On December 27, 2021, Zhou Huijun, former vice chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, former chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association and well-known calligrapher, passed away in Shanghai at the age of 83. The surging news learned that this month's newly published "Zhou Huijun on Art and Literature Synthesis" Zhou Huijun wrote more than 30 years ago, "Learning Book Trivia", she traced her book learning process from three aspects: "posture", "pro post", "center forward, flank and partial front". Zhou Huijun recounted that after visiting the predecessor mr. Shen Yinmo in 1962, he "saw that his writing posture was different from that of ordinary people" and "did not know the reason, but tried to imitate it".
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In his later years, Shen Yinmo
Zhou Huijun (1939.12.6—2021.12.27)
I studied science, but later became a professional calligrapher. Looking back on my own book learning process, I feel that although there is no systematic experience and experience to talk about, because I have had similar experiences and learning environments with most amateur calligraphy enthusiasts, the bitterness, experience or lessons I experience may easily resonate and empathize. If the results of my study can inspire and help others a little bit, that is the biggest gain I have gained from writing this article.
I would like to share my dark views on some of the most frequently encountered problems in learning calligraphy.
Posture: The posture of writing, generally a sitting posture, requires a straight head, straight body, open arms, and foot security. This seems to be relatively easy to do, so when teaching calligraphy, it is often skimmed over. But I think this is precisely what cannot be ignored, and it is especially important that the direct impact on writing is the "open arm". At first, I didn't have this experience, thinking that posture was not as important as using pen technique, as long as the writing was good, the posture was ugly. In my later study and practice, I found that this idea of mine was wrong. The opening of the arm is really one of the keys to writing well, and it will directly affect the use of the pen. If the arm is not pulled apart, in the process of writing, the phenomenon of bias will often occur, and it is very difficult to reach the center of the pen.
The first time I felt that this problem existed was in 1962 when I had the opportunity to visit Mr. Shen Yinmo. I saw that his writing posture was different from that of ordinary people. His right arm, which was holding the pen, was not biased to the right side of his body, but was greatly stretched out, across the front of his body. At that time, I was still in contact with calligraphy, and when I saw the every move of the famous artists, although I did not know the reason, I wanted to imitate it. When I got home, I did it as I did, but I only felt ten twists. According to the usual law enforcement, the palm of the hand in front of the body is showing the direction of "vertical", and now it has become the direction of "horizontal". In this way, when writing a horizontal drawing, the pen needs to move from left to right with the arm, in the same direction as the direction of the arm movement. When writing vertical drawings, the pen is from top to bottom, and the movement of the pen is almost at a right angle of ninety degrees to the position of the arm, which is compared to when the palm is in the longitudinal direction: writing horizontal drawing, the movement of the pen is perpendicular to the arm, writing vertical drawing, the pen moves with the arm from top to bottom in the same direction, the situation is just the opposite. It is very difficult to change established habits, so although there is a willingness to imitate the great scholars, when it comes to actually imitating them, it is not the point, and the hand is contrary to the wishes. The words written, the dot paintings, and the structure are clumsily incomprehensible.
Zhou Huijun's book Mao Zedong", "Photographs of the Immortal Cave of Lushan Mountain taken for Comrade Li Jin's inscription", 1976
However, in the process of simulation, I also gradually realized some truths: after the arm is opened, the elbow is naturally raised and higher than the wrist. When writing, the entire arm must move up and down, left and right. The transport of the wrist and arm becomes an organic unity. Writing in this way, it is easy to write horizontally and vertically, the frame is wide, the momentum is open, and the pen strength is also steady and calm. In the future, when consciously deepening the understanding of this aspect, and then feel that the close person writes, so there are more biases, and in the lack of mastery of the correct learning methods and other factors, the arm can not be opened is also a key reason. Because the arm is not open, the palm of the hand is in a "vertical" direction in front of the body, when writing, due to physiological reasons, the brush hair often cannot be used on all sides. If you look at the cross-section of the pen head, it is often used to be biased towards the lower right part, while the upper left part is rarely used. With the pen can not be out of the front on all sides, the tip is often biased to the upper left, the brush hair can not be restored, the problem of the bias will arise everywhere. I think the ancients said that "it is better to rise and fall", that is, to manipulate this tube pen to rise and fall in all directions, in order to achieve the purpose of correcting the pen and maintaining the center.
Mao Zedong Phrase 1977
It also reminds me of an old calligrapher who once said that he opposed the palm of the hand. I think his claim is not unreasonable. Because, when the palm is erect, the wrist is the most difficult, if the arm is not opened, the strength of the wrist always forces the lower right half of the pen to wear paper, and it is not easy to strike on all sides. If the palm is not vertical, the force will not focus on the wrist and focus on the lower right half of the pen, so that it is easy to make the arm force reach the front through the fingers. The former makes the pen and paper contact with the surface (the lower half of the back), the latter is the point (the front end), it is obvious that the contact of the point has the advantage of moving on all sides and attacking on eight sides.
Zhou Huijun's book Qu Yuan's Nine Songs and Xiangjun, spring 1978
Zhou Huijun's "Studying Book Trivia", published in the sixth series of Calligraphy Studies in 1981.
Linti: The only way to learn calligraphy is to study the stele. The most common problem in pro posts is what to choose and how to write pro. I thought that after asking the teacher to introduce and recommend some posts, I could choose a post similar to my personality to learn according to my personal preferences, and I could not blindly listen to the teacher's arrangement. When I first learned, I was often afraid of taking the wrong path, cautious and cautious, hoping that the teacher could force the underground order, and had to learn the book. Experienced teachers do have unique insights in this regard, but we cannot ignore our own factors. A person must be sentient, have a sense of likes and dislikes, and will have feelings for what he likes, and he will work hard to pursue and take. When selecting posts, it is necessary to ask the teacher to introduce excellent inscriptions. But under this premise, we should no longer let everything be replaced by others, so that the teacher will die: learn this book this year, and learn that book next year. If in the face of a large number of listed posters, I really don't have the slightest likes, dislikes, dislikes, etc., then I think this person should be said to have no reason for calligraphy.
After choosing the posters, writing is an important lesson in learning calligraphy. In the practice, in addition to the training of basic skills in techniques, what is more important is the training of eye discernment ability, and these two aspects of training are complementary and indispensable. This is the relationship between the eyes and the hands.
When I was posting, my experience was: I must learn to be like this. In the process of learning to be "like", the eyes and hands can be rigorously trained. When you first start with a post, you may wish to write it one by one, and don't rush to write the whole word. Admittedly, writing stroke by stroke, the words are easy to write loosely and lifelessly. But I think that words should be angry, and it is not something that beginners can easily do. In the beginning, it is inevitable that there will be loose stages, because it is difficult for us to imagine that a person who has just learned to write, without fine observation, will see a word, and will be able to see at a glance the brush method and the collocation between the dot painting of each point in the word. If you overemphasize the qi of the word, it is easy to ignore the "like" requirement in the use of pen and structure, which will lead to relaxation in eye training. For people who have just learned to write and still lack the basic skills of pointillist painting, in the long run, the words will appear impetuous and slippery. The ills of modern people's simple and sloppy pens may stubbornly sway themselves. The difficult, meticulous brushwork of the traditions of the past will neither be keenly perceived, let alone studied and mastered. On the contrary, if you pay attention to each stroke at the beginning, carefully examine its starting form, the whole process of writing and closing the pen, understand its penmanship, and try to make the pen in your hand, the dot painting written can be the same as in the post, or gradually "like" it, then the effect received will be much better. Since it is required to write "like" (including pointillist painting and structure), it is necessary to have the ability to find out what is not like, even in very small places, do not let it go easily. In this process of gradually seeking "likeness", through the strict requirements of the eyes, it will also lead to the strict training of the opponent. After years of training, the eyesight has improved, the dot painting has passed, and on the basis of skilled dot painting, the gestures are naturally born. With gestures, you won't have to make loose structures.
Zhou Huijun Lin, Song Gaoling Temple Monument, 1986
In the years of studying books, through the practice of strengthening the observation ability when posting, I feel that I am more sensitive and meticulous in judgment and discernment, picking up a post or a word, no longer as dazed and overwhelmed as when I first learned, I can more quickly perceive the pen habits and structural characteristics of the original work, and it is easy to grasp the main features. This improvement in my eyesight is not only helpful for me to learn calligraphy, but also benefits a lot in my daily life. When I come into contact with other cultures and arts, such as seal carving, painting, literary works, and even the people and things around me, I naturally ask to grasp the main characteristics; pay attention to distinguishing between small differences. This ability to observe the things around us is in turn reflected in the book. I think calligraphy has always been regarded as a profound science, and it is not unreasonable to say that it can play a role in cultivating the body and mind and cultivating disposition. Big and small characters: In the past, I always thought that large characters were difficult to write and small characters were easy (generally referring to smaller words, not small letters). I think that writing large characters must have calm pen strength and pioneering momentum, and it is necessary to have superb calligraphy achievements. As long as the small characters are clearly explained, a word is so big, all within the scope of their own mastery, easy to deal with. In fact, this is a very one-sided view, over-looking at small characters and overestimating large characters. The psychology of ordinary people is like this, for the behemoth, it is easy to be intimidated by it, do not dare to touch it, but for small things but often despise it.
In the first ten years of studying books, I practiced more than one inch square words, and at most not more than two inches in size, and I did not dare to ask for big characters, and I was blindly intimidated by its "difficulty". Later, with the increase in the number of opportunities to participate in the exhibition, gradually began to practice writing big characters, after entering the professional unit, there are often the task of writing large works, I was originally afraid of writing big characters people were "forced to Liangshan", hard scalp dry. After practice, I feel that large characters are not as difficult to write as imagined, although there are high requirements in pen strength and momentum, but there are also places that are easier and "flattering" than writing small characters. Because the big characters are victorious by the momentum, the requirements of the pen do not have to and cannot be as strict and precise as the small characters. Generally speaking, the larger the pen, the rougher the brush, and when using the pen, it will not be as meticulous as writing small prints, so that the dot painting is clean. When people appreciate large characters, they will not appreciate them in such a small place, and often look at how its gas situation and rules are configured from the whole. Sometimes, the rough brush strokes inadvertently formed by the dry and frank brush strokes have a kind of reckless and dangerous meaning, which gives people a good impression. The knots of large characters are also easy to arrange, and it is easy to be dense, and these advantages happen to be the difficulties of writing small characters. Small characters must be able to withstand looking, we must use the pen thoughtfully, starting the pen, writing the pen, closing the pen, not sloppy at all, a little vague, will reveal the flaws. If you can't skillfully write with a center, you will appear weak and weak, and the knot will be difficult to play because of its small status, so that the writing is mediocre and lacks curiosity. Words can also be staggered in size like writing large characters, and the variable range is much smaller than that of large characters. Therefore, in fact, to write small characters well, it is more necessary to have profound basic skills in the use of the pen and an extraordinary arrangement ability in the knot.
Zhou Huijun
When I discovered this problem, I carefully analyzed my usual state when writing works, and there is indeed a phenomenon of great easy and small difficulties. When someone asks me to write a four-foot-four-open banner, I often have to lose paper to write a few before I am slightly pleased; it is easier to succeed in writing larger ones, and it is even more uncertain to write albums, and more paper is wasted, or it is written smoothly and without anger. I have also paid attention to other people's works, and this is often the case. For example, due to the limited space of the exhibition, it is necessary to ask a comrade's work to rewrite a smaller scale, and the small scale works after the rewriting are often not as good as the original large scale. From here, I feel the need to bring this discovery to the attention of everyone: that is, we should not underestimate the small print. In particular, there is a tendency at present, everyone likes to write big characters, the more the words are written, the bigger and bigger, every time there is an exhibition, everyone competes to write a large one, because the seat is large, and the reputation obtained is high; and some small ones, the author spent a lot of effort to write, often ignored. Small characters are not easier to write than large characters, for beginners, do not rush to emerge in the exhibition, blindly practice writing large characters, relax the writing of small characters, so over time, the hand is only accustomed to the training of large movements, for the fine, rigorous and complex pen will always be at a loss.
Center, Flanker and Side Forward: Since studying the book, I have been exposed to asking the center to use a pen. But can you achieve "pen and pen center" in the actual writing process? Have the inscriptions handed down throughout the ages been the use of center forwards? This necessarily involves the definition of a center forward.
According to my understanding, "making the pen heart always in the pointillism" can better illustrate the meaning of the pen used by the center forward. I thought that since the pointillist written by the center was complete and powerful, the operation of the brush hair must meet these two requirements: first, the brush hair follows the beginning and end of the pointill, running from left to right, rather than sweeping the past (taking the horizontal painting as an example); second, the front end against the paper.
Zhou Huijun , "Writing And Writing Posts - Selected Poems of Lu Xun"
In line with the first requirement, the brush can pass in a straight direction, the ink bet is not hindered, and the dot painting can be written roundly. However, if you can't put the pen tip up and make the tip against the paper, then the writing method that drags flat in the direction is focused on the root of the pen rather than the pen edge, and the dot painting written is dragged out, the ink is on the paper, and the line is weak and not tight. It is necessary to make the pen tip erect and the ink enter the paper from the tip of the edge, so as to achieve the effect of "penetrating the back of the paper" and "entering the wood for three points".
"Make the pen heart always travel in the dot painting" can be said to contain these two requirements. It will remind us that in addition to putting the pen edge in the dot painting, but also because the pen core contains the meaning of vertical, it will also force us to write with the edge of the pen upright, so that the pen edge is vertical on the paper and falls into the dot painting. In addition, I think that the word "ling" and a "chang" are also used very appropriately. It shows that the pen center is still "infrequent" when it is in the middle of the pointillist. This requires us to return the pen to the pointillist through the movement of the hand. Therefore, the process of making the pen center line in the dot painting and making the pen heart return to the pointill stroke should be regarded as the center of the pen.
Uplifting, 1981
Based on this understanding, I think that the flanking should really belong to the center of the pen. It is written in the process of restoring the pen from not in the pointillism to the line in the pointillism, which belongs to the "unusual" situation. If we do not have the ability to return the pen to the pointill painting, that is, the pen edge is on one side, the pen that tilts down cannot be erected, and it cannot be written with the edge, then the focus is on the root of the pen, and such a brush sweeps through, that is, the bias. If, although the pen edge is not centered, but the inclined pen is gradually erected through the action of lifting, the pen core gradually falls outside the pointill painting in the process of pen line, and returns to the middle of the pointill painting (not the center), although it is not perpendicular to the paper, but becomes a vertical oblique intersection, at this time, the pen transitions from the pen rooting the paper to the pen pointing at the paper. The dot paintings written are still vigorous and powerful, and such a pen is a flanking. So my experience is: flank and side. The pen edges are all on one side, but the former is forced through the front end, and the latter is forced to hold the pen root. The former is the pen center and the paper surface obliquely intersected, the front end against the paper, the latter is the pen center lying on the paper, the pen root paper. The center is the front end against the paper, and the pen is perpendicular to the paper. The flank should be between the center and the side, from the center to the center.
If the flanking is a center with a pen, then the statement "pen center" is understandable. Otherwise, in the inscriptions of the past, the use of flanking abounds, and I don't know how to explain it.
The above is some of my very superficial understanding, it is inevitable that there will be mistakes and inappropriate places, I hope to get everyone's correction and advice.
"Zhou Huijun on Art and Literature Synthesis", Shanghai Calligraphy and Painting Publishing House, December 2021
(This article is excerpted from "Zhou Huijun on Art and Literature Synthesis", originally titled "Learning Book Trivia".) ）