Taoism and Shuhun Round calligraphy
Zang Shude
I. Introduction
In the context of fragmented society, after the writing of cumulative techniques has gradually progressed to the level of true calligraphy, it is particularly important to sort out the professional migration of calligraphy historiography theory. Among them, the knowledge of calligraphy historiography is like the water of a surging spring that silently nourishes the soul of calligraphy and sways in the long air of art. We should consistently study calligraphy theory with a basic introspective question: What is calligraphy? If we want to really clarify this question, we must look at the source of calligraphy practice. Fortunately, the trajectory of the "silk" road in the historical point painting of calligraphy art is clearly recognizable from the beginning of the birth, jointing, derived meridians and pulse rhythms.
It can be said that many writers do not pay much attention to this topic before dabbling in the theory of calligraphy history. What is the "soul of calligraphy" that can really be quantified? Poor exploration will not have the ultimate answer and the only solution, what is important is that everyone will form their own calligraphy consciousness and calligraphy quality in the process of learning books, and construct their own psychological mode of understanding calligraphy cognition that is relatively fixed. Based on this, when you write and create in the future, whether you will become a creator with a theoretical knowledge system or a rough writer who completely relies on sensibility, the difference between the two is cloud mud. For a person who follows the art of calligraphy, the writing career and the personal life form are a relatively long symbiotic process, and at the same time, they will encounter new cultural trends at any time, and will face many new social problems of writing and other art forms to intervene and interfere, which requires learning to correctly judge such cultural trends and phenomena. At this juncture, if we are full of rigorous calligraphy historiography and theoretical accumulation, we will take history as a mirror, take history as a reason, and master various angles and methods of understanding calligraphy creation, when encountering new problems, the sword of history can allow us to use it as a sharp weapon for moving forward, but also a breakthrough or entry point, so as to fully understand the process of calligraphy art from virtual to real.
Objectively speaking, the historical context of calligraphy that you have mastered will potentially form a very important creative fermentation base point in the future. This basic point is your insight into the history of calligraphy and the condensation of the cultural "core" solidification after countless innovations and experiments have been successful for thousands of years since the birth of calligraphy. If we do not have extensive study of the history of calligraphy and insight, we are likely to fall into the self-righteous situation of "the well frog looks at the sky, and the blind man touches the elephant". However, once your creative starting point is built on the basis of the history of calligraphy and extended to a vertical forward-looking posture, it is to stand on the shoulders of the sages and great philosophers, in other words, to find a high-level platform, which is precisely the fulcrum for innovating.
I would like to ask, why did the art of calligraphy form? The answer to this meta-question requires us to learn the history of calligraphy and the internal knowledge of the history of writing and literature. Plastic arts from the primitive society of stone carving rock painting, to painting, sculpture signifier and meaning of the production, it has always hoped to present the tortuous and obscure real trajectory of human social development, as far as Chinese civilization is concerned, this internal driving force eventually promoted the birth of writing and calligraphy art. The problem with "meaning" , however , is that it is an accidental, transient, and ephemeral decision that varies from person to person. The evolutionary reality of human beings has always been an uncertain movement in time, so it has extended the signifier and specificity of written language symbols. In this process, calligraphy technology is doing its best to approach the authenticity of the writer's inner world on the spot, but frankly, once the real pure technology arrives, it will lose its freehand "charm".
Objectively speaking, the study of the historical context of calligraphy will expose us to more diversified calligraphy styles and types, prompting us to examine and learn calligraphy and understand culture in the large space of history. Unfortunately, in the context of the current Internet madness and chaos, the calligraphy community is bent on dismembering the calligraphy ontology from the technical, ingenious and other levels, online and offline, and even counter-cultural anti-calligraphy. In terms of the linear narrative of calligraphy and the essence of inward psychological appeal, soul irrigation and even religious conversion, its sense of space and the target of visual expression are misplaced.
Second, the theory is diverse and dynamic
For the time being, calligraphy theory is briefly divided into classical calligraphy theory and modern calligraphy theory. Classical calligraphy theory is basically the rational induction and refinement of the perceptual practice of calligraphy for thousands of years, including many calligraphy theories parallel to oracle bones, Qin and Han, Wei and Jin, Tang and Song dynasties, and even The Ming and Qing dynasties; modern calligraphy theory was disseminated at the time of reform and opening up in the last century, combining many interdisciplinary quantitative analysis methods, such as Western aesthetics, geometric composition, neo-literarism, structuralism, deconstructivism and so on. In terms of personal artistic affiliation, I prefer the theory of classical calligraphy. Classic calligraphy theory is more poetic and timeless, similar to the imagery of "three thousand white hairs, snakes into the grass, eyes returning to Hong" and so on, and its textual exposition is always full of calligraphy theorists as unique creators, practitioners, and summarizers of questions, explorations, answers, imaginations and sublimations. To this day, some people still question whether calligraphy is an art. In fact, the ancients have long relied on the cultural thinking and definition of painting, music, dance, architecture and many other fields, and calligraphy is undoubtedly a colorful art with philosophical wisdom.
At present, calligraphy intervenes in life and social public space has shown a very fragmented artistic "maturity". If we anthropomorphize this maturity of calligraphy, and analyze the birth of a person, the survival instinct, human nature, the nature of the psychological soul, etc. in the same way as a person, then the child will cry without food or thirst, and will directly realize the instinctive problem of hunger (not a technical problem) and straighten out the natural appeal. But when we mature, most of the time we will ignore or even shield the instinctive and natural problem of hunger under the interference of various external factors (technicality), just as we will use various advanced technologies to selectively avoid sunlight and air, which once again makes us have to face the "meta" question of what the cultural "core" of calligraphy art is.
The reason why the study of calligraphy theory and the study of calligraphy history should return to the framework of the origin of calligraphy is because there are many possibilities and natures of calligraphy writing at that stage, and the study of early calligraphy theory is not outdated, it can help us capture the precious nature of calligraphy in infancy. The theory of calligraphy can only be divided into historical classics, modern and contemporary, but it must not be said that the classical theory of calligraphy is outdated, let alone because of the de-practical existence of seal books and grass, we cannot study the ideological theories and practical methods of operating it.
Classical calligraphy theory and how to create calligraphy, how to form their own writing language has a close connection, modern calligraphy theory is closer to the technical analysis of chemical components, when learning you will feel that modern calligraphy theory is far from the real "culture", modern calligraphy theory mainly solves is how to let the writer through the technical appearance to intervene in society and be discovered by the world to find a sense of existence superior to others, like training a surgeon. The creative mentality held by the writer is starkly different from the cultural essence of the calligrapher", nourished by traditional calligraphy theory. That is, the current calligraphy performance and concern are the conflicts between people and society, manifested as the relationship between the individual and the political, economic, cultural and other external society, and the ultimate problem solved by the traditional calligraphy that the traditional calligraphy leads to the nourishment is the matching of the individual organism and the inner soul world. Modern calligraphy theory includes structuralism, deconstructionism, and the intervention of psychology, and gradually brings out many detailed problems in the commercial context, such as gender, value, socialized squeeze anxiety, etc. In this style of calligraphy, the individual comprehensive pressure shown has completely deviated from the traditional meaning of calligraphy.
When we look back at modern calligraphy theory with the help of traditional classical calligraphy theory, it is not difficult to understand why the overwhelming contemporary calligraphy is full of anger, but why do writers write it this way? Why is there a lack of elegance and freehand charm in it? The vast majority of works are hysterically dried up and thin under the connivance of contemporary theory. Although these modern calligraphy theories may have become a popular or even generalized international trend. However, to become the classic calligraphy art of the times, it ultimately competes with whether the life of a calligrapher has a humanistic interpretation and grasp of the "electrocardiogram" of the world, human nature, and the context of human culture. "Technology" is only a means of implementing our ideas, only staying at the basic level, and if it is really to break the cocoon and turn it into a face, it must be inseparable from the potential cultural neurotransmitter of calligraphy theory. The art of calligraphy must be buried with a lot of freehand "hollows" in the process of creating white and black. This kind of void that pervades invisibly is the thinking space left by the aesthetic chemical reaction for the audience consciousness under the support of theory, and it will appear with strong malleability and openness, which can also fully explore the deep cultural accumulation of the calligrapher's psychology and scan the vision of social attitudes. The so-called theory is actually omnipresent, and we must not understand it as a boring word stacking game. For example, we talk about the structure of writing, how this structure should take the moment, these small actions of the moment, its refinement and labeling have theoretical navigation. The hidden and important function of calligraphy theory is that it allows clever drivers to stand at the forefront of various cultural trends, still grasp the methods and angles of classical calligraphy art to interpret the current social reality, and then contribute to human beings' thinking on self-ontology and soul belonging in the new cultural context. From this point of view, there is no doubt that the theory of calligraphy is indeed the path for us to convert to the authenticity of art and go to the soul. Calligraphy as a discipline of research is an independent single-door weapon, so for calligraphy workers, everyone should be a thinker and researcher of calligraphy history. Therefore, it is particularly important to maintain a migratory reading, to maintain cross-time thinking, and to maintain critical research on history.
Third, the Tao and the technique are mutually exclusive
The study of calligraphy history should not be separated from the study of calligraphy system theory, it is best to study synchronously, knowing the ancient and modern, the development process of calligraphy history at each stage should be parallel to the calligraphy theory and creation at this stage. It cannot be said that theory of learning is theory, and it does not interfere with the practice style of the same period. To study the history of calligraphy is to understand and understand the artistic pulse of calligraphers and society as a whole in this period through "looking, smelling, asking, and cutting", and then infer their ideological and cultural vitality. The mutual life of theory and practice should be complementary, enlightening and promoting each other in this way.
Standing at the height of classics and history, "Tao" and "Technique" are indispensable. At the same time, there is a very abstract category of "slight" in the space of convection between the two. Calligraphy art creation is a technical work that can drive the tendons of the hand, and calligraphers want to "make something out of nothing" to present the creative ideas of the deep psychological "meta-stage" as an "electrocardiogram", or need a very solid writing technology execution to support. From the level of "art", the control of the figurative appearance is very important, it represents the final "step in the door" of a calligrapher with all the tangled judgments tied together in the face of rice paper. Therefore, how to organically organize emotions, pen and ink, background, materials and other elements is the most important work of the writer before writing. At first, there may be no concrete concept, it may be written for the sake of writing, confined to a state of unobstructed, incisiveness. If you want to use superb technical ability to reflect the idea very completely, first of all, you must have a thought, otherwise there is no use in "art", you have nothing to convey; there is no way to have a thought without "skill", and you can't convey even the best things. Teapot boiled dumplings – poured out. "Tao" and "technique" are more important than shoulder to shoulder.
At present, the calligraphy major in colleges and universities is to teach the students of this major the comprehensive Calligraphy Taoism, so the cultivation of calligraphy interest should also be self-cultivated with the generalization of historical theory interest. Over the centuries since the birth and development of calligraphy, there have been multiple wonderful ways to show it. In terms of the comparison between the college system and the self-learning exploration method, the college education model has its own advantages, and the knowledge structure of students receiving systematic education in four years or even longer has a great advantage. Self-learners lack systematic support, and their knowledge structure is scattered, which requires writers to gradually refine and understand their own systems in long-term practice. The academic school is to construct the framework and system through the history of calligraphy and calligraphy theory, and the biggest advantage is the complete knowledge system, but this biggest advantage is also its most fatal flaw, that is, convergence: a thousand people. Once self-practitioners have penetrated the scattered theories of calligraphy and history and refined them into a self-rounded theoretical guiding program, the prognosis for successfully transforming their shortcomings into advantages will be the leaders in the industry.
Fourth, the history of calligraphy makes the heart calm
The sudden continuation of the new crown epidemic has temporarily suspended many exhibition gatherings in the calligraphy industry, which seems to be depressed. If we look at the context of calligraphy historiography within the framework of the large cultural horizon, in the face of such problems, we cannot discuss things on the facts, and we cannot say that the development of calligraphy art is a kind of obstacle, and calligraphy art will slide and decline. When we clearly and objectively understand the history of the development of calligraphy, we will know that human beings will release great imagination and innovation in calligraphy after experiencing the test of health and humanity because of such a disaster. Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 epidemic has brought strong terror and anxiety to the abnormal interruption of the inertia trajectory of globalization, and the continuous spread of this horror anxiety has led to the stagnation of social-related cultural exchanges and the suspension of cultural activities such as calligraphy and art exhibitions. Faced with such a realistic situation, calligraphers should and must gradually germinate a new expectation and new direction of expression for the new era of writing and creation. I believe that every calligrapher with a deep sense of thinking will rationally reorganize his thinking after experiencing this violent disaster, and will reorganize his consciousness of people, things, feelings, views and understandings of art and the world. Many people may put down the pen in their hands and stop writing, but stop and think, and wait for these reorganized thinking to be relatively mature and clear before writing. The anxiety generated by the epidemic has indeed brought great psychological impacts to mankind. As far as calligraphy is concerned, if there is no calligraphy history and literature, philology, and calligraphy theory to cover and nourish, then this time will be very anxious and confused. Many people's organic development veins have been interrupted and disrupted by unexpected events, and too many writers cannot face sudden changes calmly. In this context, every calligrapher should know that this is not the situation of any one person. How to understand oneself in a special social context, to understand a new self? Return of the mind under the tug of theory! Finding the pulse rhythm of the early creation of calligraphy and historiography in history, when we get the ballast stone of theory, we will become confident and calm.
Fifth, theory is the driving force of creation
For a long time, zungu and broken antiquity have been a topic with old pulp and new, and there has been controversy throughout the ages. In modern times, there are two "undercurrents" entangled and hedged between "linear" writing rooted in traditional big culture and "geometric" design writing attached to pure techniques, focusing on writing with cultural emotions or writing with pure techniques. In the process of debate, it will be slowly found that works with emotional and cultural temperature have more classic potential and long-lasting vitality. As a contemporary calligrapher, how to create new works of the times? The key lies in whether we can discover the new social focus and contradictions of this world. So, how do you find these potential things? Relying on the sensitivity of training, this is an innate endowment, of course, the main thing is that you have to give clear judgment and execution, which requires you to have the support of calligraphy history and theory. From this point of view, the theory is not only the focus of calligraphy theorists in the ivory tower, but also the attention of all calligraphy creation practitioners.
For a time, too many basic grassroots writers would oppose theory and practice, saying that those who engaged in theory would not engage in creation, and there was no need to care about theory when engaging in creation, and theory would interfere with and affect actual creation. Needless to say, those who hold this view are biased or even wrong. Practice has proved that if a true book writer wants to go far and go high, theory is your booster, pushing you to be curious about the core of pen and ink culture. And use theoretical tools to understand new problems and explore new methods. If in the process of creative practice, you feel that theory and practice are fighting, it must be that there is a problem with the writer's entry point, or the person who is engaged in creation has speculation about the theory, does not fully absorb and digest it, does not work hard or does not feel it, in fact, the theory is ultimately invisible, becoming an intuitive drive and judgment. A master of combining theory and practice will never say that he encounters creative problems, and he wants to have a paragraph of what theory in which book and which page to guide his creation. Instead, the theory is trained into daily habits and literacy, and finally a very high and stable subconscious and first reaction is formed. For creative practice, driven by theory, there will be many unique and important discoveries, especially the discovery of specific new pen and ink languages. Of course, it is not that no one has written the Tang poems and Song poems in the past that you have written is new, but that no one has expressed the theory and artistic language carried by your dot painting before, or that no one has expressed it from this perspective, which is the new pen and ink language of the times, which requires a lot of invisible theoretical support to implement breakthroughs.
Until now, the words "popular book style and ugly books" that are still being talked about are actually only a theoretical concept at the earliest. The reason why it continues to ferment is mainly due to the promotion and proliferation of exhibitions and self-media networks, which has attracted the attention of society as a calligraphy phenomenon and an academic concept. It can be said that the vast majority of writers are not born with a keen perception of social issues, because there are theoreticians and thinkers specializing in academic research who refine and summarize, providing new perspectives for interpreting calligraphy and social changes, so as to continuously inspire and lead creators, under the guidance of mature theories, breakthroughs in discovering new pen and ink techniques, and then deriving various phenomena, and then continuing to summarize and generate new theories on this basis.
At present, there is a wave of suddenly popular Internet celebrities "calligraphers", most of whom are catalyzed by the transformation of politicians, celebrities, and writers, which is somewhat similar to the genetically garbled anti-seasonal vegetables in the greenhouse of plastic greenhouses in the agricultural planting industry. Standing at the height of art and history, we must objectively and correctly analyze the real social reasons for these so-called calligraphers to become popular. Therefore, the history of calligraphy is very important. Calligraphers who study calligraphy systematically, especially in the context of the classic culture of traditional calligraphy, must know that there are two narrative methods that have always existed in the practice of calligraphy creation: one is how to convey emotional content and form shaping in a linear narrative trajectory; the other is the epochal change of calligraphy language and the forward-looking pursuit of calligraphy elements. The feedback from the latter is that a work may be transformative, experimental, not necessarily have a considerable audience and supporters, or even end up failing, but it is not vulgar. Looking at the history of calligraphy, the development of calligraphy art requires generations of calligraphers to have a sense of curiosity and innovation in the elements of calligraphic language, regardless of success or not, there must be new experiments in the expression of calligraphy language.
The first day of the Lunar New Year