Chinese Calligraphy and Tourism:From Cultural Heritage to LandscapeSymbol and Media of the Tourism Industry

Jie Zhang, Wenyue Tang, Chunyun Shi, Zehua Liu and Xia WangInstitute for Tourism Research, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

In this article, the authors attempt to explain whether and how Chinese calligraphy –a characteristic cultural symbol – plays and will play an important role in the moderntourism industry in China given its historic context and modern renaissance. Chinesecalligraphy as heritage, with its long history, diverse types and forms, broad connota-tion, maturity in theory, wide distribution, pervasive existence, and close relationshipto living culture, is a tourist attraction and also a symbolic element characterizing thecultural landscape as national identity; in fact there exists a substantial calligraphiclandscape. Investigations have revealed that there are many diverse calligraphy land-scapes perceived. Chinese calligraphy connects a system of cultures and forms a cul-tural chain. Reviewing recent research on cultural landscapes and heritage as wellas calligraphy landscapes, some new ideas on tourism landscapes integrated withthis culture of calligraphy are discussed in this paper. Based on characteristics ofa culture chain that links calligraphy and the Chinese cultural system, a possiblemodel with calligraphy to promote tourism is presented. The transformationprocess is as follows: calligraphy heritage!calligraphic context!traditional calli-graphy landscape !generalised calligraphic landscape!pervasive calligraphic sym-bolic system. With this process, calligraphy is transferred from cultural heritage to aholistic medium for the development of the tourism industry.

doi: 10.1080/13683500802475836

Keywords: calligraphy, symbolic space, regional context, calligraphic landscape,tourism

IntroductionCalligraphy is involved in various writing systems in the world (Martin,

1984, pp. 7 – 35). The art of Chinese calligraphy seems to be a nationwidetourist attraction for Chinese domestic tourists rather than for foreign arrivals.Yet calligraphy is still a potential tourist attraction for foreign visitors, sincewithout understanding it one would otherwise lose much of the appreciationand experience of the real China and Chinese culture. In China, Chinese calligraphy– basically the art of writing characters – is considered as a fine art, along withpoetry and painting, which comprise the three perfections of Chinese art(Sullivan, 1986). On the Chinese scale of aesthetic values, top priority is givento calligraphy, painting, poetry, and music (Bussagli, 1988, p.13). For mostWesterners, it is probably not very evident what aesthetic quality is attachedto Chinese calligraphy (Willetts, 1958), some early European experts onChinese art did not even mention calligraphy in the whole system of Chineseart (e.g. Cohn, 1935). Calligraphy had become a popular and elevated art

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form as early as 2000 years ago in the Han Dynasty (25 – 220BC) with bothpopular public participation and the emergence of related theories of art criti-cism or aesthetics. Chinese calligraphy is characterised by its origins, distri-bution, cultural connotations, and classification, and results in a so-calledcalligraphy culture chain (Zhang, 2006a), which has the potential for tourismdevelopment and the construction of identities of destinations. In most treatiseson the Chinese cultural landscape, calligraphy itself has not been thought to bea kind of landscape, e.g., Wu and Liu (2004, p. 378) noticed that verse coupletsin China were a linguistic landscape rather than a calligraphic landscape,though calligraphy actually played a basic visual communication mediumin this case. However, calligraphy is distributed almost all over China inthe forms of cliff epigraphs, signboards, and couplet epigraph boards,especially in those famous tourist destinations. Chinese geographers haveclaimed the existence of calligraphic landscape (e.g., Wu & Situ, 2002), and.Zhang (2003) redefined the calligraphic landscape and presented a detailedclassification. Based on characteristics of calligraphy as heritage symbols andlandscape, this paper will focus on the calligraphy’s role in future Chinesetourism during the process that China becomes a hot international touristdestination.

Chinese calligraphic heritage system – calligraphy ascultural heritageChinese calligraphy as widespread culture in Chinese civilization

Chinese calligraphy has a long history and lasting continuity. The Sumeriancuneiform scripts and the Egyptian hieroglyphics belonging to the periodbefore 3500 BC (Gaur, 1987; Wissler, 1923) are older than the Chinese charactersystem, yet the Chinese character system being is the only surviving writingsystem out of those far ancient civilizations of the world. Many Chinese char-acters being used now still have the same structure and the meaning as theirantecedents of 3500 years ago. The earliest calligraphy can be identified tothe period of the oracle bone inscriptions (Chen, 1990, p. 36), a genius superiorart form since the Han Dynasty (Wang, 1990, p. 1).

The peoples involved with Chinese calligraphy and its related culture live inregions including China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. Calligraphy is alsoa folklore culture. For instance, practising calligraphy and the appreciation ofcalligraphic works have been a tradition of Chinese leisure since the HanDynasty. Calligraphy continues to be practised as a graceful and healthyleisure activity by modern Chinese. In China, calligraphy gained an elevatedposition in art since Confucius nominated ‘writing’ as one of the six essentialarts (liuyi). Calligraphy as one’s handwriting, like that in European graphology(Gullen-Whur, 1984; Nesos, 1986), is thought to be associated with one’s per-sonality, character, temperament, emotion, and even to one’s moral characterin the classics of Chinese calligraphy theory.

In terms of its forms, Chinese calligraphy may be classified into artworks, crafts, and landscapes. Calligraphic art works include original brushworks on rice paper (hanging scrolls, hand scrolls, fans, mounted albums,etc.) and copies (stone inscription rubbings, porcelain plates or craft, wood

530 Current Issues in Tourism

carvings, etc.). Calligraphic landscapes include stone inscription tablets, cliffinscriptions, resort epigraphy, plaque, and signboard, couplets in varioustourist destinations like resorts, gardens, national parks, scenic spots, andtourist attractions.

Calligraphy in its form as resort epigraphy on cliffs, inscription tablets ofmausoleums, and cenotaph historical sites is a record of historical informationexcluded from formal historical documents.

Chinese calligraphy as literati culture in Chinese civilization

Chinese calligraphy is thought to be the essence of the Chinese culture(Hsiung, 2003, cover), and the typical and superior form of traditionalChinese art. For example, some European researchers considered Chinesepaintings as the only real art of China, yet Chinese painters usually first practisecalligraphy before they turn to painting (Swan, 1958). Meanwhile, brushinscription of calligraphy composed a full composition of Chinese painting(Chiang, 1935). Techniques of calligraphic brushwork used to be fundamentalelements in traditional Chinese paintings (Grousset, 1967, p. 286; Kwuo,1981, p. XV; Tregear, 1980, p. 7). Because of its perceived superiority, calligraphyhas been earning a unique status in Chinese civilization and in modern China’sheritage tourism. With some of its traits having originated from Chinesephilosophy (Woo, 1979), Chinese calligraphy is also a unique type of art inworld art.

As a system of traditional culture, calligraphy possesses is diversified in type,widely distributed, broadly connoted, and mature with plenty of theories.theories., and wide distribution. The Chinese calligraphic theory in practiceand appreciation may reflect Confucian, Taoist, Zen Buddhism, traditionalphilosophy, and aesthetics, as well as military strategic theory (Ledderose,1984). On the other hand, calligraphic theory made its own contribution toChinese aesthetics (Chen, 2003). It even becomes the rule of other styles ofart and technique, such as seal engraving, painting, crafts, and even architec-ture (Chiang, 1973, pp. 225 – 239; Lin, 2000, pp. 283 – 290, 308). Chinese calligra-phy is also a kind of culture carrier that spreads traditional Chinese philosophy,classics, poems, odes, verse, ancient lyrics, distich verse, as well as famous quo-tations. Calligraphy penetrates philosophical thinking, economic culture,material culture, religion, leisure culture, and architecture. The Chinese ideaof nature and the universe may also be reflected in calligraphy aestheticswith that has a systematic tradition since the beginning of calligraphic theory2000 years in the Han Dynasty.

Chinese calligraphy as heritage

Heritages can be classified into tangible and intangible ones. In current heri-tage preservation practice in China, folkloric intangible heritage has been theonly one given proper attention. Since calligraphy is often thought to be eliteculture, it is not cited in the recently publicised First Round NationalIntangible Heritage List of China. There exist four types of calligraphy (Table 1).

Calligraphy matches the UNESCO definition of intangible cultural heritageto the extent that it can be thought of as performance, ritual, craftsmanship,and as concerned with man and nature.

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For the Chinese, practicing calligraphy used to be one of the recreations andleisure activities of the literati; but nowadays it has become a popular leisureactivity amongst all (Figure 1). With highly flexible brushes, variable chromain Chinese ink, and highly absorptive rice paper, calligraphy is also extremelydiversified in its style, tastes, and aesthetic imaginations. In this, the aestheticsof calligraphic knowledge and practices often reflect the way Chinese relate tonature and the universe (Zhang, 2004).

Calligraphy has also been a form of performing art in traditional salons andartistic gatherings for centuries. At the closing ceremony of the Asian Games,Doha, Chinese calligraphy was also performed in the promotional programmesfor the following Asian Games of Guangzhou (China).

The manufacture of writing tools has had a long tradition as a craft. The fourbasic tools for the practice of Chinese calligraphy, i.e., brush, ink stick, ricepaper, and ink slab, became the ‘four treasures’ in traditional Chinese literatistudios. The production of these four tools could also enhance the reputationof certain towns. For example, rice paper in China used to be called as Xuan

Figure 1 Percentage of citizens practising calligraphy from four metropolisesof China in 2003 – 2004Source: Adapted from Huang, 2004.

Table 1 Cultural heritage system of Chinese calligraphy

Category Type Case calligraphic culture

Tangibleheritage

Hard landscape Epigraphy on cliff faces and stone tablets in scenicspots, couplets and signboards in gardens ortowns, inscription on torsi or houses

Mobile tangibleheritage

Masterpieces of calligraphic works in museumsand private collections

Intangibleheritage

Folklore Calligraphy-related folktale and religion,calligraphic craft and related manufacturingtechnique

Elite or non-folklore

Historic record of calligraphic evolution,important events in calligraphy history,calligraphy-related literature, calligraphictheory like aesthetics and critiques

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Paper, because the rice paper produced in Xuan Cheng county was of superiorquality for calligraphy and painting; likewise, Huimo (literally Hui ink-sticksproduced in Hui-zhou county), Duanyan (ink-slabs produced in Duanzhoucounty), and Hubi (brushes made in Huzhou county) (Du & Du, 2002,pp. 153 – 157). Furthermore, finely decorated instruments or materials of calli-graphy such as the four treasures of the studios became artefacts, crafts, andeven artworks in themselves, e.g., ink slab carvings established manyChinese national folk art masters.

Calligraphic works were often used in folklore rituals, and people often hunga large calligraphic work with single large Chinese character (longevity)in the centre of a guest hall to celebrate one’s important birthdays, such asturning 50, 60, and so on. Hanging spring festival couplet scrolls on doors,on either side of doors, or on walls was a new year ’s celebration ritual formost traditional Chinese families.

For writing tools, derived culture might include related decorative arts andthe techniques of manufacture, while the related historic sites might be theplaces of high-quality raw materials and famous local artisans. The intangibleculture might be other related traditional craftsmanship. As a communicationmedium, its derived culture might be the textual researches and archeology,and the related historic sites might be the relict sites of discovery, e.g., theAnyang relict site of Henan Province was included in the list of WorldCultural Heritage of UNESCO with the discovery of the first generation ofmature Chinese scripts, i.e., oracle bone inscriptions.

Calligraphy as folklore

Folklore is characterised by nationality, locality, historical continuity, regionalhistory, and cultural diversity, and such characteristics promote tourist attrac-tions. As a result, folklore becomes an effective, pervasive, penetrative, conno-tative, and attractive cultural resource. Based on Burne’s (1914) trichotomyclassification of folklore, a system of hexachotomy folklore tourism attractionwas proposed (Zhang, 1997), and calligraphy could be included in varioustypes of folk tourist attractions (Table 2).

Calligraphy as tourist attractionsCalligraphy as keel of a cultural chain

Calligraphy is a kind of cultural heritage that reflects genetic processes, evol-ution, and the related functions of human civilization. In recent research, a cul-tural chain of calligraphy was discussed and identified as a series of widelyinvolved Chinese cultures with interrelationships based on calligraphy as thehinge or keel (Zhang, 2005a). So Calligraphic Cultural Chains (CCC) can bedefined as an interrelated culture system with calligraphy as a structural keelor hinge linkage. CCC can cover various fields such as economy, society, phil-osophy, religion, literature, folklore, landscape, and history. For example, as aresult of a pioneer calligrapher ’s aesthetic preference to diversified forms of cal-ligraphic works, diversification of contemporary rice paper production incolour, shading decoration, and form, as well as mounting styles emerged,instead of the traditional status with single white paper.

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Calligraphy is the symbol of Chinese culture. It plays a role as a marker ofnational identity and increasingly draws attention from people in the era of glo-balisation. Since CCC is pervasive and characteristic in Chinese civilisation,with calligraphy as the symbol of Chinese culture, it becomes a very importantresource that the tourism industry should develop. In this case, derived cul-tures, related landscapes, heritage sites, types of heritage, and regional historiccontexts related to CCC become the main attributes for tourism attractionassessment (Table 3).

Calligraphy as regional historic context

The regional cultural context is composed of a cultural system and relatedcultural symbols and landscapes. The Chinese writing system dates backalmost 3500 years, and the evolution of the script from oracle-bone inscriptionto seal script, then to official script, to cursive script, to regular script, and torunning script often match certain historical periods or dynasties. So thein situ epigraphy as calligraphic landscape may become regional historicdocuments with its epoch-connotative script style. Like other heritages, calli-graphy in China has also been exploited and developed to create a market inreal, fake, and reproduced antiquities. Such tourist arts generally satisfyforeign tourists’ interest in the ancient past (Evans-Pritchard, 1993).

Calligraphy as regional historic context might be characterised with theregional school of calligraphy art, local master calligraphers, regional events,and anecdotes of calligraphy, master calligraphic works of local inscriptions,and the derived regional culture system (e.g., manufacturing writing tools).Generally speaking, regional historic context is the foundation of the identityand image of the region; it is a heritage system derived from long historicregional development. Such a heritage system is directly related to a specificplace, or its origin, critical developing stages, and related events. It can beeasily perceived or experienced with certain carriers, specific historic records,and oral histories. Regional historic context often possesses certain integrated

Table 2 Calligraphy as folklore

Folklore type Cases of Calligraphy folklore

Belief folklore Gods of Chinese character, Buddhism and Zen calligraphy, Taoistcalligraphy

Social folklore Spring festival scrolls, folklore calligraphy, calligraphy rituals,calligraphy tools, Chinese graphology based on fortune-telling

Living folklore Large calligraphy works, calligraphy couplets, fan calligraphy

Economic folklore Manufacturing rice paper, ink sticks, ink slabs, mountingtechniques, calligraphy signboards, calligraphy market

Legend folktale Calligraphy context folktales, Calligraphy context idioms andvulgarisms

Recreation andGames

Competitive games of calligraphy, Lanting annually gathering,calligraphy logogriphs and riddles, Calligraphy as leisureactivity and therapy

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Table 3 Calligraphic cultural chain and the qualitative evaluation of the related tourism attraction

Core of thechain

Branch of thechain

Component cultureof the chain

DerivedCulture

Historiccontext

Relatedhistoricsites

Tangibleheritage

Intangibleheritages

Tourismattraction

Chinesecalligraphy

Writing tools Brush þ þþ þ þ þþþ þ

Xuan paper (ricepaper)

þ þ þ 2 þþþþ þ

Ink stick þ þ þ þ þþ þ

Ink slab þþ þ þþ þþ þþþþ þþ

Others: Brush holder,etc.

þþ þ 2 þþ þ þ

Communicationmedia

Oracle inscriptions þ þþþþ þþþþ þþþþ 2 þþþ

Stone & brickinscriptions

þþ þþþ þþþ þþþþ 2 þþ

Bronze inscriptions þ þþþ þþ þþþþ 2 þ

Bamboo slips 2 þþþ þþþ þþ 2 þþ

Inscription on silk andtextiles

þ þþþ þþþ þþ 2 þ

In situ epigraphs inscenic spots

þþ þþþþ þþþþ þþþþ 2 þþþþ

Historic records anddocuments

þ þþþþ þþþþ þ þ þ

Historic context History of calligraphy þ þþþ þþ þ 2 þþ

History of calligraphicschools

þ þþ þþþ þþ 2 þþþ

(Continued)

Chinese

Callig

raphyandTo

urism

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Table 3 Continued

Coreof thechain

Branch of thechain Component culture of the chain

DerivedCulture

Historiccontext

Relatedhistoricsites

Tangibleheritage

Intangibleheritages

Tourismattraction

Master calligraphers andregional history

þþ þþþ þþþþ þ 2 þþþþ

Succeeding of master works ofcalligraphy

2 þ 2 þþþþ 2 2

Script evolution and varieties þ þþ þ þþþ 2 þ

Performancetechniques

Dot and stroke morphology þ þþ 2 2 2 þ

Character composition þþ þ 2 2 2 þ

Paragraph composition þþ þ 2 – 2 þ

Sense of brush-control: wet –dry, thick – thin, fast – slowmoved

þþþ þ þ 2 2 þ

Appreciation aesthetics þþþþ þþ þþ þ þ þþþ

Communicatedcontent

Quotations of classics,philosophy

þ þþ þ 2 2 þ

Literature: Poem, verse,couplet. . .

þþ þþ þþþ þ þ þþþþ

Folklores and nostalgicelements

þþþ þþþ þþ þ þþ þþþþ

Famous calligraphic works 2 þ þþ þþþþ 2 þ

Symbol of well-educated traitand identity of social status

þþ þþþþ 2 2 þþþ þþ

Practice education Leisure activity and recreation þþþ þþ þþþþ þ þ þþþ

Health and recreation therapy þþþ þþþ 2 2 þþ þþþ

Note: þþþþ, extremely important; þþþ, very important; þþ, important; þ, positive; 2, not important, obviously.

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spiritual connotations that result in related cultural symbols and ambience,which specifically attract significant public attention. Regional historic contextsexist in real landscapes, in folklore, and in human geographical ambience.Calligraphy with its cultural chain, therefore, is such a regional context withvarious branches and values (Table 3), and may be related to various localreal landscapes or mobile landscapes.

Calligraphy as landscape symbols

Tuan (1991), through citing the famous Qing dynasty novel The Story of Stone(The Dream of Red Mansion), pointed out that written words perfect a goodChinese garden and landscape. Here the written words are in fact the calligra-phy often on a signboard. The terminology of calligraphic landscapes concernsthe role of calligraphy in a regional culture and place. Applying the classic defi-nition of cultural landscape of Sauer (1963), an early definition of calligraphiclandscape mechanically refers to it as ‘a cultural configuration of modifiedphysical environment by [the] calligrapher’ and the attached artistic configur-ation to physical landscape (Wu & Situ, 2002). In order to avoid the restrictionsof such a definition, in the later research (Zhang, 2003), calligraphic landscapewas defined as a portion of geographical space with specific visual character-istics and special sense of place resulting from the laying-out of assemblies ofcalligraphy as landscape elements, and the calligraphic landscapes were thensystematically classified (Table 4).

Public perception of calligraphic landscape has been noticed and studied insome of the latest researches. The existence and the regional differentiation ofcalligraphic landscape were recognised and revealed (Zhang, 2006b). Andinvestigation on the image of a township in Jiangsu Province revealed a coinci-dence: the existence of a calligraphic landscape dimension along with the geo-graphical dimension (Zhang et al., 2006). In our recent investigation onperceived places of calligraphic landscapes (Figure 2), it is revealed that calli-graphic landscapes occurred most frequently on scenic sites, which impliesthe significance of calligraphy as landscape attractions for tourism.

Calligraphy as an alternative tourist attraction

For tourists from Western countries, Chinese calligraphy might be a touristattraction possessed of certain obstacles that limit their ability to understandor appreciate it; however, Chinese calligraphy can be easily appreciated inthe first instance as long as it is treated as a visual art with certain attributeslike painting or drawing. Moreover, calligraphic culture chains are located inthe centre of Chinese culture with its visual symbolic significance, especiallyin this era of globalisation.

Generally speaking, from the view of classification of tourist resources(National Bureau of Standards, 2002), calligraphy belongs to the category ofcultural attraction. However, calligraphy emerges widely in natural scenicsites and some service resources. For example, in some famous mountainscenic spots listed as World Natural Heritage by UNESCO, such as Mt.Huangshan (Figure 3) and Mt. Taishan, there are many calligraphic landscapesby way of epigraphs on cliffs or tablets.

Chinese Calligraphy and Tourism 537

As a matter of fact, calligraphy exists pervasively in almost every destinationof China. With the Regional Tourism Websites Index (Zhang et al., 2004), we inves-tigated calligraphy and regional tourism with regional units of provinces, andthe results revealed that calligraphy might be closely related to regionaltourism with significant potentiality for future tourism development (Figure 4).

Calligraphic works and the derived crafts of calligraphy serve as souvenirswith the contents of showcasing locally related literature. Practicsing calligra-phy is still a very important leisure activity for the recreation of urban citizens(Figure 1). For the younger generation, practising calligraphy is symbol ofaccomplishment, while for the aged generation practising calligraphy is ahealth regime and recreational therapy, much like acting and music act as

Table 4 Classification of calligraphic landscape and/or space

Category Type Descriptions and cases

Scale Landscape(narrow sense)

Larger than architecture, composed ofassemblies of architecture, communityblocks or even regions.

Setting Smaller than single architecture

Appearance Scenery As landmarks of scenery, e.g., epigraphs ofnatural scenery

Ornament As ornaments of interior design, e.g.,calligraphy couplet

Exhibition As a temporal show forming an interiorlandscape/space

Dominance inspace

Panorama Calligraphy as pervasive landscape elements

Theme As focus of landscape system, e.g., epigraphytablet in a city or town square

Intersperse As the subordinate of landscape, e.g.,calligraphy ornament in urban design

Cultural attribute Religion Symbols of a sacred landscape, e.g.,monument stone

Folklore Symbols of folklore space, spring festivalscrolls

Economic Symbols of commercial space, e.g., signboard,and crafts etc.

Living As ornaments of living space, e.g., interiordesign

Literati Symbols of literati space, e.g., calligraphyworks of quotations

Aesthetics As guidelines of landscape aesthetics

Existence ofcalligraphy

Real landscape As the concrete existence of the environment,stone epigraphy

Mobile landscape Calligraphy as mobile articles of art works orornaments

Source: Adapted from Zhang, 2003. Modified.

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therapies in the West (Pavlicevic, 1997; Sporre, 2000, p. 8). Chinese arts are forboth creation and recreation (Lin 1998, p. 371), and this is typified with the caseof calligraphy. Thus, calligraphy might have its role in the leisure industry.Recent research noticed the current Chinese leisure industry’s lack of statusand deep meaningful experience within most amusement parks (Zhang et al.,1998). Instead, practising calligraphy as a popular and traditional leisureactivity with elegant taste and deep cultural and aesthetic experience couldbe used as commercial leisure products by providing better practisingenvironments.

In Chinese history, calligraphy used to be a dominant elite culture that wasdistinguishable from folk culture. Elite culture, as the dominant culture of

Figure 3 Calligraphic cliff epigraph in Huangshan National Park

Figure 2 Frequency of visitors to places with calligraphic landscapes (n ¼ 496)

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the elite class or literali, is usually documented within historical records, andthought of as the authentic cultural heritage. This, however, is not the realstatus of calligraphy. Nowadays calligraphy faces a period that on the onehand, its significance as symbolic culture becomes increasingly important inthe era of globalisation, while on the other hand, traditional calligraphy dueto its declining popularity in everyday life is losing its former status as asuperior art in the cultural system (Cong, 2002; Zhang, 2006a).

Calligraphy as a dominant culture has a close relationship to other aspects ofthe dominant culture. For example, style and aesthetic tastes of calligraphy inthe Wei and Jin Dynasties (220 – 420) were influenced by Taoism and metaphy-sics in the same period (Ledderose, 1984; Su, 2000; Sun, 2001; Wang, 2002,p. 228), while the freehand esteemed school of calligraphy of the SongDynasty was highly influenced by Zen philosophy (Song, 2005). During theMing Dynasty (1368 – 1644), there was a kind of literary romanticism, basedon Wang Yangming’s philosophy of mind and ideas that was promoted by LiZhi ( , 1527 – 1620) and Tang Xianzu ( , 1550 – 1616) on individuality.This advanced diversified individual styles of calligraphy that esteemed indi-viduality, personality, expressionism, and emotionalism. It further resulted ina profusion of diversified schools of calligraphy such as the plainly simpleschool; heavy strong school; classic elegance school; classic simple school;and aestheticism school etc. (Chen, 2000, Ye, 2000). Calligraphy works as thewritten data of history that documented ancient social lives, social affiliations,and social customs. As famous ancient calligraphers belonged to the elite, theywere often recorded in formal historical documents and chorography, whichhas resulted in the formation of an important regional historic context fortourism attraction. Throughout history, calligraphy as the dominant cultureemerged in formal government institutions and offices, and the related tangible

Figure 4 Web pages searched on www.google.com using the Chinesekeywords Tourismþprovince and calligraphyþtourismþprovince (May, 2007)

540 Current Issues in Tourism

heritage or their relics are often of large scale, well-designed and delicatetechniques, and in or on refined architectural structures, which has produceda series of related cultural attractions (Figure 5) of even more historic, cultural,and artistic value.

In brief, calligraphy is not only a simple tourist attraction of art works, butalso an alternative system of attraction in regional historic contexts and land-scapes, of souvenirs, and even a participative leisure activity of tourism pro-ducts.

Calligraphy as tourism development driveIdeas of calligraphic landscape, calligraphic cultural chain, and the visualisa-

tion of regional calligraphic contexts are the main theoretical foundations forthe development of calligraphic tourism products.

Calligraphy as tourism product

Landscape components possess certain semantic values (e.g., Ozbilen &Kalin’s study on plants, 2001). New definitions of calligraphic landscapesencompass wide fields that can be applied to tourism. More recent researchproposes the use of calligraphic landscape as ornaments in a modern urbanlandscape design (Figure 6) (Zhang & Zhang, 2004) and as symbolic elementsin an urban leisure space (Zhang, 2005b). The evolving processes of calligraphyfrom signal to sign and then to symbol in the visualisation of calligraphic con-texts in modern urban landscape design has been shown by Zhang et al. (2004,Table 5).

Detailed discussion on CCC suggested a mode for developing tourism pro-ducts that possess a pervasive calligraphic culture (Zhang, 2006a), and hasresulted in an integrated enhanced status for both calligraphy and tourism.

Figure 5 Calligraphy in the emperor’s chamber (Taihedian Hall) of theForbidden City, Beijing

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Figure 6 Calligraphy as landscape elements in modern urban design (Nanjing(a) and Beijing (b))

Table 5 Visualisation of calligraphy context into landscape

Evolution Processes

Role of Chinese characters Character!calligraphy!landscape

Sign process Signal! sign!icon!indices !symbol

Existence of calligraphy Plane in microscale!Plane in macroscale!solid!pervasive in all space

Environmental symbolicprocesses

Architecture parts!architecture!buildingcluster!community!urban!region!nation . . .

Source: Adapted from Zhang et al., 2004.

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After the Cultural Revolution and at the beginning of the Chinese Open Policy,Chinese calligraphy, in the form of common tourism souvenirs, was able tohave something of a renaissance (Zhang, 2005a).

The early development of calligraphy in tourism usually took after the tra-ditional mode of stele forest like in Xi’an city. Although this kind of presen-tation did work in the early stages, there are, however, some market trapswith this in more recent tourism (Fu, 2006).

Destination authenticity

Destination authenticity may consist of elements from settings to buildings(Waitt, 2000) and with characteristics of ethical, natural, honest, simple,beautiful, rooted, and human (Brass & McMahon-Beattie, 2007). The sense ofplace may be derived from the social lives, architecture, and rituals(Mazumdar et al., 2000). Calligraphy pervades all these fields and matches allthe characters and creates the connections that authenticity lies in, as suggestedby Hall (2007).

During the research on the geography of calligraphy, several fields such asthe regional distribution of calligraphers, regional styles of calligraphy, andthe geographic environmental influence on calligraphic styles were noticed(Feng & Hu, 1999; Feng & Zhang, 1999). In fact, the regional differentiationof calligraphic culture is exactly a substantial tourist attraction. Recent investi-gations on the diversity of calligraphy of 25 minorities in China (Guan, 2001)indicate the wide distribution and high diversity of calligraphy in China.Research on national identity with a symbolic landscape (Gordon & Osborne,2004) provides some useful ideas and historical experience for tourism.Calligraphy as a cultural chain exists in the Chinese culture system as a culturalsymbol or national identity in China’s tourism destinations, and it makes itspenetration into regional contexts feasible. Thus, calligraphy becomes asymbol of identity and authenticity in a destination. In modern urban design,calligraphy exists from traditional landscape to transformational landscape.Calligraphy becomes such a tourist art which, as Evans-Pritchard (1993)suggests, draws on ancient themes rather than being a response to nationalismor a response to consumer demands.

Authenticity of regional landscapes can be revealed with cultural symbolsand traditional landscapes. Combined with the Chinese language, Chinese cal-ligraphy contributes a national context. At the same time, subregional systemsof calligraphy, like regional calligraphy schools and styles, result in regionaldifferentiation each with a sense of place.

The latest ideas of authenticity conservation stress upon creativity and thelocal context (Gustavsson & Peterson, 2003). Based on the characteristics ofthe cultural chain of calligraphy and its links to the Chinese cultural system,a model with calligraphy to promote tourism development in a holistic senseis presented as a transformation process, in combination with creativity andthe Chinese context as follows:

Calligraphy heritage!calligraphic context!traditional calligraphylandscape!generalised calligraphic landscape!pervasive calli-graphic symbolic system

Chinese Calligraphy and Tourism 543

Thus, calligraphy fulfills a fine process from cultural heritage to being amedium for the development of the entire tourism industry. During theprocess, it is very important to rediscover and to re-organise the localcalligraphic contexts so as to develop tourism with calligraphy. In fact, thediscontinuity of regional contexts with recent tourism developments in manyof China’s destinations has already been noticed (Zheng, 2004).

Within this period of generalised calligraphic landscape, calligraphy willdrift into various architectural spaces and natural or cultural environments,extending to interior, community, and leisure spaces, and as well as mobilelandscapes. Furthermore, innovation of calligraphic tourism products is amega-culture strategy within calligraphy-related tourism development basedon CCC rather than landscape architecture.

Calligraphy as market promotion drive

Heritage tourism is a powerful force in the construction and maintenance of anational identity, because it relies upon the historic symbols of the nation as ameans of attracting tourists (Palmer, 1999). Calligraphy as heritage in the samesense is such a symbol of Chinese culture. Several modes of tourism promotionwith calligraphy can be developed as follows:

(1) Demand promotion mode introduces and distributes Chinese calligraphywith other Chinese culture through cultural exchange education unitslike Confucius Institutes all over the world, and helps non-Chinese tounderstand Chinese calligraphy so as to cultivate sectional markets forChinese tourism.

(2) Attraction-oriented mode cultivates and develops various tourism pro-ducts with calligraphy. Learning to practise calligraphy can be a recreationproduct, and calligraphy as landscape can be a symbol of China’s charac-teristic tourism symbols (Zhang, 2005b) of various types (Zhang, 2003).Calligraphy can be used as an element in modern urban design on wall decora-tions, pavement designs, and environmental designs (Zhang & Zhang, 2004).

(3) Packaging modes is the packaging of various tourism products, marketingmedia, souvenirs as well as service places/spaces with calligraphy.

(4) Cultural chain mode is the development of tourism products and marketsthrough calligraphic chains with value systems consisting of historic, cul-tural, artistic, landscape, economic, therapeutic, and religious values, andwith functions of landscape, tourism, marketing, aesthetics, leisure, andrecreational therapy, as well as public media.

Calligraphy tourism products as international strategy

Since calligraphy as social and cultural phenomena is closely related toChinese language and ideology, a step-by-step interpretation system shouldbe the shortcut for the foundation of internationalised calligraphic tourism pro-ducts. The interpretation of calligraphic tourism products can be managed inseveral steps, either for individual tourist learning during the trip or for a sec-tional tourist market mix.

(1) A signal introduction stage romotes calligraphy culture by building up aunique Chinese destination image associated with calligraphy. There are

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some emerging cases such as the calligraphic performance at the recentclosing ceremony of the Doha Asian Games and the Olympic Gameswith a logo of a Chinese seal. Through this step, a very simple introductionto calligraphy was presented mainly on basic classifications and attributesof calligraphy in China.

(2) A context-oriented stage builds an image of the important role ofcalligraphy.

(3) The aesthetic stage relates to providing an understanding of the visual aes-thetics of this art. Because calligraphy as a visual art is basically composedof dots and lines with various tones of ink and a specific brush technique,it also has common attributes to the visual arts in shape, texture, spatialcomposition, and sense of brush movement. So, even without knowingChinese characters, a foreign visitor can easily appreciate and understandit partially with its visual aesthetics.

(4) Full context-oriented stage is for those who already have sufficient knowl-edge of China and the Chinese language, and can be presented with thefull context information (as in Table 3), providing interpretations of calli-graphy either as culture or as destination attraction.

Conclusion and prospectTaking Chinese calligraphy as linguistic and artistic cultural symbols, this

paper presented a mode for cultural symbols as part of a drive to promotetourism. Through a heritage system analysis of Chinese calligraphy, consider-ing it in its regional context, as links in a cultural chain, and as landscapesymbols, we identified calligraphy as an alternative tourist attraction for theChinese tourism industry in the global era. It is possible for calligraphy topromote tourism development by a process of transforming heritage to perva-sive symbolic system; calligraphy changes to a holistic medium for the devel-opment of the tourism industry. This mode of using calligraphy as tourismsymbol to cover the whole present rather than just a part is, coincidentally,one of the Tilden’s (1957) famous six heritage interpretation principles thatinterpretation should aim at presenting a whole. Calligraphy is being used inmore and more fields of tourism and related industries. For example, thelogo of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was a Chinese seal, the Chinese paral-lel art of calligraphy, and all the logos of each athletic sport in the Games – witha form of matchstick figures – were designed with images of a Chinese seal withcalligraphic writing. There has been a trend that more and more calligraphiclandscape elements have emerged in modern Chinese urban design, e.g., incities such as Nanjing, Beijing (Figure 6), Xi’an, and Xiamen, etc. Also, moreand more calligraphy has been used as cultural signs in various fields suchas marketing, planning, design, and media. It indicates that calligraphyhas become increasingly important in China as an international tourismdestination.

Acknowledgements

This article is based on the research project (40871072), supported by theNational Science Foundation of China, and the 985 Program of Nanjing

Chinese Calligraphy and Tourism 545

University, China. The authors sincerely thank the referees’ helpful commentsand suggestions in amending the manuscript.

Correspondence

Any correspondence should be directed to Jie Zhang, ([email protected]).

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