Text / Mudechun
Abstract: The late Ming Dynasty when Dong Qichang was born was the era when Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy was prevalent. However, while Zhao Mengfu's book style was popular, it attracted some criticism of him. In this trend of criticism, Dong Qichang is the most active representative. Through Dong Qichang's analysis of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy, this article discusses Dong Qichang's view of calligraphy.
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Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang, calligraphy and thought, raw and mature, and seeking change
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In the late Ming Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy was popular, but there were also some people who opposed Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy, represented by Dong Qichang. Dong Qichang did not leave a complete theoretical work on calligraphy, and by analyzing the criticism of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy in his inscription, we can understand Dong Qichang's view of calligraphy.
Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy was able to flourish in the middle and late Ming Dynasty for two important reasons. First of all, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, some scholars and literati advocated luxury and pursued pleasure, and the calligraphy and painting market prospered, which provided a social basis for the widespread popularity of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy. Secondly, the prevalence of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy had a lot to do with wen Zhengming's admiration at that time, because Wen Zhengming's strong admiration and imitation of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy made an exemplary role for the prevalence of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy.
Part of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy "Xingxing Poems and Preface"
Zhao Mengfu was born more than three hundred years before Dong Qichang, and although Wen Zhengming was slightly earlier than Dong Qichang, it can be said that Wen Zhengming and Dong Qichang were calligraphers of the same era. Dong Qichang did not approve of Wen Zhengming's calligraphy, and when talking about his process of learning calligraphy, he said: "The first master Yan Pingyuan (Zhenqing) "Duo Pagoda", and then changed his study to Yu Yongxing (Shi Nan), thinking that the Book of Tang was inferior to Jin and Wei, so the "Huang Ting Jing" and Zhong Yuanchang (繇) "Declaration Table", "Force Life Table", "ReturnIng The Post", and "Bing She Ti", all three years, claiming to be forced to be ancient, no longer using Wen Zhengzhong and Zhu Xizhe (Yun Ming) to put it out of the corner of their eyes, but with the divine reason of the scholars, there is really no place to enter, and they are in vain. ”
Dong Qichang believes: "Wen Zhizhao (Zheng Ming) learned Zhiyong's "Thousand Texts", and if he could do his best, he would have it, and he would have it, and he would not have heard of it. In Dong Qichang's view, Wen Zhengming's style of writing is "as far as he can be extremely beautiful", but he only abides by the ancient law and does not obtain the essence of the ancients. Therefore, Dong Qichang did not approve of Wen Zhengming, who was older than himself in the same generation, and pointed the spearhead directly at Zhao Mengfu, who was wen Zhengming's master.
In fact, dong Qichang's real purpose in criticizing Zhao Mengfu was to expound his own view of calligraphy through criticism. Zhao Mengfu is a generation of calligraphers, and his position in the history of calligraphy is unshakable, and Dong Qichang's criticism of Zhao Mengfu is also a process of comparative learning. Dong Qichang has done a serious study of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy, and he said in the inscription of the "Book of Huangting Neijing": "Right Yang Yi's "Huangsu HuangtingJing" is the authentic handwriting, and the "Zhao Wenmin Collection" has a long song, which is his treasure. Yang Shu took Xi Yan as his teacher, did not learn from the father and son of the Right Army, but had the degree of rushing to the night, and actually came from the xiafu of the meal, and the non-Linchi gongli could be a few.
Mi Yuanzhang's "Record of To Be Visited" Yun: "The Six Dynasties People's Book WuYu (Shi Nan) and Chu (Sui Liang) Habits." 'Yu Wei was the Master of Han Zongbo (Shi Neng) (Zhao Zhenji), who was often seen by Shu, and had carved several lines into the "Hongtang Thesis", and he regretted why Zhao Wuxing did not have a copy to pass it on to the world. Dong Qichang also said in the inscription of the "Three Xuanmiao Sutras" that others asked him to write: "Zhao Wuxing wrote a lot of scriptures and interpretations, and the only one who left this sutra was the holder, whether it was the capital of Dayi, and the Beijing master was even more so." ”
Part of Dong Qichang's calligraphy "White Feather Fan Endowment"
By comparing Zhao Mengfu with his own calligraphy, Dong Qichang bluntly commented on Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy: "The lines are dense, a thousand words together, I am not as good as Zhao; if I imitate the past, Zhao gets its eleventh, I get its seventeenth; and Zhao Shu is familiar with the vulgarity, my book can be born beautiful; Zhao Shu is all intentional, and my book is often careless." When I made my intentions, Zhao Shu also lost a trick, and the first intention was less eared. Dong Qichang also emphatically said: "It seems that my book can be directly Zhao Wenmin, and the first few have ears." And Zi Ang (Zhao Mengfu) is not as familiar as I have a beautiful temperament, but I can't read more books, so that Wu Xing can make a move. ”
The mention of the words "raw" and "cooked" here can remind people of Dong Qichang's words in "Painting Purpose": "Painting and character have their own entrance hall, words can be born, and paintings must not be unfamiliar." Words must be matured after birth, and paintings must be cooked outside". Although this is Dong Qichang's exposition of skill, it is actually a criticism of Zhao Mengfu. Dong Qichang believes that the skill of painting should be skillful and skillful, in order to be handy and enter the realm of Dahua; but calligraphy is not the case, after skill, it should be different, and after maturity, it should be novel. In Dong Qichang's eyes, Zhao Shu's "familiarity" is "vulgarity", while his own "birth" is "born beautiful". It can also be said that through the comparison with Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang has clarified the direction of his efforts, that is, calligraphy should be unique after skill, chen shengxin, and on the basis of mastery of traditional classics, a new style of writing will be born. This is also Dong Qichang's bookish view of "seeking change".
Dong Qichang's understanding of "raw and cooked" is ostensibly to focus on innovation and ignore tradition, but in fact, he believes that he is a master of inheriting tradition. Dong Qichang occasionally talks about inheriting the tradition, and he said in the inscription of the "Frost And Cold Thesis of Linwang Xi": "The Jin people take rhymes from the book, the Tang people take the law, and the Song people take the meaning, because of the "Frost Cold Thesis" and the charm of the "Frost Cold Post". It was as if he were in sight, though he was whipped for it, he admired it. ”
In terms of his attitude toward tradition, Dong Qichang contrasted with Zhao Mengfu, saying: "The Jin people take rhymes with the book, the Tang people take the law, the Song people book takes the meaning, or the meaning is better than the law? Otherwise, the Song people thought that they meant to be a book, not the meaning of the ancients. However, Zhao Ziang corrected the evils of the Song people, although he did not have to do it. This must be what the Song people have written, and the cover will be bound by the law. In Dong Qichang's view, Zhao Mengfu is not without talent, and the ancient kung fu is not un-deep, but he is bound by the ancient law and loses his creative talent. Dong Qichang's understanding of inheriting tradition is to integrate the excellent calligraphy characteristics of each era and give birth to a new style. Therefore, Dong Qichang's concept of "raw and mature" is the idea of inheriting, carrying forward and innovating both traditions, that is, the calligraphic concept of "seeking change".
Dong Qichang's Calligraphy "Oriental Shuo Answering Guest Difficulties" Part (1)
Dong Qichang advocates that "words must be matured and born later" is to master the ancient law first, and then get rid of the shackles of the ancient law and create a new meaning. To learn calligraphy, you must first learn the classical masterpieces, from raw to mature, and then to master. Dong Qichang believes that Zhao Mengfu is "ripe" to the extreme and is bound by the ancient law, so he proposed "from cooked to raw" to get rid of the shackles of the ancient law and give birth to a new style, which is the essence of "mature after life". Therefore, Dong Qichang especially admired the Song people Yang Ningshi and Mi Fu, because "the Song people thought they meant books".
How to achieve "mature life" is actually how to deal with the relationship between inheritance and innovation. Dong Qichang used "he" and "away" to explain that inheritance is to "merge" with the ancients first, and innovation is to "separate" from the ancients. Dong Qichang said: "The book must be separated and merged, and Yang Ning's style must not be the body of the Ou and Yu families, but is to take the ear for the separation." Mi Haiyue (芾) boasted all his life, taking the dryness of Wang Banshan (An Shi) alone, and it seemed that he could not go further, and the so-called clouds and flowers were full of eyes, and finally they were completely gone. Zhao Ziang was immersed in this Xuan and felt the smell of the morning market. ”
Here, Dong Qichang said that although Yang Ningshi and Mi Fu can "leave", they are still not "far away"; Zhao Mengfu is even more immersed in the ancient law, has not been able to come out, and has a tacky atmosphere. Dong Qichang admired Yang Ningshi and spoke highly of it, saying when discussing "clutching": "The scribes are wonderful in being able to merge, God is in being able to leave, those who want to leave, the tricks of the famous non-Ou, Yu, Chu, and Xue masters, who want to get rid of the habits of the right army Lao Tzu, so it is difficult to hear... After the Jin dynasty and the Tang Dynasty, only Yang Ningshi could solve this poor ear, and Zhao Wuxing did not dream of it. Dong Qichang believes that after the Jin and Tang Dynasties, the only person who can "leave" Wang Xizhi is Yang Ningshi. Dong Qichang's "detachment" is not to dispense with the classical Fa, but to get rid of the shackles of the Fa, that is, "to be unbound from the Fa, but to become a family of oneself."
Dong Qichang commented that Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy was "extremely beautiful", "vulgar because of familiarity", and "has the smell of the market", saying that "it is not a Wuxing book" because "Zhao Shu is vulgar because of familiarity". Therefore, he gave a solution, using "raw" to "cook" and "raw" to cure "custom". "Customary" is a taboo in art, and it is a false tendency that artists cannot avoid. Calligraphy is abstract art, brushwork, knots and chapters are the laws that constitute the beauty of calligraphy art, and the rhyme and meaning of calligraphy art exist outside the law. Therefore, Dong Qichang believes that "the Jin people take the rhyme, the Tang book takes the law, and the Song people book takes the meaning", and the penmanship, knots, and chapters within the law can only seek "familiarity", while the "rhyme" and "meaning" outside the law need to seek "life". The "sheng" here is to seek change and innovation, which is the true meaning of "the word must be matured and then born".
Dong Qichang's Calligraphy "Oriental Shuo Answering Guest Difficulties" Part (II)
Dong Qichang's ultimate goal of pursuing "sheng" is "Dongpo (Su Shi) poetry on calligraphy cloud: 'Innocence is my teacher', this sentence Dan Jie also". "Innocence" reflects the carefree state of children, Su Shi said on the book: "I can't make a book, and I can't ask for it." The "intentional manufacturing" and "inability" here all reflect the naïve mentality of children, while "dot painting" and "hand-holding" are imitations of children, and the state of "innocence and rambling" is the goal pursued by Dong Qichang's calligraphy art. Therefore, Dong Qichang believes that "Zhao Shu is all intentional" and "making intentions" is to pretend to be a posture and deceive the world; affirming that "my books are often careless", and that intention is naïve and careless, returning to nature.
Dong Qichang did not compile a complete theoretical work of calligraphy, and his calligraphic ideas were mainly reflected in some of his inscriptions. Although Dong Qichang's inscriptions are scattered, his calligraphic ideological system is complete, and the idea of "seeking change" runs through from beginning to end. Whether it is "mature after birth" or "integration and separation", it is for the purpose of "seeking change" to serve. He said: "Poetry has a change in prosperity, and so does the book." This idea of "seeking change" was born in Dong Qichang's criticism of Zhao Mengfu's style of writing.
Because of Zhao Mengfu's skillful calligraphy skills and charming style, Dong Qichang had the proposition of "words must be matured after they are born", which is Dong Qichang's criticism of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy. "Seeking change" is the core of his view of calligraphy, and the view of "seeking change" has accompanied his lifelong creative practice. Dong Qichang criticized "the Tang people hurt rhyme with secrets, and hurt bones with flattery", he took inspiration from Yang Ning's books, increased the distance between words and words and lines of his works, and obtained their looseness, added rhyme, and sought the fun of ancient innocence.
Dong Qichang, the last master to inherit the classical calligraphy style of the "Second King" and develop it, concluded: "After thirty years of studying books, I dare not say that I have entered the ancient Three Ambiguities, and calligraphy will change again and again, and those who have clear-sighted eyes in the world will be able to understand it." From Dong Qichang's calligraphy theory to calligraphy practice, people can see his lifelong efforts to "seek change", and his propositions of "raw" and "familiar" and "customary" brought a new wind to the book world at that time.
Part of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy "Guangfu Reconstruction Pagoda Record"
Hundreds of years after Zhao Mengfu's feminine and mature "cedar body" dominated the book world, Dong Qichang's handsome, refreshing, and distant style of writing was unique and self-reliant, which had a great impact on future generations. After the rise of the trend of epigraphy in the Qing Dynasty, this "change-seeking" view of calligraphy still has certain guiding significance for the study and practice of calligraphy today. Dong Qichang inspired today's calligraphy creators to have a critical attitude towards the study of classical calligraphy, criticism is for change, and from criticism can a new style of calligraphy be created.