The Mirror of Writing

This book is an annotated and illustrated translation from The Mirror of Writing, by Kang Youwei (1889). It contributes to the study of modern Chinese art and culture, and to an understanding of the history and aesthetics of Chinese calligraphy. It contains more than 150 reproductions of the original illustrations.



For a long time Chinese calligraphy was neglected by art historians in the West. In the United States, the cultural, scholarly, and artistic importance of the art of Chinese calligraphy has been featured in only three traveling exhibitions, which have focused on the pre-Modern period. However, modern Chinese calligraphy, like modern Chinese painting, has gone through its own kind of transformation and demonstrated the vitality of the calligraphic traditions as well as the potential for renewal of these traditions.



In all the editions of The Mirror of Writing published since 1889, no illustrations have been given. By translating Book III "Buying Stone Rubbings," with reproductions of more than 150 originally illustations, Yuli Wang provides a concise introduction to the art of Chinese calligraphy.