About the Bookmaker
Jia Great Wall, Di Zhai, Jian Xi Qinghe, etc. He is a member of the China Book Association, a director of the Henan Provincial Book Association, a member of the Cursive Book Committee, the vice president of the Henan Yanhuang Calligraphy and Painting Institute, and the vice chairman of the Shangqiu Book Association.
His calligraphy works have won the first "Lanting Award" creation award, the third prize of the eighth "China Youth Exhibition" and so on.
"Reverence for the distant traces, pure qi overflowing with plain placket"
——Interview with Jia Great Wall
Calligraphy Herald reporter Huang Junjian
ask
Huang Junjian: You are a calligrapher who is good at thinking. You think that an artist can't measure its value by the amount of time it takes to be artistic, but ultimately lets the work speak. Decades of pen and ink career make you exclaim: "Writing, a seemingly simple process, is enough for the lover to spend his life exploring." You feel that learning calligraphy is not easy: "Ten years can temper a good painter, but ten years cannot make a writer find the feeling of hanging on the wall." "So, what do you think is the standard by which calligraphy works are good or bad?"
answer
Jia Changcheng: Although the value of his works cannot be measured by the time he has to devote to art, the time factor must not be less, there is no certain accumulation of time, and it is difficult to achieve something in art. I believe that good works must have both a certain skill (the accumulation of time) and their own potential talent and temperament. After solving the basic techniques, it is necessary to shift from the pursuit of interest to the pursuit of feelings, from the superficial techniques to the pursuit of the inner spirit, that is, "first instrumental knowledge and then literature and art". As for the standard of good and bad calligraphy, I think everyone will define it according to their own aesthetic. To measure the value of a work, I think we should also see whether it can be taken by contemporary people like the calligraphy of the ancients; whether the calligraphy of contemporary people can be passed on to future generations and can enlighten future generations.
In addition, I think that a good work must have three kinds of breaths, namely stillness, clear breath and aura. Creation must first calm down, adjust to the best state, write the words can be quiet and elegant, calm ink rhyme is also the result of hard work, immersion in reading, multi-faceted dyeing, where does it come from? In addition to being derived from personal cultivation, it is also necessary to draw nourishment from other arts, which should be the embodiment of a person's style, style, feelings and righteousness, the Southern Dynasty King Monk Dayun: "Reverence is far away, and the pure qi overflows with plains." "Qing Qi can reflect the spirit and depth of a work's pen and ink, that is, to be unique, fresh and fresh, so that the work is simple and deep, and it is resistant to taste; Reiki is a manifestation of the author's temperament and mind."
The Japanese Daisuke Suzuki once said, "If one really wants to become a master of a certain art." It is not enough to rely on technical knowledge alone; he must sublimate the skill, so that the art becomes the 'art of no art', emanating from the mindless. "The art of no art" here is a height of art, and it is impossible to understand its wonders without sinking your heart, which seems to be a Zen language for art analysis, and I think there is a mystery of the aura of the work. To appreciate a work, you can refer to this "three breaths", and the opposite is manic, turbid, and decadent, which is not taken by art.
ask
Huang Junjian: You believe that calligraphy appreciation can improve aesthetic vision, objectively and fairly evaluate ancient and modern calligraphers, promote the prosperity and development of art, and is also one of the indispensable means to improve the quality of writers. How can calligraphers improve their calligraphy appreciation?
answer
Jia Great Wall: The styles of ancient calligraphers are very different, forming a colorful world of dot art, which is dizzying. Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, beautiful and open, dignified and clean, and less simple and thick; Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy, round and simple, can carry the ding, but from the perspective of appreciation, it is not as good as his writing, the charm is long; Huai Su's big grass "Self-Narrative Post", is also recognized as the peak of cursive Gui, its style is strong and strong, a thousand miles, the so-called majestic and gentle meaning is insufficient; Huang Tingjian is considered to be the most unique style in the Song Dynasty, and its calligraphy style is fierce, I write my intentions, eclectic, eclectic, However, the lines of his later works seem to have a sense of lightness and unreality; Liu Gongquan's calligraphy, with strong bones and coldness, does lack some gentle and moist beauty; Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy is smooth and soft, full of vigor, but less upright and resolute.
Calligraphy, like many things in the world, has regrets, and things are almost perfect, but they are not perfect. The ancients should carefully judge the direction of their style, and then look for aesthetic fits, and recognize the blind spots of their own appreciation. If you want to improve your ability to appreciate, you must compare, practice, read more posts, and compare the gains and losses between famous posts, which will not be biased; if you observe the use of pens, ink, structures, and chapters in practice, your vision will not be narrow; if you experience the spiritual temperament and cultural connotation of each calligraphy classic in reading posts and postings, the style will not be vulgar.
ask
Huang Junjian: The Qing Dynasty Jin Miao's "Aphorism Lianbi Holding Bow Class" said: "Not to let the ancients, is to say that there is ambition; not to let the present people, is to say immeasurable." This means daring to compete for high and low in the face of the achievements of the ancients, which is ambition; not being humble in the face of the achievements of today's people, this is without strength. You agree with that, too. You believe that to engage in artistic creation, you must dare to surpass the ancients, and you must be able to bow your head and learn from the sages of ancient and modern times. I would like to ask: How can the art of calligraphy be creatively transformed and innovatively developed in the new era and new journey?
answer
Jia Great Wall: In fact, the works of ancient and modern calligraphers have something to learn from. Ancient calligraphy classics must be inherited, and the works of contemporary calligraphers, with a strong atmosphere of the times, will also enlighten the younger generation of calligraphers, and even affect future generations. Practitioners should be more humble, because the level of the work will be unobstructed, and it must not be a little false. I have always believed that calligraphy is the most comprehensive art, which can be taken everywhere at all times, and sister arts influence each other, and natural creation can also be included in books. "Pen and ink are contemporary", a work is not only an expression of an author's living state, but also a deep expression of a person's thoughts. Then, in the new era and new journey, in addition to learning from the ancient and modern sages as always, the art of calligraphy must also deal with the problem of seeking inward and outward.
The first is to seek from the heart and seek the improvement of one's own cultivation, rather than seeking fame and fortune from the outside. The second is to strengthen cultural self-confidence, draw nourishment from traditional Chinese culture, do not superstitious western culture, abandon the idea of admiring foreign charm, and strive to unify the character and art, only a good character can have good works. The combination of ancient and modern sages is elegant rather than vulgar, and the combination of character and art is noble rather than inferior, especially in calligraphy works. In addition, it is also necessary to "integrate artistic creativity and Chinese cultural values, combine the Chinese aesthetic spirit with contemporary aesthetic pursuits, and activate the vitality of Chinese culture" and "let Chinese excellent culture become the source of inspiration for literary and artistic innovation.". This passage of General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out the direction for the aesthetics, innovation, transformation and transformation of literature and art in the new era, which each of us calligraphy art workers should seriously study and think about.
ask
Huang Junjian: As a "comer" with rich creative experience, what advice do you have for young calligraphers?
answer
Jia Changcheng: Although I have been engaged in calligraphy creation for more than 30 years, in fact, when I first learned calligraphy, I mostly referred to some materials in calligraphy newspapers and periodicals, and then explored on my own. If you talk about the level, what I wrote in my 20s is far less than what my daughter writes now, and it is far from many young people now, because there was no calligraphy teacher at that time, and colleges and universities that opened calligraphy majors were also rare. Now, there are calligraphy courses in schools at all levels, and the learning environment is much stronger than I was then, but some young people today are not studying hard enough and are eager to achieve results, so it is difficult to enter a deeper level to explore learning. Therefore, I would like to give a few suggestions to young calligraphers, just for reference.
The first is to go deep into the classics. Although the classics are difficult to surpass, they can make us wander in them, absorb rich nutrients, and then turn into our own and become an endless source of our own creation.
Second, we must maintain concentration. Concentration is important for the artist, and if it is erratic, there will never be a foundation. Concentration is to persevere, to endure loneliness, to be consistent. If the concentration is full, the wisdom of art will gradually emerge, and only then can we create fine works with connotation, value, vitality and the spirit of the times.
The third is to improve eyesight. Improving eyesight is to improve the ability to identify the merits and disadvantages of works, not only when selecting posts, but also when appreciating ancient and modern calligraphy works, to take their essence, to eliminate the dross, only the eye height can be high, the wisdom and excellence can be able to achieve both hands and hands, in order to achieve "when the vision is high, there is no obstacle, and there is a clear wave at the source of the heart."
Fourth, we must improve our literacy. The main thing is to enhance the moral cultivation and cultural connotation of the individual, which affect each other and complement each other, because the height of a person's moral quality determines the level of artistic level. Literature and art should be passed on to others, not by literature and art.
Works by Jia Great Wall
Source: The interview was published in the tenth edition of the Calligraphy Herald, published on April 27, 2022