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Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

Inspired by one of Chinese poet Han Shan’s Cold Mountain poems, we brushed the characters for autumn moon – shūgetsu 秋月, at our online Shodo group Zen Brush. Some of us were lucky to catch a glimpse of the waxing crescent moon in the early evening above the horizon glowing yellow or orange ? before quickly sinking into a blanket of clouds!

Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

First Blair talked about the two kanji characters and their background and styles, fascinating to see how the shape of the pictogram for moon 月 had changed over thousands of years, and within the older kanji for autumn 秋 the fire and light of the sun on the grain as well as the insect too in some versions.

Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 
Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

After some demos we worked on each kanji in the more boxy kaisho style and then the fluid curvy sōsho ‘grass’ style which simplifies and connects many of the strokes. The style that Blair demonstrated of the sōsho is based upon the master Chiei from the 7th Century Sui dynasty. His work is often copied by Japanese calligraphers.

Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

It was delightful connecting deeply with this thought provoking short zen poem by Han Shan, looking at calligraphy inpired by it, and then writing part of it in shodo ourselves.

Shodo of the autumn moon shining in the blue pool.. 

Please see some examples by participants in these photos.

Joan
Shugetsu

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