Text | Chen Zhongkang
I positioned myself as a firm and assiduous school of learning, and privately admired the new ways of learning from the ancients such as Mi Fu, Dong Qichang, Wang Duo, He Shaoji, etc. More than thirty years of study, all the way over, crawling and rolling, Su Zhen has not tried to leave the ancient post, and different periods are always in dialogue with all kinds of ancient people ~ ~ ~ ~
Some people saw that in my works, not only the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the Tang and Song Dynasties, but even the Ming and Qing Dynasties, they felt very surprised and felt that they were a little difficult to understand. In fact, when I was young, I was the same, and my heart was also very high, I didn't learn non-first-class works, and I didn't pay attention to other things.
I am now second-rate, third-rate can also write, I think there are considerable points. I don't know if I'm right to describe it this way, but this is my real feeling, that is, sometimes I also like Su Dongpo said, "There is no bad person in the world in front of me", the Jade Emperor and the beggar, can have a good relationship.
Chen Zhongkang inscribed poems
I now look at words like this, I feel that there are no bad words in the world, I think that anything can be written, there is no taboo. Sometimes, I also feel that the Ming and Qing dynasties are not necessarily worse than the Jin and Tang dynasties, for example, when I look at Shen Zengzhi's characters, that kind of simple opening, naïve and messy, I feel very good, and even sometimes I feel that it is better than Wang Xizhi, and the taste is really indescribable.
I think that when contemporary people learn calligraphy, they cannot separate it from the writing style of contemporary and earlier masters and predecessors, because the times are similar, easy to learn, and easy to obtain; do not blindly learn only to learn things that are ancient and distant, because it is often difficult to understand, and learning for many years is not successful.
I want to experience the whole tradition now, because it all grows in the vein of tradition, I want to touch it, play it, try any of them, which corner I will want to go inside and see, and I may get a lot of different things.
Chen Zhongkang inscribed a poem
I am deeply influenced by Confucian moderate thought, I like to look at problems dialectically, dialectically look at the past and the present, we must strive to integrate, in the context of the theory to finally write their own appearance, even if the time is relatively slow. If you see the yin side of things, you will definitely see the yang side.
Like large characters and small characters, there is a dialectical relationship. When writing large characters, you will think of the way to write small characters, and when writing small characters, you will also think of large characters, in fact, large characters and small characters are mutually reinforcing and cannot be completely separated. Small characters are subtle, but they must also have a momentum spirit, and large characters should be majestic, and there should also be exquisite places.
The masters of the past generations have actually written very well in big and small characters, and in their place they are in a whole and into a series, such as Dong Qichang, He Shaoji, and both size and goodness. Especially Dong Qichang, some big characters, that kind of ethereal feeling, few people can write to this extent, it is really good, the taste will not be worse than Wang Duo's.
Chen Zhongkang cursive
I wrote big characters when I was young, and I have been writing since then, but I rarely take them out, and others see them less. The ancients wrote large and small characters, often with functional considerations, from a practical point of view to write, so each has its own place, very much in line with its own requirements, which is also what we contemporary people may want to think about.
As a teacher, I don't think it's useful to teach techniques alone, so I'm not so focused on teaching specific techniques.
Calligraphy requires deep understanding. The role of the teacher should be more of an intermediary, to introduce good and excellent things to students, so that students can see and learn on their own. The really excellent people are self-taught after being guided by their teachers. Therefore, the driving force in the student's heart is very important, that is, whether he loves it or not. If he really loves it, he will try everything to learn, to go deeper, and he can't stop it.
Chen Zhongkang's book couplet
With my experience in teaching in Wenzhou, it can be seen that the highest success rate is from other places to learn, such as Chen Mingzhi, Qing Sanbin, Xu Qiang, they come from afar to learn, the motivation is great. Therefore, learning is ultimately their own business, and students are not cultivated. Teachers, as intermediaries, should be good at creating a learning atmosphere and broadening their horizons, but students must cultivate their self-learning ability.
I teach my students to be more concerned with macroscopic construction and the cultivation of aesthetic ability, rather than just thinking about the details. Students are still young, the road is still long, and it is important to guide a positive concept. Sometimes they are also encouraged to actively try, like "trial and error", and sometimes knowing that the wrong way is not working, it may be more rewarding. I will do my best to help students, and I sincerely hope that students will surpass themselves and will not "keep a hand" as people said in the past. If students can surpass themselves, teachers should be happy and proud.
Chen Zhongkang is part of the "Sacrifice Nephew Manuscript"
This is what we often call cultivation! Words like people make sense, and the key is how to look at cultivation. We should not regard cultivation as knowledge and theory, but should cultivate our own mentality and personality.
Through reading books to understand the truth of art and life, a hundred passes, touch the bypass. And reading, I think as a calligrapher, to refute, broad, broaden the vision, the vision is different. You should form a healthy aesthetic and change your personal temperament.