In 1976, the Ministry of Culture selected the works of 80 contemporary Chinese calligraphy masters such as Lin Sanzhi, Guo Moruo, and Zhou Huijun from all over the country and exhibited them in Japan for the first time. On July 20th, the "Modern Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition" was grandly opened in Tokyo, Japan, causing a sensation. My uncle Wang Jiayan wrote a poem by Lu Xun", "Gift to Japanese Singers", which was also selected for this calligraphy exhibition, which was well received and became famous at the age of 34. I fell in love with the exquisite "Modern Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition" printed and published in Japan at his house, and I learned that calligraphy is called "calligraphy" in Japan.
As early as the Tang Dynasty, China used to call calligraphy "calligraphy". The name "calligraphy" is full of solemn respect for calligraphy, so to speak, without understanding calligraphy, you do not know calligraphy. So, what is the magic of the book? First, let's look at what the "Tao" is: First, the "Tao" is the way of nature, and the essence and highest state of the Tao is nature. Lao Tzu said, "Man's law and earth, earth law and heaven, heaven's law and tao, and dao's nature." "Everything must conform to nature, and must not violate the laws of nature. Secondly, the law of the Tao is that yin and yang coexist: prosperity and death, spring, summer, autumn and winter, sorrow and joy, everything is always different, changing, changing, changing, according to a certain order and purpose, the cycle is repeated, harmonious coexistence. This is what Lao Tzu said, "The Tao bears the yin to embrace the yang, and the breath thinks that it is harmonious."
And what is calligraphy? In my opinion, there are three ways to do it:
Belly pain
First, the book is the way of heaven.
Calligraphy is to show the way of nature, that is, the rich and varied sense of life of nature, the sense of harmony in which all things live together. A good calligraphy work, it has similar yin and yang opposites and unified artistic elements: the curvature of the pen, square circle, the middle side, Xu Disease; the use of ink black and white, thick and light, dry and wet; the opening and closing of knots, positive oblique, back, concession; the denseness of chapters, virtual reality and so on. It is the transformation and unification of these opposing artistic elements, and the movement and change of the dot lines that constitute a harmonious flow of beauty, thus presenting a sense of life and rhythm. Indeed, every word written by a calligrapher contains yin and yang: horizontal for yin and vertical for yang, strokes light for yin and heavy for yang, ink for yin and thick for yang... All excellent calligraphy works are yin and yang, showing the way of nature - the truth that all things are mutually exclusive.
Mid-Autumn Festival
Second, the calligraphy is the way of writing.
Calligraphy is not only writing, but also carries and transmits the message of the evolution of Chinese culture for thousands of years, expressing national dignity and cultural self-confidence, as well as respect for ancient sages. Chinese calligraphy is broad and profound: the Chinese characters it writes have a history of more than three thousand years; its writing style has evolved continuously, reaching as many as a hundred kinds, such as sui shu, dragon shu, bird shu, fish shu, tiger shu, cloud shu, turtle shu, etc., which many people may not have heard of; its penmanship changes from the translation of the seal book, to the wave of the lishu, and then to the "eight methods" of the kaishu; its pen use is not only different from the press, light and heavy, and Xu disease, but also the difference between the center, the flank, the shunfeng, and the reverse; its ink is even more lush and moist, "counting white as black". (Deng Shiru)
Sacrifice nephew manuscript partial
Third, calligraphy is humanity.
Calligraphy carries and conveys the calligrapher's inner heart and disposition, talent and interest, and even contains his personal experiences. The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion and the Manuscript of the Sacrifice nephew Ji Ming are both drafts, both of which have been altered. However, Wang Xizhi's mood when writing was relaxed and happy, and the alterations were calm, careful, and neat; while Yan Zhenqing's mood when writing was extremely sad and indignant, and the alterations were disturbing, hurried, and even changed again and again, horizontally and vertically! The pen and ink lines of calligraphy are not only the imprint of the calligrapher's soul, but also the footprints of his life. If Huai Su had not "carried the tin of the cane and traveled west to the kingdom", met the celebrities of the time and received wide acclaim, then his "Self-Prologue" could not have been written so dashingly and confidently. It can be seen that for calligraphers, "reading thousands of books and walking thousands of miles" is equally important.
In short, the calligraphy is the way of heaven, the way of literature, and the way of humanity. To appreciate and evaluate a calligraphy work is by no means to read a picture, but to be able to see the Tao behind it. Chinese calligraphy is precisely this seemingly simple writing, but in fact it has a deep Taoist bearing and accumulation of art, is the true expression of natural laws and human life vitality, as well as inner emotions.
Author: Wang Shiguo
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