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Calligraphy of Kōmyō 光明 radiant light

At the October Zen Brush Shodō calligraphy we worked on the illuminating kanji characters of the word Kōmyō 光明 – meaning luminous light, or spiritual brightness. It is a fluid word to write, with two light filled pictograms – first of a person holding up a flame, and second of the moon and sun together.

Calligraphy of Kōmyō 光明 radiant light

We brushed them together in two styles (kaisho, sōsho), and looked at the shell and bone imagery. It was enjoyable to spend extra time on the sōsho cursive style and dry brush, looking at a couple of very different sōsho example calligraphers from China and Japan.

Calligraphy of Kōmyō 光明 radiant light

A spacious haiku poem by Issa for the season 🍂

Late September is
wearing a sky-coloured
lined kimono   

Kobayashi Issa (Translation Zoria P.K.)

Many thanks to the participants who joined us, and to those who shared images of their calligraphy.

Mark