What are the characters in this calligraphy?

[anonymoose]

Could someone please type out the characters used in this calligraphy, as I can't recognise any of them.

This work is by Hong Kong calligrapher Yip Man-Yam, and is apparently of a poem which describes water boiling: "Small bubbles like crab eyes are followed by larger bubbles like fish eyes rising/Whispering like the sound of wind through the pine trees."

[Quest]

Not that I can read the calligraphy but this is the poem:

试院煎茶

蟹眼已过鱼眼生，飕飕欲作松风鸣。

蒙茸出磨细珠落，眩转绕瓯飞雪轻。

银瓶泻汤夸第二，未识古人煎水意。

君不见、昔时李生好客手自煎，贵从活火发新泉。

又不见、今时潞公煎茶学西蜀，定州花瓷琢红玉。

我今贫病长苦饥，分无玉碗捧蛾眉。

且学公家作茗饮，砖炉石铫行相随。

不用撑肠拄腹文字五千卷，但愿一瓯常及睡足日高时。

苏轼

[anonymoose]

Thanks, Quest.

What's the point of calligraphy when even Chinese people can't read it?

[HashiriKata]

What's the point of calligraphy when even Chinese people can't read it?

It's called "ART"!

[anonymoose]

It's called "ART"!

I understand that, but if the squiggles don't even resemble the characters they're supposed to represent, then what's the difference between this kind of calligraphy and the 'art' produced by an elephant when you put a brush in it's trunk and let scrawl on a piece of paper?

[nipponman]

Quote:

It's called "ART"!

I understand that, but if the squiggles don't even resemble the characters they're supposed to represent, then what's the difference between this kind of calligraphy and the 'art' produced by an elephant when you put a brush in it's trunk and let scrawl on a piece of paper?

I guess its like certain cursive scripts in English. Some of them are completely illegible imo. Useless really

[L-F-J]

I don't remember any English cursive that was as illegible as this Chinese calligraphy.

[UC_nostradamus]

Many times the calligraphy takes on the shape and feeling of what it is trying to express. In this case, hmmm.... I suppose the shape of the poem looks like bubbles of boiling water rising upwards...

The diction of the poem (飕飕, 眩转,etc...) gives it a very fluttering, bubbly, almost playful feeling. Would it really make sense to have the poem written in bold, clerical script?

I do agree, the poem is almost illegible. But I guess it comes with the art form...

[nipponman]

I don't remember any English cursive that was as illegible as this Chinese calligraphy.

Maybe "script" was the wrong word. Just some peoples writing in general.

[roddy]

what's the difference between this kind of calligraphy and the 'art' produced by an elephant when you put a brush in it's trunk and let scrawl on a piece of paper?

Cost.

This is an extreme example. Not uncommon for calligraphers to see how far from the original form they can get.

[nnt]

"Speech has been given to men to disguise their thoughts" (from a famous French diplomat)

"Cao shu" has been created to make students feel illiterate...

In fact, "cao shu" is a script by itself, neither traditional nor simplified, but simplified to the utmost for complicated characters and complexified to the utmost for simple characters .

There are Chinese dictionaries ...and rules for Chinese calligraphy (YACL : Yet Another Chinese Language )

[nnt]

From 书法字典 (上海书店1994) :

The most readeable character from the original picture : 過, so you can guess the rest of the scribbling :

蟹眼已过鱼眼生，飕飕欲作松风鸣