused a sensation. The art circles in China, Japan, Europe and the United States all praised him and believed that his works have both traditional and avant-garde meanings.

However, many netizens do not think so. They directly asked, "Is this a painting or calligraphy?" "Isn't this just a ghost painting?"

What do you think of Teshima Ukei’s calligraphy? Feel free to leave a message in the comment section!