Calligraphy, Psychology and the Confucian Literati Personality

Our research in the past 40 years has identified beneficial effects of Chinese calligraphy handwriting (CCH) practice on visual attention, cognitive activation, physiological slowdown, emotional relaxation and behavioural change. We hypothesised that these outcomes may constitute a compressive set of foundations which could impact several traits of Chinese personality within the context of Confucian culture and values. Here, we give a brief overview of the background of CCH and its effect in the cognitive, physiological and bio-emotional domains. We then provide empirical evidence showing strong association of CCH and personality traits and discuss the results in the contexts of calligraphy practice and Confucian literati personality, Confucianism and Chinese personalities as well as calligraphy writing and tool-using psychological theory.