Delight in One Thousand Characters: The Classic Manual of East Asian Calligraphy

“To all calligraphers of any culture, this book offers the rare opportunity to experience the relation between visual and verbal in Chinese calligraphy. It is an invitation to enter into the depth of an art of gesture, mark-making, and present moment—an art of space and time.”

“What a rare treasure to have such literary and artistic mastery combined across centuries and placed in one’s hands. Delight in One Thousand Characters is a beautiful, honest book.”

“Written in the sixth century by Zhou Xingsi, the Thousand Character Essay (which is indeed exactly one thousand characters long) is both a shorthand compendium of ancient Chinese thought and the source for the standard handbook for writing Chinese characters. Kazuaki Tanahashi’s careful translation of this text (in collaboration with Susan O’Leary) and his presentation of the classic sixth-century calligraphing of it by monk Zhiyong springs from his own lifelong practice of the art of the brush. For many decades he’s produced stunning works of calligraphic art and offered workshops around the world, becoming in the process the leading exponent in the West of what might be called the philosophy of the brush. This volume reproduces the only extant complete copy of Zhiyong’s brushwork, with details about forms and pronunciation in several languages. I am amazed by this book and will use it from now on as my source for writing and appreciating characters, China’s great and enduring gift to the human family.”

“Shambhala has made a magnificent choice in bringing this text to mainstream focus, and hopefully it will be appreciated on its own terms, as a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.”