Chinese painting was usually about MORAL behavior, like respecting authority, honoring elders and things like that. But Chinese calligraphy was believed to reveal the inner character of the individual artist.

This is important to know, because during the Han dynasty the Chinese had two main PHILOSOPHIES, or belief systems, and their art paralleled those beliefs.

One philosophy was DAOISM, which emphasized the relationship of humans and nature, individualism and nonconformity. Like the art of calligraphy.