"Words are the voice of the heart; calligraphy is the painting of the heart."
Master Yang

In Chinese culture, writing is a sacred art form. School children are taught to regard calligraphy with reverence, and are couraged to practice it only during moments of calm and tranquility. Only after years of practice can students begin to express their personal style, and embark on becoming masters of this scripted art.

Even though I am not able to converse and write in Chinese fluently, my strong interest in philosophy has persuaded me in understanding some of the most important Chinese characters. Therefore, I would like to share those by creating this dedicated page called "gifts from the heart". The calligraphy and descriptions are derived from the book "The Spirit of the Chinese Character" by Barbara Aria and Russell Eng Gon (ISBN 0-8118-0142-X).

In order to understand and observe those characters (there are 40 characters) easier, I have divided them into several parts in alphabetical order: