The traditional Chinese art of calligraphy is a treasure of Chinese civilization. In a sense, it is the essence of the country. More and more Chinese people like calligraphy. In recent years, it has accompanied the Chinese language to go abroad. More and more foreigners have become fond of Chinese calligraphy while learning Chinese.
At the same time, a new trend has emerged in the field of calligraphy in recent years. It's the art of ugly books. This has also given rise to different views.
In fact, I think that for ugly books, as a personal hobby, there is nothing wrong with it. But to promote as an art is debatable.
Especially for our next generation of children who have just learned About Chinese characters, as well as foreigners who are new to Chinese and calligraphy, how to spread the correct Chinese characters and chinese character calligraphy concepts and understandings is very important.
First, traditional calligraphy is a living fossil of the history of the development of Chinese characters.
Since ancient times, everyone knows the story of Cangjie's characters. Cangjie, as the historian of the Yellow Emperor of Xuanyuan, is said to have looked up at the heavens and looked down at the traces of birds, animals, insects and fish 5,000 years ago, creating the most primitive hieroglyphs in China. He collected, sorted, standardized, and used the words that circulated among his ancestors. Later, it gradually evolved into today's Chinese characters. Thus ending the obscurantist era of knotted rope memories in ancient times. He has made outstanding contributions in the process of creating Chinese characters and is a brilliant monument in the history of the inheritance and development of Chinese national civilization. Cangjie was also revered by posterity as the "Sage of Character Creation". But there are also people who think that Cangjie's characters are just legends. There are many people who think that there are many people who make characters, and he may just be the collator of Chinese characters. In any case, Cangjie is the creator or the finisher. Anyway, since then people have ended the primitive era of knotted rope memorization, and have a common tool that can be recorded and disseminated.
This is not only a major cultural progress, but also a breakthrough in the history of human development. The significance is very significant. As a unique hieroglyphic character possessed by the descendants of Yan huang, the square characters have determined the historical, cultural and artistic value of its existence from its birth.
For thousands of years, it has stood in the forest of human characters characterized by pinyin characters with its own unique style, and has become an important cultural heritage in the treasure house of human culture. The impact is far-reaching.
Since then, it has been in the long river of history, in the political, economic and social interaction activities of the continuous development and evolution, shine. Its existence promotes the progress and development of society, and in the process of improvement, it also has a unique aesthetic value.
And it should be Qin Shi Huang and Prime Minister Li Si after Qin unified the Six Kingdoms that pushed it to the top. Before the unification of the Qin Dynasty, the writing of each country was its own. After the unification of the Six Kingdoms, the Qin Dynasty was in dire need of a unified official script. So Li Si was commissioned to study and create a standard script, that is, a small seal.
Prior to this, the Chinese national script underwent a long process of development and evolution from oracle bone to jinwen. XiaoZhuan (小篆) is a unified form of Chinese character writing that evolved and created on the basis of the Great Seal Script originally used in the Qin State after the unification of the Qin Dynasty.
In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang accepted Li Si's suggestion and issued a general order banning the ancient script left by the various princely states, and all of them used the Qin seal as a unified script. The historic transformation of "book and text" has been completed.
From the Qin Dynasty onwards, due to the provision of a unified script. It facilitates the exchange of culture and other aspects of the region.
Since then, Li Si has adopted the simplified font that Cheng Mi sorted out, changed the circle to a square, and changed the curve to a straight font. It solved the problem that the seal book was not easy to write, and a new book style was formed, that is, the Lishu. Since then, lishu has been used as an official book style.
To the Han and Wei dynasties, the influence of the Lishu was removed by the Letter of Letters. Since then, the new script has become widely popular. Therefore, the standard Chinese character Lishu began in Qin and flourished in Han, until the popularity of Wei and Jin Kaishu was gradually replaced.
As an art of calligraphy, seal calligraphy and lishu are deeply loved by people because of their unique style. As a result, the four major calligraphy styles of Chinese calligraphy, true, grass, li and seal were gradually formed. The inheritance of this ancient culture for thousands of years has been soaked in the painstaking efforts of the Chinese nation for generations. The descendants of Yanhuang enjoyed its history and its beauty in the words that gradually evolved and matured and were full of the wisdom and aesthetic crystallization of the sages. And "horizontal and vertical" is the most basic principle of its writing. The first step of enlightenment for many students is to copy according to the field character grid.
Today, ugly books have lost the essence of these words. It will be set aside chinese characters that have been developed over thousands of years and are accepted for use by the world and are internationally known. Go for arbitrary variants. Completely lost the norms and beauty of the original Chinese characters. Before the Li Si reform, it was even a state of freedom and arbitrariness before Cangjie made characters, and it is difficult to agree that this is an innovation and progress in the art of calligraphy.
2. Traditional calligraphy is the crystallization of the magnificence of Chinese characters.
Traditional calligraphy is the most classic cultural symbol of the development of traditional Chinese culture for thousands of years. It has a strong appeal and almost religious worship of the people.
At the same time, it also subtly affects a person's mentality and helps others complete the sublimation of morality. For many years, it has become a way for people to cultivate their sexuality. There are many participants. People experience the charm of traditional culture in it. Enjoy it. It has long gone beyond the simple meaning of writing. It not only attracts countless Chinese people, but also attracts a large number of foreigners who like Chinese culture. For thousands of years, people have tasted all kinds of calligraphy works according to the aesthetic standards formed by traditional culture and accepted by everyone. A conventional high-low demarcation has been formed. It also recognizes the famous calligraphers of the past generations and their masterpieces. And use this as a benchmark for measuring all calligraphy works. These benchmarks have been studied and discussed by literati and scholars throughout the ages and have risen to the level of theory.
Let's give a few examples. Like what:
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, who was revered as the "Sage of Books", was the most famous and accomplished calligrapher in ancient and modern times. A monumental figure in the history of Chinese calligraphy. It has profoundly influenced Chinese calligraphy throughout the ages. He left behind a large number of fine calligraphy. The affiliation, grass, kai, and line are all widely used and grown up in their own right. The representative work "Orchid Pavilion Preface" is known as "the first line of the world", and "Qing Ti when the snow is fast" is also his representative work. The calligraphy of the Orchid Pavilion Preface is exquisite and amazing. The ancients' evaluation of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" is, such as "the breeze out of the sleeves, the bright moon into the heart". "Floating clouds, delicate like a dragon, waves and clouds, endless changes." Specific aesthetic standards have been formed. He changed the simple and stable style of writing since the Han and Wei dynasties. The majestic spirit is shocking. The composition, structure, and brushwork of the work are perfect, reaching the highest realm. In this regard, there have been many systematic evaluations in the past. Not a casual remark.
Yan Zhenqing was an outstanding calligrapher in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. It is the most accomplished and influential person after Wang Xi. His grass is calm, heroic, natural and magnificent. In his later years, he entered the realm of pure fire and divine enlightenment. It has left an outstanding model of calligraphy for future generations. His heirloom works include many inscriptions such as "Sacrifice nephew JiMing Manuscript", "Duo Pagoda Stele", "Battle for Seats" and so on. The "Sacrifice nephew JiMing Manuscript" is his one-shot draft, the words rise and fall with emotions, is a natural combination of spirit and skill, and has great artistic value. The whole article of "Duo Pagoda Stele" is strictly structured, the dot painting is regular, beautiful and strong, representing the basic style of its calligraphy, it is smooth and upright, and the rigorous and solemn writing has made many later scholars start from this monument. "Scramble for a Seat" jumped on the paper with a fierce spirit. The words are dashing and bold, full of vitality.
Ouyang Inquiry is a famous calligrapher in history. His calligraphy is strong and steep, the law is rigorous, and the structure is unique, which is called "European body" by posterity, known as the first Tang Dynasty calligraphy. Its source is Han Li. The calligraphy is "Jiucheng Gong Liquan Ming", and the xingshu is most famous for "Dream Dian Ti" and "Zhang Han Ti". Ouyang Inquiry's "Jiucheng Gong Liquan Ming" fully demonstrates the characteristics of the rounded Jinxiu. The structure is tight and the pen is compact and ethereal. Praised by all. It is the most copied work for beginners.
Zhang Xu is famous for his cursive writing, along with Huai Su. There are "Belly Pain Thesis" and "Four Ancient Poems" and so on. His "Belly Pain Post" was written casually because of his feelings, and it became a famous post for thousands of years. Each line of the work is stroked to the end, up and down, endlessly entangled, highlighting the characteristics of fast, crazy, strange and bumpy. The cursive context is vividly expressed. You can appreciate his brash and unbridled style. His "Four Ancient Poems" is full of strokes, with ups and downs in the writing, and interlaced with movement and stillness. It embodies the reasonable combination of artistic beauty and natural beauty.
Zhao Mengfu was a Calligrapher of the Yuan Dynasty. He inherited the essence of many calligraphers. Calligraphy is compatible. It has a unique artistic charm. The most accomplished calligraphy and writing are neat, flat and stable, gentle and elegant. He was an important milestone figure in the Upper Jin Dynasty and the Lower Qi, Ming and Qing Dynasties. He wrote the "Thousand Character Text" in six kinds of writing styles: ancient chinese, seal book, Lishu, Zhangcao, Kaishu, and Jincao, creating an unprecedented record. He is a far-reaching master in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
The superstars in the vast history of Chinese calligraphy have their own advantages. We can see only from these masters of calligraphy that for a long time, this field has developed its own unique aesthetic view, and it is accepted and appreciated by all. The works of these calligraphers have become the picture scrolls in people's minds, and they are regarded as treasures by both emperors, rich and wealthy people and Ichijing literati. Become a noble work of art. It has also become a yardstick for people to judge the merits of calligraphy.
Chinese culture has been thousands of years, and there are countless literati and inkers, but there are not many calligraphers. why? People have their own aesthetic standards.
We see that some ugly books do the opposite. It is puzzling whether there are specific standards, and aesthetic taste is no longer on the same track as traditional aesthetics.
Any genre should have its masterpieces, its unique style, and the support of its aesthetic theory. And eventually recognized by the vast majority of people.
Chinese calligraphy has been in place for thousands of years, and we have never heard of an ugly book. In the art of ugly books, there is no reason to accept and appreciate.
Today, ugly books actually obscure people's traditional aesthetics and subvert people's cognition. Its novelty has deviated from traditional aesthetic standards.
Traditional calligraphy is a classic of Chinese grammatical wisdom.
The typical feature of Chinese characters is square, pictogram. Its formation basically summarizes the six ways of pictograms, instructions, wills, shapes, sounds, transfer notes, and false borrowings, and is called the "Six Books". It concentrates the wisdom of the ancient sages in making words.
The "Six Books" are important concepts in philology and seal engraving. He Zhen, the most famous seal engraver of the Ming Dynasty, once famously said: "The six books are not refined and righteous, but can drive the knife like a pen, I do not believe it." He believes that without studying the "Six Books", there is no way to talk about seal engraving. He believes that knowing the seal is the foundation of the seal carving, and knowing the seal must know the source of the text, and knowing the source of the word must start from the "six books".
Similarly, the "Six Books" are an indispensable basic knowledge for learning calligraphy. Only by mastering its essence can you learn calligraphy well. Calligraphy and seal engraving have been inextricably linked since ancient times. The rationale is the same.
At the same time, for thousands of years, the "Six Books" have also brought great convenience to people to know and understand the origin of Chinese characters. It is very good for learning and mastering Chinese characters as soon as possible. If Chinese characters lose the characteristics of the "Six Books", they will be completely alienated and become symbols of unknown things.
In this regard, the ugly book Qiaqia will be the main forms of the traditional "six books", such as: elephant shapes, instructions, wills, etc., with its distorted and deformed way to a certain extent to confuse people's vision, blur people's thinking. The original well-behaved characters have become difficult to identify, and the original style and characteristics of Chinese characters have been lost. Let people's cognition be biased. Especially for children and teenagers, it is difficult to have positive significance.
Some people will say that in today's world of flowers blooming and innovating, it should be allowed to have different ideas in calligraphy.
That's true. But ugly books appear on the foundations of thousands of years of calligraphy history. Its roots are inseparable from the traditional Chinese characters.
As a new genre, it must be a work of art that transcends its predecessors, innovative and has unique aesthetic value. So what national essence has it promoted, and what scum has it discarded? To date, no convincing argument has been observed.
Perhaps the beauty of ugly books has not yet been discovered and accepted. That's only time to test.
Today, some ugly book lovers adhere to their own aesthetic concepts and are keen on their own pursuits, and I think the public can look at it with an inclusive attitude.
I am not opposed to an inclusive approach to an anti-traditional artistic concept. But your own point of view should be clear. Because how to teach the next generation is a subject that everyone cannot avoid.
Where is traditional calligraphy going? I think the crowd will have the right understanding and judgment.
I think there should be only one criterion, that is, whether it inherits, develops and innovates the traditional Chinese calligraphy art.
Because of adhering to the excellent civilization of the Chinese nation's tradition, it is the responsibility of every descendant of Yanhuang to carry forward the brilliant and magnificent calligraphy art of China.
(Original)
2021.12.4.