Bird of prey

"Eternal" is the kanji (i.e. Chinese character) that is used to demonstrate the eight basic strokes used in shodo (Japanese calligraphy). The character for "eternal" is called ei, and those eight strokes are collectively known as the eiji happo 永字八法, or the "'eternal' character eight methods."

It is useful to know about them, because they give further insight into the concept of "calligraphy and painting are one" (jiga dotai 字画同体) that is at the basis of the Chinese aesthetic.

Each of the eight stokes, like all kanji strokes, are inspired by something from the real world.  The 8th century Tang dynasty Chinese artist Zhang Zao said of his work that it was "A reaching outward to emulate Creation, and a turning inward to master the Mind." And because "calligraphy and painting are one," this applies as much to calligraphy as it does to painting. And in the case of calligraphy, you could say that the Mind is attempting to master itself (i.e., organize what it perceives of the world and give it meaning) by drawing on Creation for the tools (or, symbols) by which to do so.

When it comes to kanji strokes "emulating Creation," I want to talk about just one stroke here: the very first one, at the top of the "eternal" character. It is a simple dot, or to put it in Japanese, a ten.

However, even this ten, or dot, has an unexpectedly dramatic story. The classical Chinese name for it is soku which in itself is a kanji meaning "side," written 側.

How does the word "side" express the idea of a dot?

Think Rorschach, because this is where the seemingly irrelevant title of this post, "bird of prey," comes in. Have a look at the picture of the hawk here, scroll up and have another look at the ten, focus on the outline of the hawk, apply a touch of imagination, and see if you can work it out. Think "side".