[400] Japanese Calligraphy - Bushido Watch

Introducing the Japanese calligraphy collection by C.7 Design Studio, showcasing digital paintings and reproductions of modern and historical calligraphy masterpieces, originally produced by various masters of past and present. Here you will find fully customizable products, featuring Bushidō (武士道) calligraphy. Bushidō (武士道), literally "military scholar road", is a Japanese word for the way of the samurai life, loosely analogous to the concept of chivalry. Bushido, a modern term rather than a historical one, originates from the samurai moral values, most commonly stressing some combination of frugality, loyalty, martial arts mastery, and honor unto death. Born from Neo-Confucianism during times of peace in Tokugawa Japan and following Confucian texts, Bushido was also influenced by Shinto and Zen Buddhism, allowing the violent existence of the samurai to be tempered by wisdom and serenity. Bushidō developed between the 16th and 20th centuries, debated by pundits who believed they were building on a legacy dating from the 10th century, although some scholars have noted "the term bushidō itself is rarely attested in premodern literature." Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, some aspects of warrior values became formalized into Japanese feudal law. The word was first used in Japan during the 17th century. It came into common usage in Japan and the West after the 1899 publication of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan. Japanese calligraphy (shodo) is a form of calligraphy, or artistic writing, of the Japanese language. For a long time, the most esteemed calligrapher in Japan had been Wang Xizhi, a Chinese calligrapher in the 4th century, but after the invention of Hiragana and Katakana, the Japanese unique syllabaries, the distinctive Japanese writing system developed and calligraphers produced styles intrinsic to Japan.