中国的书法艺术首先是书写汉字的艺术。汉字是世界上现存古老的依然沿用的文字体系之一，约起源与公元前1300年，至今依然被广泛地应用着。中国书法艺术创作，依赖于其独特的书写工具——毛笔、宣纸和墨汁，除了文字书写的实用功能外，还是屹立于世界艺术之林的独特中国艺术，本书选择中国当代有代表性风格的书法家126位，书法作品137件，客观反应了当代中国书法艺术的一流创作水平，同时还体现了当代中国书法在继承中国传统书法的同时，受到西方现代艺术思想影响的痕迹。

Chinese penmanship is an art form of writing Chinese characters with unique tools -- the brush, inkstick, inkslab and paper. The origins of Chinese characters can be traced back about 3,000 years, and they are still in wide use today. Besides its practicality, Chinese calligraphy constitutes a unique school in the world of art, apart from any other artistic tradition. Included in this book are 137 pieces of work by 126 calligraphers with different styles. From them we can not only keep abreast of current trends in calligraphic creation, but also find out impacts of Western modern art on Chinese calligraphers.