The Profound Connection Between the Book of Documents & the Book of Changes and Calligraphy

Calligraphy as a Way to Reflect Philosophy and the Cosmos

Introduction: Before Calligraphy Is an Art, It Is a Philosophy

When people think of calligraphy, they often imagine brush technique and visual aesthetics.
But at its core, calligraphy is the act of expressing philosophy and cosmic order through written characters.

The two ancient Chinese classics — the Book of Documents (Shujing) and the Book of Changes (Yijing) — provide a philosophical foundation that deeply influenced the origins and meaning of calligraphy.
To this day, they continue to flow beneath the surface of East Asian calligraphic practice.

In this article, we explore the connection between these two texts and calligraphy, focusing on the perspectives of ethics, philosophy, cosmology, symbolism, and visual form.

Book of Documents: Calligraphy as a Tool of Governance and a Mirror of Virtue

Calligraphy as the Keystone of Rule

The Book of Documents (Shangshu) is one of Confucianism’s Five Classics — a compilation of the speeches and deeds of ancient rulers and ministers.
In it, writing served as a medium for governance and moral order.

Confucianism, which upholds “rule by virtue,” regarded calligraphy as the visual embodiment of personal character. The correctness and beauty of writing were seen as direct reflections of the writer’s inner morality.

“Calligraphy is a portrait of the heart. If the heart is upright, the writing is upright.”

Sun Guoting, Treatise on Calligraphy

Thus, calligraphy was not merely decorative — it was an emotional and ethical image drawn with a brush.

Script Styles in Harmony with Morality

Throughout history, Chinese script styles evolved in line with political and ethical systems.
Notable script transitions include:

• Seal Style (Zhuan, Qin dynasty): Symbol of unifying cosmic and political order
• Clerical Style (Li, Han dynasty): Reflected bureaucratic rationality and practical function
• Square Style (Kai, Wei-Jin period): Visual expression of moral rectitude

These transitions were not just aesthetic. They reflect the idea central to the Book of Documents:

“Characters are symbols of ethical and institutional values.”

Book of Changes: The Cosmic Rhythm of Yin and Yang Within the Brushstroke

Yijing as the Philosophy of Change

As its name suggests, the Book of Changes (Yijing) centers on the concept of constant transformation through the dynamic interplay of yin and yang.

This idea is encoded in the lines of the hexagrams (trigrams and hexagrams), made of solid (―) and broken (–) strokes.
Each line already holds cosmic significance — and by extension, each stroke in calligraphy was seen as a fragment of the universe, filled with the energy of change.

 Calligraphy as Movement in Stillness, Stillness in Movement

Every brush movement is infused with the principles of yin and yang. For example:

This dynamic rhythm is essential to calligraphy. It’s why a single stroke is said to contain:“Stillness and motion, hardness and softness, fullness and emptiness — all in one.”

The Eight Principles of the Character “Eternal” Echo the Eight Trigrams

The “Eight Principles of Yong (永)” condense the fundamental brush techniques into one character.
Its structure and brush energies correspond symbolically to the eight trigrams of the Yijing:

• Ce, Nu: The assertive energy of yang
• Lue, Zhuo: The sweeping withdrawal of yin
• Ti, Le: The intertwining of hardness and softness
• Zhuo, Zha: Symbolizing transformation and discontinuity

In this sense, calligraphy becomes a symbolic act — an art of depicting the cosmos in lines.

Characters as “Images” — Conveying Principle Through Form

The Sacred Nature of Writing: The Six Script Categories

Among the ancient Chinese theory of the Six Scripts (liushu), the Pictographs and Compound Ideographs are key to understanding calligraphy as an art of encoding meaning into form:

• 山 (mountain): Its shape evokes immovability and grandeur
• 日 (sun): A symbol of life and the generative force of yang
• 心 (heart): Based on the shape of the organ — source of emotion and spirit

Calligraphy is thus a spiritual act of reconstituting these symbolic forms with one’s own brush and spirit.

This aligns with Daoist thought:

“Calligraphy is image (xiang), image is principle (li), and principle is the Way (dao).”

Writing as Unity with Heaven — Calligraphy as Cosmic Ritual

To Write Is to Align with the Principles of Heaven

The Chinese philosophical concept of “Heaven and human as one (天人合一)” holds that human activities reflect the cosmic order.

Calligraphy, too, was regarded as such an act:

• Ink’s tonal variation: Echoes the elemental balance of water and fire
• Brush pressure: Reflects both external weather and inner emotional state
• Negative space: Embodies the Daoist concept of “emptiness” (wu 無)

In this way, the very act of writing was seen as ritual alignment with the breath of the universe — a sacred ceremony performed with ink and brush.

Applying the Wisdom of the Book of Documents and Book of Changes Today

In the digital age, writing has become “typing.” But to hold a brush and consciously write each character is to:

• Face yourself
• Connect with the cosmos
• Reflect your inner world

This makes calligraphy a form of modern-day spiritual practice — both grounding and expansive.

Conclusion: A Universe Dwells Within Each Character

The Book of Documents taught the moral path through writing.

• The Book of Changes revealed the structure of the cosmos through lines.
• Calligraphy fused both, embedding ethics and cosmology into each stroke — a living medium for transmitting the heart and the Way.

The single character you write today may hold within it over 3,000 years of thought and the shape of the universe itself.