Saturday, November 25, 2023

Pictographic Chinese Calligraphy (80) Thinking Elephant - 想象



There were elephants living in Yellow River region about millions years ago. The weather changed, the forest disappeared, and elephants vanished at unknown time. However, ancient Chinese caught the elephant image in the oldest shell bone script (see the image below). 
The young generation didn't see the elephants, they could only hear what they looked like from the description of old people who saw the elephants. The young had to put all information they heard, form an image of the elephant in their brain. People called the process as "Thinking Elephant", which means "Imagination". But almost no any Chinese knows why "Thinking Elephant" is Imagination.
Ancient Chinese could see pig, dog, ox, horse, rooster, rabbit, and any animal, you don't need to get their images by imagination. But they had to get the image of elephant by imagination because the elephant disappeared in China, they couldn't see elephant.
The artwork is not pure Chinese calligraphy work, but a combination of drawing and pictography of Chinese character, a unique art no one has never tried before.


 


Pictographic Chinese Calligraphy (80) Thinking Elephant - 想象

There were elephants living in Yellow River region about millions years ago. The weather changed, the forest disappeared, and elephants vani...