Long Desheng: Reflections on the Artistic Attributes of Chinese Calligraphy

Abstract: Chinese calligraphy is the right vein of Chinese culture and the foundation of Chinese sinology, inheriting the inherent "cultural attributes" of Chinese tradition, and is not a "purely artistic" discipline. "Artistry" is only a characteristic attached to "calligraphy", which is the expression of calligraphy, but it is not the essence of calligraphy. The Chinese characters shaped by calligraphy are not only artistic on the "physical level", but also practice and enlightenment at the "metaphysical" level of the "mysterious path". However, in the current era when the practicality of calligraphy is gradually being dissolved, traditional calligraphy has been impacted by Western pure art theory, resulting in a divergence in the understanding of the attributes of calligraphy. To this end, on the basis of in-depth thinking about the attributes of Chinese calligraphy, the author suggests that "calligraphy" and "calligraphy" be separated, so that the "traditional cultural attributes" can return to the "calligraphy" ontology, and the "artistic composition attributes" should be placed in the "calligraphy art".

Keywords: calligraphy Cultural attributes Artistic attributes Calligraphy

The artistic nature of calligraphy is an academic proposition worth exploring, and it is also a historical topic that has been controversial since the last century. The traditional school of calligraphy focuses on the chinese vein and emphasizes the inheritance of the unique "cultural attributes" of the Chinese nation. The calligraphy schools influenced by the western modern concept of "pure art" amplify the "artistry" of calligraphy and, to a certain extent, dissolve the adherence to inherent cultural attributes. The author has been concerned about this issue for more than thirty years, and I have thought about it for a long time and have a slight understanding, and I have compiled this article to exchange and discuss with the fang family in the book industry.

First, calligraphy is not a purely artistic discipline, but the foundation of Chinese sinology and the right vein of Chinese culture.

Whether calligraphy should be attributed to art is not today's proposition, which has been debated as early as the 1920s and 1930s. At that time, under the influence of "learning from the West and gradually learning from the East", some people proposed to classify calligraphy and painting as art, and many literati scholars represented by Zheng Zhenduo firmly believed that calligraphy was not art. These gentlemen resolutely rejected this view, believing that attributing calligraphy to art was to reduce the fundamental attributes of calligraphy in relation to the generation, development, and application of Chinese characters. Therefore, no matter what occasion Mr. Qi Gong always emphasizes his identity as a teacher, preferring to be a "literati" who teaches, never saying that he is a "calligraphy artist". In the 1990s, when the author discussed the attributes of calligraphy with Mr. Yao Dianzhong, a master of traditional Chinese studies, Mr. Yao also emphasized that he was a scholar, not a "calligraphy artist", and he added a "engage" word in front of "calligraphy", which pointed out the characteristics of the "pure art" school of calligraphy and clearly drew a line with it.

The author believes that the reason why these predecessors emphasized their "literati" identity was mainly to adhere to the "traditional cultural attributes" of calligraphy and negate the "pure artistic attributes" that had been alienated by Western learning. Ancient Chinese literati did the study of "Xiu Qi Zhi Ping". Professional practitioners, on the other hand, pursue the superb and skillful craftsmanship of skills, and even if they have high achievements, they are only classified as "artists". For traditional literati calligraphers, calligraphy is not just a simple writing technique, but a comprehensive knowledge that includes the generation and application of Chinese characters and the rules of writing. Therefore, in the depths of their minds, they think that the pursuit of only the artistization of writing should be classified as "artists", which is naturally unwilling to accept. It can be seen that the older generation of calligraphers are often reluctant to treat calligraphy as a pure art, but stick to their identity as a scholar. It is this pursuit of learning and nourishment, the pursuit of historical inheritance, and the emphasis on extra-book work that have achieved their high level of calligraphy.

Second, "artistry" is a characteristic attached to "calligraphy", a form of expression of calligraphy, not the essence of calligraphy.

Culture is the root of the nation, and for Chinese culture, Chinese characters are not only its carrier, but also its root. Calligraphy is essentially a philological science, and it is the law of Chinese character writing, that is, it is a recognized law, and everyone must abide by it.

The life of calligraphy lies in "sameness"! Without "sameness", we do not understand each other and do not understand each other, and we are not enough to become a written media. As a tool for mass communication and communication, calligraphy pays attention to the unified "law" principle, pays attention to the norms of mutual recognition, and pays attention to the rules of inheritance from generation to generation, which can be said to be the fulcrum of cultural and written inheritance. The history and culture of Yangyang China that has been living endlessly for thousands of years depends on the same text of the book, and this "sameness" depends on the "law." Of course, with the expansion of textual communication, the method of calligraphy is no longer a simple "law", but naturally increases the meaning of the method of expression.

However, at the same time, calligraphy has a special temperament, that is, the unique "artistry" of calligraphy. That is to say, according to different aesthetics, it is more beautiful, more elegant, and more pleasing to the eye within the norms of calligraphy.

What needs to be explained here is that "artistry" and "art" are not completely consistent. We all know that no matter politics, science and technology, culture, art, etc., social disciplines can be divided into more categories, and there is no absolute and clear boundary between each category, more situations are intersecting and integrated with each other. For example, a chef with a high level can be called a good cook, but because it is called "art", the chef cannot be classified as an artist. For example, politics is not art, but it can be said that political art can be said, but politics cannot be attributed to art because it is said, and calligraphy is the same.

The artistry of calligraphy is very strong, which is where calligraphers are pursuing "sameness" and different, hoping to write different charms and styles within the same writing rules. But no matter how artistic the calligraphy is, he is still calligraphy after all, just as no matter how well a cake is made and how artistic it is, he is not a sculpture after all, he is food after all, and calligraphy is the same.

The life of art lies in "different"! As Chairman Mao Zedong said, "A hundred flowers bloom and the old emerge from the new", General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "innovation is the life of literature and art". Therefore, art emphasizes continuous innovation and creation, in other words, it is to seek change, and to seek different art has vitality. To put it more thoroughly, art is mainly based on seeking "difference" and striving for change on the basis of inheritance, while calligraphy is mainly seeking "sameness" and is fully inherited in the atmosphere of the integration era.

Third, the Chinese characters shaped by calligraphy are not only artistic shapes on the "metaphysical level", but also practice and enlightenment at the "metaphysical" level of the "mysterious path"

Wang Shengqian's "Pen Yi Zan" has a saying that "the wonderful way of the book, the divine brilliance is the supreme, the form is secondary" [], and the Zhou Yi Zhi Ci also contains "the metaphysical one is the way; the metaphysical one is called the instrument" []. It can be seen that the calligraphy path contains not only the structural shape of the "physical" level visible to the naked eye, but also the spiritual level, which can only be perceived and perceived. The pursuit of the "physical" level can be achieved through pure artistic modeling training, and can be mastered through skill proficiency. The pursuit of the "radiant" level must be nourished by profound learning and rich life perception, and it needs to be realized with the practice of life and soul.

From the point of view of right, if calligraphy is attributed to the mysterious "Tao", it is inevitable that the calligrapher must have the nourishment of profound learning and the breath of divine brilliance. If this is the standard, many people will certainly be turned away from "calligraphy". However, if calligraphy is defined as a simple art, it only needs to stay at the level of "form", which is actually a reduction in the dimensionality of calligraphy standards. The "pure artistic" calligraphy that exists in the current society is very consciously accepting the proposition of "calligraphy as morphology", and their cognition of calligraphy basically stays at the level of "Chinese character visualization", all of which are understood by calligraphy as graphics, and they are very concerned about the physical structure and schema composition of calligraphy works, very concerned about the contrast of forms, and very concerned about the tension and quality of lines. This kind of calligraphy, which starts from the graphic, alienates the traditional poetry and realm, ignores the emotions and mood of the calligrapher, and dilutes the cultivation of connotation, thus lacking nourishment in terms of "radiance" and reducing the style of calligraphy.

From the perspective of the main body of calligraphy creation, when people only understand calligraphy as an artistic pattern composition, it will inevitably lower the threshold of traditional calligraphy to a large extent, resulting in an influx of calligraphers who know little about the text and blindly pursue modeling. Some calligraphers who do not pay attention to the nourishment of learning abandon the development law of traditional calligraphy itself, but choose a relatively simple path, using the Western "pure art" way to create or innovate more "freely" boldly. Under the misleading society of this cognition, some people began to use the banner of "pure art" to make traditional calligraphy into bizarre, even absurd and ridiculous "performance art". For a while, roaring books, jumping books, shooting books, mop books, human organ books, picture books, and enjoying themselves. Others want greater recognition. While carrying out the so-called "innovation," he told everyone from time to time how thick his traditional skills were and how deep his kung fu of abiding by the "law" was, so as to argue that the "law" was only the primary level, and that his roar, jump, and shot were developed to a high-end level. And this little trick has indeed confused many people. Because of this, those who regard calligraphy as a scholar are spiritually shocked, and they think that the world of calligraphy that they have spent their lives building in the depths of their souls seems to be washed away. As a result, some people shouted indignantly, calling for calligraphy to return to learning. Other scholars are ashamed to associate with the characters who have artized calligraphy.

Fourth, it is suggested that "calligraphy" and "calligraphy" be separated, so that the "traditional cultural attributes" return to the "calligraphy" body, and the "artistic composition attributes" are placed in the "calligraphy art".

At present, the calligraphy community has seriously diverged in the understanding of the attributes of calligraphy, and I think the root of the problem lies in the change in the social ecology in which "traditional calligraphy" has settled down, and this huge social change is revolutionary and subversive, and its development direction is irreversible. In this situation, how to maintain the traditional cultural attributes of calligraphy and adapt to changes in the situation? I think that the best way is to guide according to the situation, divide and rule, and separate "calligraphy" and "calligraphy", just as singing can be divided into bel canto singing and national singing, let the "calligraphy" school adhere to the traditional path, "keep the right and innovate" in the development, and strive to cultivate a high-quality calligraphy talent team with traditional Sinology cultivation to ensure that there are successors to traditional calligraphy. On the basis of maintaining the ontology of Chinese characters, the "book art" school will use the methods and laws of studying the composition of art and the research methods of modern science to open up a new aesthetic realm of Chinese character art.

On the one hand, it is necessary to further clarify the "cultural attributes" of "calligraphy" and make calligraphy truly the symbol and essence of Chinese culture. "Chinese characters are the root of Chinese culture and the basic carrier of Chinese poetry, history and philosophy" "Chinese calligraphy is first of all words, and then art." Therefore, to adhere to the "traditional calligraphy" for a long time, it is necessary to base itself on the inheritance of Chinese culture, on the profound history of calligraphy for thousands of years, on the evaluation criteria of calligraphy aesthetics that have continued for two thousand years, and on the humanistic core of "characters like people" and "characters are made before people".

However, this kind of "calligraphy" with culture as the core requires creators not only to have the artistic aesthetic pursuit of brushwork, calligraphy and chapter law, but also to have a higher humanistic aesthetic pursuit, not only to "be apprenticed with the ancient" and "to be new with the ancient", to "advance in technology" and "to be virtuous and artistic". This kind of calligrapher who takes traditional calligraphy as the standard must not only be able to write well, but also have a fairly good background in traditional Chinese studies and emotional cultivation. In today's society, in the current calligraphy circle, there are indeed very few calligraphers of this standard. It is precisely for this reason that some people of insight in the calligraphy circle have vigorously called for "calligraphy should not become a matter for a few people, it should really be a major event for the whole nation", advocating "writing Chinese characters well, doing a good job of Chinese, and realizing the Chinese dream". Emphasize the need to strengthen the education of traditional Chinese culture, and use this to inspire and guide people, so as to enhance the people's cognition and feelings of the cultural attributes of calligraphy, truly let the Chinese people feel the beauty of Chinese characters, and let Chinese characters play an important role in the revival of Chinese culture. It even advocates calligraphy to become an assessment criterion for college graduates and civil servants, hoping to transform the Chinese calligraphy ecology and cultivate and reserve more high-quality professional calligraphy talents for the safe development of Chinese culture.

On the other hand, "calligraphy" should be separated from "traditional calligraphy" to further clarify the artistic attributes of "calligraphy". In this way, "calligraphy" is no longer under the banner of "calligraphy", but has become a new concept of "calligraphy" that is related to "calligraphy" and is different from "calligraphy", and has become a writing art at the level of "skill".

Why? The author believes that this is a realistic attitude and a serious face to the current social development situation. The way we contemporary people communicate information has undergone a radical change, and the "calligraphy" with pen, ink and paper as the carrier has lost its practicality and has been far away from people's daily lives. In this social ecology, the "niche" of calligraphy has become an inevitable trend of historical development, and only a few people regard "brush writing" as a national cultural totem that is willing to adhere to. However, among the people who are willing to stick to the position of calligraphy, there is a large number of people who do not like calligraphy from the perspective of artistic feelings, not how high their learning, how good their cultivation is, and how high their realm is, but only from the perspective of artistic feelings. For this type of group, we should not turn away from the "book" door and discourage its interest in modeling for books, but should encourage its development and concentrate it under the banner of "book art".

In recent years, some calligraphers have proposed the concept of "art calligraphy", "putting 'art' in front of 'calligraphy' to emphasize that this calligraphy is not practical, but artistic." When treating it, knowing it, appreciating it, and creating it, we must stand on the stand of art, measure it by the standards of art, and create it with artistic techniques." The author believes that this concept can be defined as "calligraphy", which distinguishes it from the concept of "calligraphy". Just as the bel canto singing method in vocal music is separated from the national singing method, some people specialize in the creation of "calligraphy" based on text modeling, do not have to play the "calligraphy" brand, and do not have to pay too much for the ancients, but focus on the aesthetic creation of calligraphy "physical art", and new interpretation and exploration of the artistic road of Chinese character writing.

It should be particularly emphasized that the separation of "calligraphy" from "calligraphy" still requires adherence to the basic rules of Chinese character writing. "Calligraphy" can be the "art" of Chinese character writing, but it must not be the "liberalization" of Chinese character writing. No one should use "innovation" as an excuse to arbitrarily alter Chinese characters, and any act of defiling, teasing, or desecrating Chinese characters should be resolutely stopped. The kind of fiddling trick of not understanding Chinese characters and simply pursuing the form of fun is not only not the right vein of "calligraphy", but also the right pulse of "calligraphy", and should be resolutely eliminated. Those absurd and inexplicable sensationalist calligraphers, those grotesque "ugly book" works, and those performance art that abandon the principle of Chinese character writing are by no means what "book art" should accommodate, and we should resolutely resist them for this reason.

(Author/Long Desheng Author Affilications/Shanxi Calligraphers Association)