Wang Dongling: Can ming is my doctoral student, our relationship between teachers and friends has been more than 20 years, and there are often days when "a lamp is relatively sitting and talking about Xuan", so I think he has a different perspective than others. After Canming's calligraphy entered the new century, he mainly took the Dunhuang scriptures, and he was already one of the representative figures in the contemporary book world. People may be familiar with his Dunhuang scriptures and big grass, he has published many articles in professional newspapers and periodicals such as "Chinese Calligraphy", published many theoretical monographs and works, and has a sense of historical responsibility and mission for contemporary calligraphy, which is praised by people. Rather than these well-known situations, I would rather talk about the contribution and significance of the zeitgeist in his calligraphy to the present. Art history has its own internal logic and its specific background of the times, and the social transformation of contemporary China has profoundly affected the development of culture and art. Chinese calligraphy was influenced by the times later in the great changes of the past century, but it has still been strongly impacted in the past 40 years. I have always firmly believed that Chinese calligraphy is the core art of traditional Chinese art and the most emblematic of the spirit of Chinese art. In today's era of gradual diversification, traditional calligraphy takes the Confucian spirit as the purpose, emphasizes personality symbols, and the concept of implicitly revealing oneself can no longer meet the requirements of the times for calligraphy art, and how unique value Chinese calligraphy should provide for the world is a theme that every Chinese calligrapher urgently needs to study and pay attention to. Our time may not lack calligraphers with excellent techniques, but there are not many calligraphers who can think about calligraphy in a contemporary macroscopic way and conduct creative research. At the same time, compared with traditional calligraphy, the connotation of calligraphy in the new period has undergone profound changes, showing the characteristics of the era when a hundred flowers are blooming. They are embodied in the intervention of self-artistic concepts, the deepening of artistic purity and the transfer of philosophical aspects, and Canming is such a typical scholar-type bookmaker with the characteristics of the times.
Festival Pro "Heng Fang Stele"
First of all, from the perspective of the conceptuality of art, the epochality of calligraphy is reflected in the intervention of concepts. Because, in the cultural context of value pluralism, people rely on the positioning of the mind to determine the attributes of a certain thing, and then make value judgments. To a large extent, this is due to the estrangement caused by the plurality of values in contemporary society, which brings freedom and chaos and difference, so the communication of ideas is particularly important, deeper and more universal than the phenomenon level. In such a background of the times, we realize that the concept of art is the primary spiritual quality of the era of calligraphy, and Canming has such a conscious concept of art. He soberly realized that as a calligrapher, he not only needed to pursue the continuous improvement of technique, but more importantly, he had the concept of the era of calligraphy. In the present, the calligrapher must be a true artist. A pure artist should be innovative, to find another way, to be good at choosing, so that pioneering is valuable. It is precisely because of this concept that Canming chose to take Dunhuang Scripture writing as his main method and the direction of continuous efforts. He firmly grasped the characteristics of this era and selected the new resources of calligraphy in the three major archaeological discoveries that shocked the academic community in the last century as his source of nourishment. Although all the families of the Republic of China have dabbled in this, in the contemporary book world, in the environment in which he made the choice, it takes not only wisdom but also courage and perseverance to make this choice. Years of persistence prove that Canming's choice has not only achieved his personal artistic life, but more importantly, he has made an inescapable and indelible contribution to the calligraphy of our time. Today's diversified situation of calligraphy has become a reality, and the use of new resources of calligraphy is unavoidable, which can also be described as a historical necessity. Later generations want to talk about the absorption and re-creation of Dunhuang testament calligraphy resources, then Canming is a must mention, but also a rare representative figure. This means conceptual implications for the art of calligraphy in the context of the pluralistic era.
Li Bai's "Spring Night Feast from the Garden of The Peach"
Secondly, from the perspective of the purity of art, the purity of calligraphy art is related to the unique historical process of Chinese calligraphy. Art originates from practicality, but the self-consciousness and independence of art begins with detachment from practicality. Generally speaking, painting, sculpture, music and literature have completed this task at an early stage, thus having the purity of artistic expression. However, Chinese calligraphy is an exception, although its period of self-consciousness was in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but the separation of artistic purity and practicality of Chinese calligraphy was not realized until the 20th century, and the practical function of the brush was replaced by a hard pen and a computer that appeared later, and calligraphy was freed from the shackles of practicality and entered the category of pure artistic freedom aesthetics. Its purpose is to complete the mission entrusted by history and achieve this new purity to the extreme, which requires calligraphers to clear traditional calligraphy from the fog of ethical and moral emphasis on personality symbolism, and truly realize new artistic creations in the visual expression of pen and ink. So we want to create new art myths, not traditional personality myths. At present, the value judgment of calligraphy has the most characteristics of the times, that is, the influence of ethical factors is excluded, and the artistic value created by artists' labor is judged directly from the level of the power of artistic expression. When Canming chose the Dunhuang Testament as the object of the law, he actually already had such a self-consciousness. The identity of the writer of the Dunhuang Testament includes all levels of society, and he is not limited to the influence of traditional ethical concepts, but focuses on pen and ink to save the essence. With the keen eye of an artist, he captured the vivid artistic connotation of the evolution of fonts in the hundreds of years of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, refined and recreated them, and made them form pure works of art derived from tradition but with the characteristics of the times. This is his effort and attempt to remove the practical and ethical influence of calligraphy art and rise to the pure art of art, providing a very worthy reference for the creation of calligraphy artists now and later.
Verses in the Six Dynasties
Finally, from a philosophical point of view, traditional calligraphy is mainly based on the Confucian spirit, and under the influence of the current pluralistic era background, the spirit of calligraphy directly inherits the spirit of mainland Taoism and Zen Buddhism, and is closely related to Western philosophy. For example, the great Confucians in history basically did not write wild grass, and Sun Guoting also emphasized "peace of mind", which is related to the practicality and ethical influence constraints mentioned above. Calligraphy with the characteristics of the current era does not have too strong exclusivity, it not only carries forward the spirit of Taoism and Zen Buddhism, but also draws on the beneficial factors in the spirit of Confucianism, adheres to pluralism and integration, promotes individuality, and fully displays itself. That is to say, the epochality of the value judgment of calligraphy art is reflected in putting creativity and self-expression in the first place, and at the same time attaching great importance to the law in the specific creative process. The candidacy of the method has its natural religious character in it, which is an advantage, because the spirit of Zen Buddhism is close to the spirit of the era of calligraphy art; of course, it is also a disadvantage, because the writing of the scriptures itself has a strong religious meaning. How writers deal with the relationship between pure artistic creation and religious beliefs greatly tests the scribe. And this is what makes It amazing that he sees Buddhism as a philosophy, and what he sees in his eyes is Buddhism that explains the world rather than as a religion of blind worship, which requires great wisdom and realm. Such a mentality of relying on spiritual strength to get rid of many cocoons and self-bound dilemmas and move towards openness is something that contemporary calligraphers should learn. Canming's understanding and practice of the essence of the spirit of the calligraphy era is a microcosm of the success of the calligraphy art exploration of calligraphy in the new era, and it is calligraphers like him who regard calligraphy with the characteristics of the times as an extension and development of traditional calligraphy, so that contemporary calligraphy becomes the embodiment of traditional calligraphy in the present, and shows the pure expression of art and the diversity of concepts, giving full play to all the artistic expression of calligraphy, so as to realize a current art of self-completion and freedom.
Linwang Xizhi's "Aunt Thesis"
In addition to the spiritual connotation, the epochality of calligraphy art expression also shows new characteristics, that is, the directness and richness of writing and expression. Canming's calligraphy incorporates these new features. Its first meaning is writing, and although we are not opposed to the use of calligraphic resources and deconstructed Chinese characters by means of installation and conceptual art, they belong to another category, another essence. Calligraphy has its essential characteristics, that is, China's unique writing, which has been accumulated by thousands of years of development, with mature characteristics and profound oriental cultural spirit. The writing of Chinese calligraphy emphasizes the completion of one breath, the hair of pen and brush, the shaping of spatial structure in the flow of time, and the expression of self-spirit and self-completion in the rhythm of movements. This is the most glamorous expression of Chinese calligraphy. Canming's works, whether it is Xiao Kai or Dacao, have a strong sense of writing, and writing is dominated by the heart, and it is necessary to temper the heart at the same time, otherwise all expression techniques will become empty techniques. With the help of the natural advantages of his own method, Canming writes the scriptures to temper his mind, easily control the techniques, and shape works with writing for him without appearing to be showy. The second is the immediacy of performance. Traditional calligraphy tends to reveal itself more subtly and regard it as the highest state. Calligraphy with the characteristics of the current era pays attention to the direct presentation of the self, dripping with pain and happiness, what to say, and the release of feelings. This kind of release is not blindly wild, whether it is the vertical and horizontal opening of the grass or the square inch of Xiao Kai, it reflects this self-direct emotional release, showing his keen and diverse emotional experience as an artist. The third is the pursuit of richness. Relying solely on traditional techniques can no longer fully meet the needs of artistic expression. The nature of traditional calligraphy is elegant play, and calligraphers often repeat themselves throughout their lives, while calligraphy with the characteristics of the times is bound to promote the development of form because of its strong conceptuality. Canming's creative performance in this regard is remarkable, and he has grasped a good degree. Although he is well aware that form is an effective way to attract attention in order to show the characteristics of the work, he does not take this as the ultimate goal, and it is very good to prevent himself from going to the extreme pursuit of form and covering up the content. The expressiveness of the form of his works is always perfectly integrated with the content without a trace, in order to achieve the purpose of expressing both the sublime and the beautiful, and such a pluralistic face makes the spirit of the times of calligraphy more perfect.
Pro Gold Selected Words
I have always believed that a calligrapher with the spirit of the times should achieve three points: first, to truly understand traditional calligraphy, proficient in mastering and truly understanding the true meaning of Chinese calligraphy; second, to have the artistic accomplishment of the times and have an advanced artistic knowledge structure, so as to create calligraphy works with the temperament of the times; third, to have the courage and courage to dare to make unique creations, and to be forward-looking and original. Can Ming studied books since childhood, with profound traditional skills; later entered the China Academy of Fine Arts to study, the study of art was extensive and in-depth, and wrote the "History of Modern Chinese Calligraphy"; at the same time, he had a unique path, had the courage to choose the Dunhuang Testament as the main object of law, had a predictive understanding of the impact of new literature resources on contemporary calligraphy, and could turn the tradition into his own use, which can be described as wisdom, courage and persistence coexist. I believe that the epochality of his calligraphy, academic ideas and artistic ideas will all have important implications for contemporary calligraphy.
Lin Su Shi "Crossing the Sea"
Liu Canming Profile: Jiangsu Jingjiang people. Doctor of Calligraphy at China Academy of Art, under the tutelage of Professor Wang Dongling. He is currently the vice chairman and secretary general of the Jiangsu Calligraphers Association, the vice chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the China Democratic League, the standing committee member of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the member of the Jiangsu Provincial Federation of Literature and Literature, the director of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, the member of the Chinese Calligraphy Association, the vice president of the Buddhist Association of Jiangsu Province, the president of the Jiangsu Modern Calligraphy Research Institute, and an expert enjoying special allowances from the State Council.