Calligraphy and Bureaucratic Administration in Tang China (618-907)

The Tang dynasty (618-907) experienced a great flourishing of calligraphy. Through the centuries the works of Tang calligraphers have become the venerated models for both Chinese orthography and aesthetics. Far from being merely a personal form of art expression, calligraphy played indeed a key role in the administrative apparatus of the Tang empire. Heavily relying on handwritten texts, the Tang bureaucratic system held handwriting skill and orthographic expertise in the highest consideration, as is evident from historical and palaeographic documentation. The present paper aims at outlining the bureaucratic framework within which calligraphy, intended in its broader sense, functioned as the means whereby texts were given graphic dignity, thus combining ethical and aesthetic goals.