Iconoclasm and the Development of Calligraphy

──The “Sacredness of Writing” Seen Through a Comparison of Islam and East Asia

Why did calligraphy develop so intensely in the Islamic world, while in East Asia it came to be regarded as the highest form of art?
One of the key factors behind this phenomenon lies in how each culture treated images and idols.

On one side stands a religious culture founded on strict iconoclasm.
On the other, a culture that accepted images, yet discovered a special power and sanctity in written characters.

By comparing Islam and East Asia, this article explores a fundamental question: why did calligraphy evolve so profoundly in these civilizations?

What Is Iconoclasm?──A Fundamental Principle of Islam

God as the “Unrepresentable”

In Islam, God is regarded as absolutely invisible and formless.
For this reason:

• Depicting God in visual form
• Worshipping images of deified figures

have been fundamentally avoided.

This principle is commonly referred to as iconoclasm.

The Irrepressible Urge to Express

Yet human desires do not disappear:

• the desire to worship
• the desire to express
• the desire to leave something behind in visible form

When images were closed off as a means of expression, writing emerged as the alternative.

Calligraphy as a Device for Making the “Word of God” Visible

The Qur’an and Writing

In Islam, the most sacred presence is the Word of God itself.
The act of recording that word:

• accurately
• beautifully
• permanently

was considered prayer and religious practice in itself.

Thus, calligraphy developed not as decoration, but as the very core of faith.

The Inevitability of Abstraction

Because God could not be depicted, calligraphy naturally moved toward abstraction:

• rhythmic lines
• geometric structures
• repetition and order

Letters ceased to be mere conveyors of meaning and became visual forms symbolizing divine perfection.

The Relationship Between Images and Writing in East Asia

Images Were Not Forbidden

In East Asia—particularly in China and Japan—

• Buddhist statues
• divine images
• portrait paintings

were not prohibited.

Despite this, calligraphy rose to a status even higher than painting.
Why?

Characters as Thought Itself

In East Asia, characters were never just symbols.

• sacred texts
• history
• poetry
• ethics

were all transmitted through writing.

Especially within Confucian culture, a strong belief prevailed: writing correctly meant being morally correct as a person.

Why Writing Was Valued Above Images──Calligraphy as a Mirror of Character

In the tradition of Chinese characters, it has long been believed that:

• the way a stroke begins
• the strength or weakness of lines
• the handling of space

reflect the writer’s mental state and character.

Images capture outward appearance; calligraphy exposes the inner self.

This philosophy elevated calligraphy from a technical skill to a Way—a lifelong discipline.

A Shared Destination──The Moment Writing Became Sacred

Islam and East Asia followed different historical paths, yet arrived at the same point:
writing as a sacred, spiritual, and artistic act.

Shared characteristics include:

• correctness and beauty are inseparable
• lines arise from the unity of body and mind
• silence and blank space carry meaning
• the act of writing itself becomes a form of training

It is remarkable that both an iconoclastic culture and a culture that accepted images ultimately elevated writing to the highest form of expression.

Iconoclasm as “Direction,” Not Restriction

Iconoclasm was not a suppression of expression.
Rather, it redirected expression into another dimension.

In Islam, the closure of images opened infinite possibilities for calligraphy and geometry.
In East Asia, even with images present, writing was placed at the spiritual center.

As a result, calligraphy became an art that carries the deepest layers of civilization itself.

Conclusion──Writing as a Vessel for the Invisible

God, thought, spirit, time──
all are fundamentally formless.

That is precisely why humanity sought to house them within written characters.
On this point, iconoclastic Islam and calligraphy-centered East Asia are in perfect agreement.

Calligraphy may be humanity’s oldest and most refined expressive device—
one that reveals the invisible through lines and silence.