林语堂先生谈论书法与抽象画：
It is perhaps easiest to explain Chinese calligraphy by saying that it is really a form of abstract painting. The problems of Chinese calligraphy and of abstract painting are similiar. In judging Chinese calligraphy, the critics completely ignore the meaning of the words, and treat it essentially as an abstract composition. It is abstract painting in the sense that unlike painting in general, it does not try to portray any recognizable object. Chinese characters are composed of lines and combinations of lines put together in an infinite variety of ways, and art requires that these characters be put together beautifully in themselves, and in relation to other characters on the same line or page. As the Chinese characters are composed of the most complex elements, they presents all the problems of composition, including axis, contour, organization, contrast, balance, proportion, and above all, a central unifying conception of the whole.（林语堂《苏东坡传）
说中国书法是一种抽象画，这种解释真是再容易不过。中国书法的问题和抽象画的问题，确是相似。在评论中国书法时，评论者完全不顾中国字的含义，而根本上就将其看作一种抽象的组合。说中国字是抽象画，只因为不像普通画那样描写具象的物体。中国字由线条和线条构成的偏旁所组成，具有无限的变化，而艺术原理则要求这些字之排列成行，必须排列得美妙，必须须与同一行或其他行的字配合恰当。因为中国字由最复杂的成分所组成，所以呈现出构图的各种问题，包括轴线、轮廓、组织、对比、平衡、比例等项，尤其重视整体的统一。（张振玉译）