Calligraphy is the art of writing by hand with a brush or a pen. It is a form of writing with a long history that is still widely used today in various forms. Although one can continue to cut and separate, these are the major forms of calligraphy around the world.
- Chinese Calligraphy: Chinese calligraphy is one of the oldest forms of calligraphy and is characterized by its use of brushstrokes. It is most commonly used in China and other countries that use Chinese characters as their written language. Chinese calligraphy is used in various forms of art such as painting, sculpture, and seal carving, and in writing traditional Chinese texts, inscriptions, and labels.
- Japanese Calligraphy: Japanese calligraphy, also known as shodo, is like Chinese calligraphy in that it uses long brushstrokes. It is used mainly in Japan and other countries that use Japanese characters as their written language. Japanese calligraphy is often employed for use for meditation, and not just writing texts, inscriptions, and labels and in various forms of art such as painting and sculpture.
- Arabic Calligraphy: Arabic calligraphy is characterized by its use of flowing and ornate script. It is commonly used in the Arab world. Arabic calligraphy is used for writing texts such as beautiful copies of the Quran and other historic documents.
- Korean Calligraphy: Korean calligraphy, also known as Hanja, is characterized by its use of brushstrokes. Interest in Korean calligraphy, and all Korean things has been stimulated in the west by popular boy bands like BTS. Hanja is the older text while Hanjul is newer. Hanjul characters are used phonetically rather than pictorially, which makes learning to read and write Korean easier than other eastern languages.
- Western Calligraphy: Western calligraphy is characterized by the use of various scripts such as Roman, Gothic, and Uncial. While many western calligraphers will often learn the other styles of calligraphy, the reverse is less likely. Western Calligraphy is used both to create beautiful documents, but also as an elaborate and ornate writing on things like wedding invitations, birthdays, celebrations, and graduations.
Of course, there can be wide variation within each of the major forms and even some crossover when one form of calligraphy gets jealous of another. More specifically when a calligrapher sees the potential artistry in a word, a form, or a stroke of the pen.