What is an "ugly book"? In fact, there is no unified concept of "ugly book", and there is no ugly book in ancient times, it is a word created by modern netizens themselves, that is, "ugly looking" calligraphy.
"It looks ugly" shows that it does not have a fixed standard. In calligraphy terminology, the evaluation of calligraphy is generally commented on in terms of elegance, vulgarity, or high or low style. But there is a kind of calligraphy, perhaps people who understand it feel that it is beautiful and good, and people who do not understand it will feel that it is ugly from a visual point of view, beyond the limited scope of evaluation.
So how do people define it? Gradually, people called this controversial calligraphy "ugly book". Chinese calligraphy, unlike any art discipline in the world, Chinese calligraphy is the art form with the most Chinese characteristics. In addition to looking at its technique, a calligraphy also requires an understanding of its background, past, and traditions, in other words, to see how much the author respects and respects the tradition and the Dharma.
In the Zhejiang Provincial Museum, a priceless treasure was preserved, which was once lost to the people and almost lost, and then after the Southern Song Dynasty great collector Liu Yuangang spent a lot of money to collect, compiled into the famous "Zhongyitang Fa Ti".
Its author is the calligraphy taidou Yan Zhenqing, among these Fa Ti, there is a work that is extremely controversial, known as the "best ugly book", it is Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy exploration is extremely successful, integrating calligraphy, calligraphy, cursive as one, but natural and harmonious, constructing a unique aesthetic realm.
This work is "Send Liu Taichong", which is the preface to Yan Zhenqing's book in the seventh year of the Gregorian calendar (772), 35.6 × 16.5 cm, 22 lines, 159 words, collected by the Zhejiang Provincial Museum. The original manuscript was first found in Song Mifu's "History of Books", which was composed when Yan Zhenqing sent Liu Taichong on a journey to the west.
Yan Zhenqing's work surpasses Wang Xizhi in brushwork and explores different paths. Mi Fu commented: "The radiant hair, the dragon and snake are vivid, and the sight is amazing." "The gist is that Yan Zhenqing boldly innovated, using the seal brushwork into the letters, lines, and grass, so that the lines are full and round, like a dragon and snake flying, which makes people look extremely excited!"
Yan Zhenqing uses the calligraphy techniques of "folding strands", "house leak marks" and "cone painting sand" in this article. It makes up for the shortcomings of the "Two Kings" brushwork and reaches the realm of "the greatest is no outside, the smallest is no inside".
The content of "Send Liu Taichong" is to give his life friend Liu Taichong brothers a grievance, lamenting that his talents are knowledgeable and not reused, which is a simple letter.
Since the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, led by the "Three Great Masters of the Early Tang Dynasty", the people of the world have studied books in accordance with the "Two Kings" paradigm, and when he came to Yan Zhenqing, he injected the han and Wei seals into the "Two Kings" system with his extraordinary artistic talent and bold artistic boldness, and this exploration was extremely successful, so there was this sentence of the historian Mr. Fan Wenlan: "Ou, Yu, Chu, and Xue of the Early Tang Dynasty are only the heirs of the Erwang calligraphy." Yan Zhenqing of the Sheng Tang Dynasty was the creator of the Tang Dynasty calligraphy."
It is reported that "Liu Taichong's Narrative" had great influence in the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, and the calligraphers Mi Fu, Dong Qichang, Wang Duo, Kang Youwei, Yi Bingshou and others all learned a lot from this post, and contemporary calligraphers participated in the exhibition, and they also participated in this post in techniques.
In the Fa-thesis handed down from Yan Zhenqing's life, the application of "seal qi" is not the "Battle for the Seat" or the "Sacrifice Nephew Manuscript", but the "Sending Liu Taichong Narrative".
Some people say that "Send Liu Taichong's Preface" is brilliant and vivid, which can be regarded as a masterpiece. Some people also say that Yan Zhenqing's "Send Liu Taichong Sequence" is superb in technique, but it does not look beautiful, so it was rated as a "high-quality ugly book", for a time there are many opinions, what do you think? Let me know in the comments section!