Review of Brush Meditation: A
Japanese Way to Mind & Body
Harmony, By H. E. Davey
Reviewed by Dave Lowry
Brush Meditation: A Japanese Way to Mind & Body
Harmony (Stone Bridge), ISBN 1-880656-47-7,
$16.95, soft cover, 144 pages, by H. E. Davey
 trike
with the katana, the Japanese long sword.
Arrange a blossom in that brief interval after it's been
cut, before it withers. Whisk a bowl of tea into a perfect
froth. Seemingly disparate activities, yet each demands a
similar sense of irrevocable action; absolute commitment;
total coordination of mind and body. Once begun, none can
be retracted. The consequences of each are obvious: a
blunder is, if anything, more manifest than a flawless
execution. In perhaps no other Japanese form of creative
impulse is this concept of ichi-go, ichi-e--"one
encounter, one chance"--more dramatic or obvious than when
the calligrapher first touches an ink-wet brush to the dry
expanse of white paper before him. Shodo, the Way of
the Brush, exemplifies the spirit of Japanese art. In its
potential for artistic expression contained within the
rigid demands of form lies the challenge and the infinite
reward of all the classical Ways of Japan.
From the budo (martial arts) to kado (or
ikebana) to chado, the discipline of the tea
ceremony, the range of these traditional Japanese Ways
introduced to the West in the past half century has been
extensive. Shodo, for the most part, remains an exception.
The elegant art of the Japanese brush has, in large degree,
been overlooked by Westerners in pursuit of the various Ways.
Instruction outside Japan is limited. There are a few books
on the subject; nearly all focussed on technical aspects of
the art or else scholarly in direction, devoted to tracing
the development of brush writing from its origins in China
to its importation and evolution in Japan. In pleasant contrast,
H. E. Davey's new book, Brush Meditation: A Japanese
Way to Mind & Body Harmony, takes a unique approach in
introducing shodo to the general public outside Japan.
Quoting calligrapher Kobara Ranseki, who notes that
"Every time I teach, I explain that art is balance," the
author adopts a similar strategy in presenting shodo: a
balanced one. The philosophical underpinnings of the
craft are juxtaposed with practical advice on how to sit
when practicing calligraphy, how to grasp the brush, what
to look for in the shape and proper structure of the
written character. Chapters are nicely balanced, with a
history of ecriture in China and Japan, followed by an
exploration of the mind-body connexions pursued by the
student of calligraphy. Then comes a chapter on the correct
attitudes and habits of the shodoka ("calligrapher"),
and finally one featuring instructions for calligraphic
compositions and projects. The result is a well-organized,
comprehensive introduction to the Way of the brush, with a
number of points to recommend it.
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