Taiwan became a colony of Japan in 1895. Since then, the colonial government started to modernize Taiwanese society. While new technologies, new education systems and new experiences were changing Taiwanese people’s daily life, the traditional calligraphy and paintings were also changed. The calligraphers blended into the common people and published their works. The art style and the artistic appreciation became modern and common custom. The early years (1895-1915) of Japanese colonial period was the key period of transition between traditional arts and modern arts. However, the researches on calligraphy activities and calligraphy styles during the early years of Japanese colonial period were little. Our research was based on the “Gaoshawenyaji”, which was the most important publication on calligraphy in the early years of Japanese colonial period. Through the calligraphies from the Gaoshawenyaji, we could gain a greater understanding of Taiwan calligraphy by discussing their artistic status, style evolution, spread situation and the difference between Japanese calligraphy style and Taiwanese calligraphy style.
In this dissertation, we present a quick review of political, economic and society status of Taiwan in the early years of Japanese colonial period. It’s the basis for understanding the relationship between poets’ community, intellectuals and traditional calligraphy. New calligraphy communities, new education systems, new exhibition design and especially the general textbook of calligraphy education created the Taiwan calligraphy which combined with traditional Chinese calligraphy and Japanese calligraphy. We explore the contents of the Gaoshawenyaji and discuss how it is published. We not only focus on the artworks by Japanese governor, officials, intellectuals, calligraphers, soldiers, monks and students but also complement the artworks by the famous calligraphers that are not included in the Gaoshawenyaji. On the other hand, we also look into the Taiwan calligraphers and students. After the discussion, we make a comparison of Chinese calligraphy, Japanese calligraphy and Taiwan calligraphy, and we arrive at a conclusion on the development of Taiwan calligraphy.