Dishu: Ground Calligraphy in China

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reproduce Mao’s poetry for example) seems to constitute the unique (wise)
choice for the street calligraphers, the only mode of expression and possible
freedom lies in formal and stylistic experiments.
In a way, then, dishu participates in the implementation of the current
official watchwords «tradition» and «harmony». But it is difficult to evaluate
the real adherence of street calligraphers to these slogans. Some are maybe
conservatives that wish to work for the celebration of classic imperial Chinese
culture in the current nationalist impulse initiated by the government. But
more probably most practitioners simply prefer to avoid any problems with
the authorities and practice their craft calmly. Dishu is to be institutionalized
with local newspapers or government newspapers in English such as the
Global Times {11} reporting dishu competitions are another expression of
this process. For example, each year in Beijing a contest with hundreds of
participants in Taoranting park celebrates the city’s best dishu calligrapher
on an official podium, a ceremony with attractive female hostesses, and a
diploma. The atmosphere is nevertheless sympathetic and the participants
are genuine and the demonstrations qualitatively interesting, the event is
sincere. But in this unquiet context, it seems that serious calligraphers are
staying far from the crowd of park competitions to pursue their own calm
interior dialogue without having to show off at an event, a situation they
may perceive as contradictory to higher calligraphic practice.
The media-related appropriation is also already active: dishu was
used for the opening of the International Horticultural Exposition in Xi’an
during the summer off 2011 (the biggest fair and international event in China
that year), a large demonstration took place near a river with many street
calligraphers coming from different parts of China {12}. Water calligraphy
on the ground was promoted as an environmentally friendly practice in
a green development propaganda genre. Dishu aesthetics are ideal for
increasing public awareness about environmental issues, with water as
an ecological icon.
The Development of Writing Tools
In the early days of dishu at the beginning of the 1990s, the writing tools
were very basic, like a piece of sponge or even a rolled towel. The first street
brushes were made out of linen or wool rags, but also from wooden palm
fibers. These kinds of tools can still be seen today, especially in Shanghai
were «archaic» street brushes made of tissues or palm fibers still seem to
be popular. The making of the street brush seems to vary from one city to
another, but on the other hand, the same industrially made street brushes
can now be found everywhere in specialized art shops in Beijing, Xi’an or
Shanghai. The most commonly used model is referred to as the «baiyun»
brush, named after Bai Yunzhu, who has practiced dishu since 1999 in the
Taoranting park in South Beijing. He reformed the existing tools and was
the first to propose a piece of foam imitating the Chinese hair brushes
and a longer metal shaft, usually a light tube. This type of brushes were
handcrafted and hundreds of thousands of copies were made by later
generations of street calligraphers. You will sometimes see the use of a
simple plastic bottle, which has the double purpose of brush and water
container, on top of which is placed a similar foam nib. This tool seems
to be more popular (because it is smaller and easier to carry) and is primarily
used in Shangai. Some calligraphers specialize in outlining letter forms,
using the plastic bottle with a tiny hole in the cap as a precise spray can,
controlling the pressure on the bottle manually in order to obtain a shaky
thin line.
These different street brushes give much the same effect as a
traditional chinese brush with hairs, the movements are the same, but
the placement of the hand and fingers differs, mainly because of the force
needed to move the brush on a rough, coarse surface which provokes