Calligraphy

Calligraphy is the beautiful and artistic way of writing by hand. It turns ordinary letters and characters into works of visual art, using tools like pens or brushes filled with ink. The word "calligraphy" comes from Ancient Greek, meaning "beautiful writing."

In places like East Asia and the Islamic world, calligraphy has been an important part of art for centuries. The way the words look can even reflect the meaning behind them.

Today, people in the West use calligraphy for many special purposes, such as wedding invitations, logos, and religious art. It is also used in movies, on maps, and in many other kinds of designs. Modern calligraphy can be both practical and beautiful, with artists creating everything from clear letters to more abstract, expressive shapes.

Tools

In the Western world, the main tools for calligraphy are pens and brushes. Calligraphic pens have nibs that can be flat, round, or pointed, and some styles need special pens like stub nibs. Other tools include felt-tip and ballpoint pens, though they don't create angled lines as easily.

Calligraphers also need the right ink, paper, and templates. Water-based ink works best for calligraphy. Special papers like parchment or vellum help make clean lines, and ruled paper can guide writing to keep letters straight and evenly spaced.

East Asia

Chinese calligraphy is known as shūfǎ or fǎshū ('the method or law of writing'); Japanese calligraphy is called shodō ('the way or principle of writing'); and Korean calligraphy is referred to as seoye ('the art of writing'). Calligraphy in East Asia remains an important part of traditional culture today.

In ancient China, the oldest known Chinese characters were carved on animal bones. Over time, different styles of writing developed. The traditional regular script became widely used and is still in use today. Writing Chinese characters requires special tools: ink brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. The way a calligrapher uses these tools affects the final look of the characters, creating different thicknesses and styles. Calligraphy has also influenced other art forms, such as ink painting, across East Asia.

Southeast Asia

Philippines

The Philippines has many ancient scripts called Suyat scripts. Before Spanish colonization in the 16th century, various groups used these scripts. By the end of the colonial period, only four suyat scripts remained in everyday use: Hanunó'o, Buhid, Tagbanwa script, and Palaw'an. These four were recognized by UNESCO in 1999.

Many artists have brought back old suyat scripts that disappeared after the Spanish introduced the Latin alphabet. These include the Kulitan script, Baybayin script, and others. Today, people in the Philippines also use Western and Arabic alphabets in calligraphy, but these are not considered suyat scripts.

Vietnam

Main article: Vietnamese calligraphy

Vietnamese calligraphy is known as thư pháp. It is based on old Vietnamese writing systems called Chữ Nôm and Chữ Hán, which came from Chinese influence. These traditions continue today, even though modern Vietnamese now mostly uses the Latin alphabet.

South Asia

Main article: Indian calligraphy

Indian calligraphy is mainly used to preserve important religious texts. Buddhist monks were skilled in calligraphy and helped copy sacred books. Jaina traders also made beautiful manuscripts with pictures of Jaina saints, using materials like palm leaves and birch.

In Nepal, a special script called Ranjana is often used for writing sacred Buddhist texts such as “Om mani padme hum.” This script and its variations are also used in Tibet, Bhutan, Leh, Mongolia, and parts of Japan and Korea. In India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, a style called Nastaliq was popular, especially during the time of the Mughal rulers.

Africa

Egypt

Egyptian hieroglyphs were the official writing system of Ancient Egypt. These hieroglyphs mixed together symbols that stand for whole words, syllables, and individual letters, with about 1,000 different characters in total.

Ethiopia

Ethiopian calligraphy started with the Ge'ez script, which took the place of Epigraphic South Arabian writing in the Kingdom of Aksum. This script was made for Ethiopian Semitic languages and is called Fidäl, meaning 'script' or 'alphabet'. It is used today in languages like Amharic and Tigrinya. The Ge'ez script reads from left to right and has been changed to fit other languages that are also Semitic, mainly Amharic in Ethiopia and Tigrinya in Eritrea.

Americas

Maya

The Maya people expressed their calligraphy through special symbols called Maya glyphs. Today, modern Maya calligraphy is mostly seen on seals and big stone monuments in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. While these glyphs are not often used in government offices, some places like Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo write in Maya languages using the common Latin letters instead. Some businesses and groups in southern Mexico use Maya glyphs as symbols to represent their identity.

Many old archaeological sites in Mexico, such as Chichen Itza, Labna, Uxmal, Edzna, and Calakmul, feature these glyphs carved into their buildings. Large stone monuments called stele are important sources for learning about ancient Maya writing.

Europe

Main article: Western calligraphy

Calligraphy in Europe often uses the Latin script in Western Europe and Greek, Armenian, Georgian, or Cyrillic scripts in Eastern Europe. In ancient Rome, the Latin alphabet appeared around 600 BCE and developed into various styles like Roman capitals and cursive. Monasteries helped preserve these traditions during the early Middle Ages.

In Western Christendom, churches copied important texts like the Bible, leading to beautiful styles such as uncial and half-uncial. The 7th to 9th centuries saw the creation of illuminated manuscripts like the Lindisfarne Gospels. Charlemagne helped create the Carolingian minuscule, which influenced modern type. By the 11th century, blackletter script became popular until Johannes Gutenberg used it for the first printing press in 1454. Later styles like humanist minuscule and Roundhand spread across Europe.

Islamic world

Main article: Islamic calligraphy

See also: Arabic calligraphy

Islamic calligraphy has grown together with Islam and the Arabic language. Though sometimes called "Arabic calligraphy," the term "Islamic calligraphy" is better because it includes all calligraphy made by Muslim artists from different cultures, such as Persian or Ottoman styles, from Al-Andalus in medieval Spain to China.

This type of calligraphy is often seen in beautiful designs on the walls and ceilings of mosques, in books, and on many other objects. Today, artists in the Islamic world use these old styles to make new designs, like for corporate logos. For Muslims, calligraphy is more than just writing—it is a way to show the beauty of the spiritual world. The Qur'an has been very important in shaping the Arabic language and, therefore, calligraphy.

During the Ottoman civilization, calligraphy became very important, with Istanbul displaying many examples in mosques, fountains, schools, and homes.

Samples of Islamic calligraphy include the phrase Bismillah from the 18th century and a bowl with Kufic Calligraphy from 10th-century Persia.

!Sample showing Nastaliq proportional rules (Persian and Urdu languages)

This sample shows Nastaliq rules for letter shapes and how letters fit together in Persian and Urdu languages. The Nasta'liq style is very popular in modern Persian calligraphy and is also widely used in India and Pakistan for Urdu. It has careful rules for how each letter looks and how letters are joined together in a piece of calligraphy.

Modern calligraphy

After printing became popular in the 15th century, the making of beautifully decorated books went down, but calligraphy did not disappear. By the late 19th century, calligraphy began to make a comeback thanks to artists like William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement.

Edward Johnston is known as the father of modern calligraphy. He studied old manuscripts and began teaching calligraphy in London in 1899. His work inspired many others and even helped create a new typeface still used today on the London Underground. Calligraphy continued to grow in popularity through the 20th century, influencing modern computer fonts used in programs like Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign.