Some people in rural areas write very well with calligraphy, very fluently and pleasing to the eye. Is this considered calligraphy?

Beautiful handwriting does not mean you are a calligraphy master, because no matter how good your handwriting is, if you have no thoughts, you will not be able to rise to the level of calligraphy. Real calligraphy should be able to express thoughts.

From ancient times to the present, the charm of calligraphy is completely inseparable from Taoist thought. As the saying goes, Tao follows nature, which is a core concept of Chinese art aesthetics. We can simply understand yin and yang as contrasting relationships, such as thickness, size, distance, height, density, virtuality, thickness, slant, etc. These are all yin and yang. The contrasting relationship formed by yin and yang can appear very natural. For example, among us, there are men and women, tall and short, fat and thin, white and black. Another example is that our five fingers are long and short, thick and thin. They are not a neat face, nor are they five neat fingers. This is nature, which is not controlled by humans.

To write well in calligraphy, you must understand the techniques and techniques in calligraphy. Technique and Tao in calligraphy are two completely different expressions. The technique mentioned here refers to technique, and Tao refers to traditional Chinese culture. Calligraphy often requires the balance of hardness and softness, the complementarity of virtuality and reality, and the balance between square and round. It also reflects the two aspects of Tao: one yin and one yang, which is the process of mutual generation and combination. In calligraphy, the golden mean, which is the beauty of harmony, must be realized. This is the connotation of calligraphy. We calligraphers must not only strive to have sophisticated skills at hand, but also have a deeper understanding of culture, constantly improve our cultural accomplishment and theoretical level, and express our thoughts and emotions through calligraphy.

And calligraphy and Chinese characters are also inseparable. Chinese characters are composed of various strokes. How to combine the strokes to create a beautiful and beautiful structure is an artistic skill. Structure is also called knot, structure or frame. The structure of calligraphy often makes appropriate artistic arrangements based on the structural rules of the text and the author's aesthetic taste. These artistic laws include density, virtuality and reality, symmetry, harmony, gathering and dispersion, echo, etc.

So just writing beautiful words cannot be said to be calligraphy. The reason why calligraphy can be called calligraphy is because of its charm and the expression of the author's inner thoughts between the lines.