Zeng Xi is Zhang Daqian's teacher, once with Wu Changshuo, Huang Binhong and other famous, can be said to be famous for a while, but now, even many calligraphy students do not know his name, this situation is in stark contrast to a hundred years ago. In fact, Zeng Xi's perseverance in calligraphy art to "enter the ancient" and the courage to "make new" are worthy of awe and deep reflection by contemporary people.
This year coincides with the 160th anniversary of Zeng Xi's birth, and "Zeng Xi Calligraphy Research" was recently published, which can be regarded as the first research monograph on Zeng Xi's calligraphy in China.
Zeng Xixiang
At the beginning of the study of Zeng Xi's calligraphy, in the face of a large number of Zeng Xi's works that have yet to be interpreted, I have been thinking: Zeng Xi was once known as the "Four Demons of the Sea" together with Wu Changshuo, Huang Binhong and other masters of calligraphy and painting, which can be described as famous for a while, but now not only is it not sought after by the public and the market, but even many calligraphy students do not know his name, which is a stark contrast with a hundred years ago. So, does his calligraphy art really have a breathtaking charm? Can his calligraphy art bring useful thinking and research value to the contemporary academic community?
Zeng Xi (front row middle) and Zhang Daqian (back row, first from right), Wang Geyi (back row middle) and other friends took a group photo
Zeng Xi and Zhang Daqian cooperate in the landscape vertical axis
As the research unfolded, the clouds of doubt that had been bothering me before gradually dissipated, and a clear and three-dimensional image of a calligrapher gradually appeared in front of me. Moreover, through my research, the author realizes that Zeng Xi is not just a simple calligrapher, but also a collection of traditional scholars, modern educators, calligraphy theorists, painters and other multiple identities in one. From Zeng Xi's calligraphy research, we can glimpse the calligraphy values and aesthetic trends of that era, and even see through the psychological dynamics of the artist group creation at that time, and then restore the real artistic ecology of that era. So, how meaningful is Zeng Xi's calligraphy research to contemporary times? The author believes that there are mainly the following aspects:
Zeng Xi seal book five words
First of all, Zeng Xi's perseverance in calligraphy art to "enter the ancient" and the courage to "make a new" deserve the awe and deep thinking of contemporary people. This kind of "entering the ancient" is embodied in three levels: First, the direction of "entering the ancient". In the context of the era when the atmosphere of epigraphy was shrouded and deteriorating, Zeng Xi had an accurate positioning of "following the ancient" and "entering the ancient", and he directly used the three generations and two Han seals as the source to criticize and correct the atmosphere of the stele calligraphy at that time, which reflected the unique vision. Further, he proposed that "the seal must be in gold, and the point must be in stone", "If the seal pen is divided, it will be divided into ancient times; if the pen is true, it will be true and elegant; if the real pen is done, it will be vigorous." The idea of learning books embodies the systematic consciousness of a mature calligrapher; the second is the comprehensiveness of "entering the ancient world". In order to crack the artistic code that runs through all kinds, Zeng Xi conducted a comprehensive combing and creative practice of the entire jinwen system, and then integrated the aesthetic imagery of the great seal and the "vibrating pen" brushwork extracted from it into each body, which not only practiced the pen and ink kung fu like Qu Tie and broken gold, but also enriched the artistic appeal of each body, laying a foundation for calligraphy innovation; the third is the depth of "entering the ancient". Zeng Xi did not stop in the brush and ink swimming of the ancient seals, but went deep into the internal principles of his penmanship and spiritual temperament, looking for the common law of "consistency" between different book styles and styles. In terms of "coming out of the new", Zeng Xi took the ancient seal brushwork as the source and transformed it into a more lyrical and freehand "trembling pen" form with the core of "sudden setback and turning", which was applied to the seal, li, kai, xing, grass and other bodies, with "quality" with "Yan", rigid and soft interaction, so its kai and xingshu were also permeated with a quaint and elegant atmosphere. In particular, because his cursive writing borrows the thread of the Great Seal, it is more fluent than that of Shen Zengzhi, Kang Youwei and other calligraphers who took the Capital North Monument, and it is of great reference significance in the contemporary context of the prevalence of the flowing and slippery cursive style. It can be said that his attempt not only changed the traditional face of epigraphy, but also injected new vitality into the practice of the integration of stele and posthumous. This creative practice of Zeng Xi's brushwork is still widely borrowed and interpreted in today's epigraphical style, but there are many fewer books who can immerse themselves in "entering the ancients" like Zeng Xi. The famous painter Li Keyan once proposed to "use the greatest skill to fight in, with the greatest courage to fight out", although the contemporary book world is still calling for "entering the ancient" and "out of the new", but it is often easy to rush to "out of the new" and "into the ancient" is not enough and "into the ancient" and less than innovative two extremes, at this point we should pay tribute to the Republic of China writers represented by Zeng Xi.
Zeng Xi lishu five words
Secondly, Zeng Xi's five-body calligraphy art literacy is worth learning from contemporary calligraphers. Looking back on the century-old history, Zeng Xi, as a calligrapher who grew up at the turn of the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, his comprehensive artistic attainment has undoubtedly brought a clear breath to the Shanghai book scene that is full of atmosphere. During his lifetime, he left a large number of calligraphy works, covering the five bodies of seal, li, kai, xing, and grass. These works are taken from the Qin and Han dynasties to the people of the time, spanning a very large range and forming an extremely rich form of expression, just like a vivid history of calligraphy style. We often find combinatorial works such as "four-body book" in Zeng Xi's calligraphy, which on the one hand reflects the strong market demand for new requirements for calligraphers and multi-body, on the other hand, it also shows Zeng Xi's professionalism and persistent pursuit of technology as a professional calligrapher.
Zeng Xikai wrote eight words
Zeng Xizhang grass fan noodles
In contrast, in the contemporary book world, many scholars cling to a family or indulge in a certain style, and with a little achievement, they regard themselves as bookmakers, lacking the pursuit of "knowledge and excellence". Compared with the late Qing Dynasty and Republic of China calligraphers represented by Zeng Xi, contemporary calligraphers generally do not have enough "knowledge", so they lack the practical foundation of forging and casting various bodies, which is worth reflecting on.
Zeng Xi Codex
Third, the traditional cultural cultivation of the Scholars of the Republic of China represented by Zeng Xi is worthy of reference and study by contemporary scholars. Zeng Xi was not originally a professional scholar, but the last batch of traditional literati in China's feudal society. He read poetry books, and "extraterritorial skills" such as classics, history, philology, and epigraphy were all involved, coupled with detailed study of inscriptions and follow-up, he successfully transformed into a "literati-type" calligrapher. By studying Zeng Xi's theory of calligraphy, we can glimpse his profound efforts in traditional culture, and he can always outline profound principles in the most concise and clear language, such as "The Seal is subordinate to the Noble Commission, and the book is leaping to take the gods", "Three generations of Ding Yi, Ancient and Simple Qi'ao, these three hundred pieces, away from the saoya", etc., this generalization ability benefits from his many years of poetry writing training. In addition, from Zeng Xi's calligraphy and painting inscriptions, we can not only read his understanding of art as a calligrapher, but also read the profundity of philosophers, the far-reaching of poets, and the meticulousness of scholars, which are the embodiment of Zeng Xi's profound traditional cultural foundation. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why when we read Zeng Xi's books and inscriptions, we can appreciate the strong academic self-confidence revealed in them. It is precisely because most of the calligraphers before the Republic of China were traditional literati, and calligraphy is only a small part of the academic structure, so their calligraphy has a natural literati temperament. Compared with the Republic of China, the living context of calligraphy has undergone fundamental changes, the practicality of calligraphy has gradually withdrawn from the historical stage, and the calligraphy carriers that used to be popular in the past, such as couplets, letters, shou tents, plaques, and epitaphs, are no longer today's daily necessities. As a result, calligraphy gradually coexisted from art and practicality in the Republic of China to today's pure art. This profound change will inevitably lead to the restructuring of the consumer and appreciator structure of calligraphy works, prompting the group of calligraphers to eventually move towards specialization. The direct consequence of this specialization is the "narrowing" of the calligrapher's academic vision and cultivation pattern, which places too much emphasis on pen and ink technology and ignores the overall improvement of comprehensive cultural accomplishment such as literature, philosophy, and history. Looking at today's book world, fewer and fewer people can write their own poetry associations like Zeng Xi and other Republic of China calligraphers, not to mention distilling their pen and ink practice into calligraphy theory ideas for future generations to learn. Therefore, compared with Zeng Xi and other Republic of China calligraphers, if contemporary calligraphers still lack a little artistic self-confidence and academic self-confidence, the root cause is the lack of comprehensive cultural literacy.
Zeng Xi Xiaokai's "Letter to Ding Lijun" part
Zeng Xi's "Old Picture of the Sense of The Official"
In summary, in the interpretation and appreciation of Zeng Xi's calligraphy, we can always continue to find one shining point after another that is difficult to hide in the art of the Republic of China, his inclusive artistic practice and bold and innovative spirit of exploration, his profound cultivation of poetry, calligraphy and painting, and the lofty pursuit of both virtue and art, all of which enlighten contemporary calligraphy scholars.
Zeng Xi Calligraphy Research
(This article was originally titled "The Contemporary Significance of Zeng Xi Calligraphy", the author is a doctor of aesthetics at Chinese Min University, and an associate research librarian at the National Museum of China)