本研究旨在探讨中国书法在欧州地区的接受史。通过梳理诸多一手文献和相关材料，还原欧洲文明与中国书法交流的过程，探索各历史时期与不同群体对中国书法认知的变迁。本研究对指称“书法”的词汇（如：英语“Calligraphy”、十六世纪英文“Calygraphie”，希腊语“Καλλιγραφια”，拉丁语“Calligraphia”，法语“Calligraphie”等）进行了全面的词源考辨和演变分析，通过原始文献还原了各历史时期特定语境中的含义，确定了公元二世纪出现的希腊语“Καλλιγραφια”多指“华美词藻”。至1590年，这一术语被英国撰写书写指南的人借用，首次以“Calygraphie”表示“漂亮书写”。本文将欧洲对中国书法的接受史分为五个阶段：神魔期、怀古期、装饰期、标本期以及心画期。在神魔期，欧洲人尚未形成书体概念，不分古今，将汉字与充满神性的圣书体或充满魔性的字符关联在一起，初步形成书体阶级思想。怀古期的欧洲人通过对印章文化的观察注意到篆书，意识到中国书体的古今差异，以古为美，“今体”走下神坛。装饰期始于十八世纪，随着中国风在欧洲贵族中的流行，人们开始注意到汉字的装饰作用，但并未有阅读的需求。在标本期阶段，欧洲人以科学的眼光对汉字的偏旁部首以及结构进行分类和梳理。殖民主义者志在减少欧洲人对中国人的依赖，希望在无本地人的帮助下释读行草书。19世纪末，欧洲迈入心画期，欧洲人开始欣赏书法作为一种纯粹艺术形式的存在，并积极学习行草书。从十六世纪到如今，欧洲书法接受史经历了四百多年的时间，克服了已有观念的冲突、认知偏差的干扰、和跨语境传播的误导。从一个崭新的角度，见证和审视这段历史，对于放眼全球文化艺术史的互动和交流，对于理解并促进新时代新语境下中国文化的输出路径和模式具有重要的学术意义。
This study aims to explore the reception of Chinese calligraphy （shufa） in Europe and North America. By reviewing various first-hand documents and related materials, it seeks to reconstruct the process of exchange between European civilization and Chinese calligraphy, as well as investigate the changes in the perception of Chinese calligraphy across different historical periods and social groups. The research conducts a comprehensive etymological and evolutionary analysis of the terminology most commonly used to denote the Chinese word ＂shufa＂ （i.e. the English: ＂Calligraphy＂; 16th-century English: ＂Calygraphie＂; Greek: ＂Καλλιγραφια＂; Latin: ＂Calligraphia＂; and French ＂Calligraphie＂, etc.）. By examining original sources, the study retrieves the specific contexts of meaning in various historical periods, establishing that the Greek term: ＂Καλλιγραφια＂ in the 2nd century AD primarily referred to ＂beautiful turns of phrases.＂ It was not until 1590, that the term was borrowed by English authors of writing guides, for the first time denoting ＂beautiful writing.＂This thesis categorizes Europe‘s reception of Chinese calligraphy into five stages: the Divine and Demonic Period, the Nostalgic Period, the Decorative Period, the Specimen Period, and the Heart Print Period. During the Divine and Demonic Period, Europeans had not yet developed the concept of script styles, conflating Chinese characters with divine hieroglyphs and demonic sigils of grimoires, thus laying the foundation for hierarchical conceptions of script forms. During the Nostalgic Period, Europeans began to notice seal script （zhuanshu） through observing Chinas seal carving culture, recognizing the ancient-modern distinctions in Chinese scripts, favoring antiquity over modernity, leading the jinti （modern script forms） to descend from their pedestal. The Decorative Period began in the 18th century with the popularity of Chinoiserie among European nobles, who began appreciating the decorative function of Chinese characters without necessarily requiring the ability to read them. In the Specimen Period, Europeans approached Chinese characters with a scientific mindset, categorizing and analyzing radicals and structures. Colonialists aimed to reduce Europe‘s dependency on Chinese interpreters, seeking to decipher cursive scripts without local assistance. By the late 19th century, Europe entered the Heart Print Period, in which Europeans began to appreciate shufa as a form of pure art, actively learning and creating art using cursive scripts.From the 16th century to the present, Europe‘s reception of Chinese calligraphy has spanned over four hundred years, overcoming conflicts of existing conceptions, cognitive dissonance, and transcending the language barriers which so often hamper cross-cultural dissemination. In this global era of cultural and artistic exchange, bearing witness to and examining this overlooked history from a fresh perspective holds significant academic importance in understanding the pathways and modalities of Chinese cultural dissemination.
