THE CHINESE SCHOLAR'S DESK

The Chinese Scholar’s Desk NIGEL CAMERON

The Chinese Scholar’s Desk Nigel Cameron

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The ChiNeSe SCholar’S DeSk

officially met on the course of achieving the state of mandarin. it was a brave and determined lad who ventured on the next step, qualifying to sit the District examination which was held annually in the prefectural city. The core of the curriculum lay in the Four Books and the analects of Confucius. Between the ages of eight and fifteen these had all to be learned by

Brushes used in painting, the larger for applying washes, the smaller for calligraphy.

New brushes suspended in a carved zitan wood hanger.

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A huanghuali wood yoke-back armchair with ‘official’s hat’ top rail.

Right: A ruyi-shaped cartouche detail of the chair enclosing auspicious motif of lion on backsplat.

North China.

17th century.

The ChiNeSe SCholar’S DeSk

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Left: A circular brush holder of blackwood containing an assortment of used brushes. Late 19th century.

Right: Boxwood root brush holder, 18th century.

The ChiNeSe SCholar’S DeSk

The ChiNeSe SCholar’S DeSk

mandarins in all their often corrupt power and gorgeous robes. The official formal clothing on ceremonial occasions was the chaofu or court robe worn by the emperor and highest ranking mandarins. The sleeves were cut long so as to conceal the hands which it was thought inelegant to show. Made entirely of finest silk and embroidered with dragons on front and back, round the neck was fastened the piling, a wide flared shoulder-collar. all manner of lesser variations were the preserve of lesser ranks in the impossibly complex heirarchy of the Chinese imperial court, worn on all important occasions such as the annual state sacrifices.

A small two-brush stand of carved jade.

Right: An early 20th century brushstand of simple elegance. Dark zitan wood.

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The ChiNeSe SCholar’S DeSk

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The ChiNeSe SCholar’S DeSk

The ‘Four Treasures’: paper, brush, ink and inkstone. Here they are accompanied by a blue and white porcelain seal-paste box and a horizontal stone brush rest, a water dropper and inkslab.

Working with a large brush requires a distinctive manner of holding from that used for writing smaller characters.

The ChiNeSe SCholar’S DeSk

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To the Chinese scholar, the preparation for recording his thought on paper was as important as the execution. On his desk lay the Four Treasures, the symbols of his calling: paper, brushes, inkslab and ink, so arranged as to inspire the best of his talent. His finely ground and watered ink was the medium for transmitting his message, his brush the conduit through which his spirit flowed on to carefully chosen paper.

Calligraphy in China ranked on a par with painting and poetry, as hallmarks of a man of accomplishment and discriminating taste.

From an examination of his desk, and what was arranged upon it, one might gauge the measure of the man. Here one found, in microcosm, a treasury of the finely wrought implements that had given expression to one of the world’s greatest civilisations.

ISBN 962-7283-64-9

This book takes the reader into the scholar’s study and seats him at that desk.