Kana calligraphy and wayō

Kana are phonetic characters that grew out of simplified, cursive forms of Chinese characters. After Chinese characters reached Japan, calligraphers learned from Chinese writing and gradually built expressions of their own. From the middle of the Heian period a style called wayō appeared that China did not have; its full, rounded lines can be seen in the writing of Fujiwara no Yukinari. As waka poetry flourished, writing in kana developed with it. Kana calligraphy scatters lines across the sheet (chirashigaki) and links characters in a run (renmen), and it unfolds on decorated paper. Such pieces came to be prized as meihitsu, celebrated writing, used as models for study and as works to admire; from the Muromachi period, fragments of them were mounted as hanging scrolls for tea gatherings.

First follow how the characters link and scatter across the sheet, then notice whether the paper itself is decorated.

• Chinese calligraphy 書（中国の書）→Japanese calligraphy began by learning from Chinese calligraphy.