Han Stele or Modelbooks?

──Choosing Between the “Bones” and the “Breath” of Calligraphy

Anyone who begins studying calligraphy eventually encounters the same fundamental question:

“Should I learn from Han steles or from modelbooks?”

Should one confront the powerful characters carved into stone?
Or should one surrender to the flowing lines of masterpieces written on paper?

This question is not merely about choosing learning materials.
It reflects a deeper issue: how we understand calligraphy itself as an art form.

What Are Han Steles? — Learning the “Skeleton” of Writing

Han steles refer to inscriptions carved into stone.
Many date from the Later Han through the Tang dynasty and were created as national projects or religious monuments. As a result, they embody a strong sense of normativity and structural awareness.

What You Learn from Han Steles

• The logic of line thickness and weight
• Strict beginnings and endings of strokes
• Stability in character structure
• A concrete sense of rules in calligraphy

Carving into stone allows no second chance.
Each stroke must be deliberate and conscious, leaving little room for accident. Necessity, rather than chance, dominates.

In this sense, Han steles function as training for the physical structure of calligraphy itself—they build its bones.

What Are Modelbooks? — Learning the “Breath” of Writing

Modelbooks (fatie) are collections of masterpieces written on paper.
From the Running Style and Cursive Style of Wang Xizhi to Japan’s classical kana manuscripts, they vividly reflect the writer’s bodily sensations and emotional fluctuations.

What You Learn from Modelbooks

• The flow of energy connecting one line to another
• Changes in speed and rhythm
• Unity between breathing and brush movement
• The mental state of the calligrapher

The lines in modelbooks are always in motion.
Even lines that appear still contain hints of the next movement.

What you learn here is the sensation that calligraphy is a living, breathing motion.

Why Have They Been Framed as Opposites?

Historically, Han steles and modelbooks have often been described in opposition:

• Han steles: strength, discipline, structural power
• Modelbooks: elegance, naturalness, emotional expression

Yet in truth, they are not enemies.
They are two wheels of the same vehicle.

Bones alone cannot move.
Breath alone cannot stand.

Their relationship mirrors the human body itself.

Balanced Learning as Taught in Classical Calligraphy Theory

Classical calligraphy treatises warned early against imbalance.

Calligraphy dies if it leans too heavily toward rules.
It collapses if it drowns in emotion.

In other words:

• There is no freedom without structure.
• Structure has no life without freedom.

Studying only Han steles risks stiffness.
Following only modelbooks risks superficiality.

Calligraphy cannot be completed with only one.

Which Should Beginners Start With?

So what about actual learning order?

A General Guideline

• When studying Square Style or Clerical Style
  → Focus on Han steles to internalize structure and line quality
• When moving into Running Style, Cursive Style, or kana
  → Learn through modelbooks to absorb flow and rhythm

This order, however, is not absolute.
What matters most is identifying what you currently lack.

• If your lines are weak → return to Han steles
• If your writing feels rigid → immerse yourself in modelbooks

This back-and-forth movement is what sustains true progress.

The Unique Reception in Japanese Calligraphy

In Japan, the relationship between Han steles and modelbooks becomes even more complex.
With the development of kana as an independent tradition, modelbook-based sensibilities gained greater prominence.

Yet if you look closely at Japan’s greatest works, you will always find a solid foundation of Chinese character structure beneath them.

Han steles support what is unseen.
Modelbooks provide breath where it becomes visible.

This is the deep structure of Japanese calligraphy.

Conclusion — Not Choosing, but Moving Between

The answer to “Which should I learn from, Han steles or modelbooks?” is simple:

Do not choose only one.

Learning calligraphy is not linear—it is cyclical.

• Build bones with Han steles
• Circulate breath through modelbooks
• Return to Han steles to realign the axis

Only within this cycle does calligraphy mature.

If your writing feels too rigid, seek flow.
If it feels too light, seek weight.

Han steles and modelbooks stand beside you as two lifelong teachers, guiding your hand from both sides.