Unknown Maker, Japan

Chinese calligraphy is presented on many materials, from silk and paper to wood and stone. Each medium has its own limitations, and reproducing calligraphy across materials requires complex adjustments. This work resembles a stone rubbing, but it was made using a form of Japanese woodblock printing known as ishizuri-e. Since both prints and rubbings can be mass-produced, this reproduction allowed greater accessibility to a work of calligraphy that would have otherwise only been seen by a select few, widening the artistic and intercultural exchange between China and Japan. The conversion to print also signifies the high status placed on the original calligraphy, as the act of reproduction signifies its importance.