1
Historical development and conceptual division of cursive writing
The rise of cursive writing has a history of more than 2,000 years. At that time, after years of war and turmoil, the exchange of documents between the princely countries became increasingly frequent. The original popular seal book or lishu is difficult to write and is no longer practical. In order to write simply and quickly, grass seals and grasses began to become popular in the folk, constantly evolving, developing and changing, and gradually forming cursive fonts in different historical periods.
Cursive has a broad and narrow distinction. Cursive in the broad sense means that no matter when and in what form, any word that is written sloppily and casually can be called cursive. For example, there are grass seals in the era of seal books, grass in the era of lishu, and grass in the era of calligraphy. Zhang Cai of the Song Dynasty said in the "Collection of Nanxuan": "Cursive writing does not have to exist in modern times, it must exist since the pen, but if it is not written carefully, it will become cursive." "This refers to cursive in a broad sense. Cursive in the narrow sense refers to a self-contained system of Chinese character cursive writing with a certain degree of law, which is a kind of calligraphy in calligraphy. Cursive in the narrow sense is divided into "chapter grass", "present grass", "wild grass" and "standard cursive".
1. Chapter grass
Zhangcao was developed in the early Han Dynasty by lishu cursive writing. The characteristics of chapter grass are the distinction between characters and characters, not connected to the cotton, and the posture has a French style with subordination, such as the horizontal stroke of the last brush, the left and right are clearly distinguished, and the stroke is rotated at the end of the grass, which has a simple and thick appearance. The change of chapter grass into grass broke the system of calligraphy that has lasted for nearly two hundred years, which is a major change in the history of calligraphy. The progressive significance of chapter grass is to apply a simplified or changed side to a few or more composite characters, so that it is easy to write and easy to identify. The modern calligrapher Yu Youren wrote in his discussion of Zhang Cao: "It is the law, using symbols, one long also; the characters are independent, the two long are also; one word is universal, and the three are long." "Summarizes the progressive nature of the chapter grass.
The main examples of chapter herbs that can be used for study are: Suo Jing's "Ode to the Teacher" of the Jin Dynasty, the Imperial Elephant of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period, and the "Urgent Chapter" of the Song Keshu of the Ming Dynasty. The study of chapters and grasses should have a foundation of calligraphy and calligraphy, and should also have a certain knowledge of seal writing.
Suo Jing's Ode to the Teacher of the Jin Dynasty
2. Imakusa
Imakusa was developed on the basis of chapter grass. It speeds up the speed of the stroke, increases the ring strokes, the strokes are more simplified, and the strokes are more convenient. Imakusa is characterized by the removal of the strokes of the Lishu retained in the "Chapter Grass", and the gestures between the upper and lower characters are related to each other, and the sides borrow each other, which is generally called cursive. According to legend, this grass was created by The Later Han Zhang Zhi. Inferring from the existing carved stones and inkblots, the present grass appeared in the middle of the Han Dynasty, and the maturity period was at least in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Wang Xizhi's present grass is a representative of this period. His seventeen theses are more famous and can be called masterpieces. Wang Xizhi's seventh son, Wang Xianzhi, was also good at walking grass, and later generations called his father and son "the second king". Zhiyong of the Sui Dynasty was also a cursive master, and his "True Grass Thousand Character Text", which was rigorous in law and exquisite in penmanship, had a great influence on the promotion of Imakusa. The "Shu Harmony" written by the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Sun Guoting is not only a masterpiece of calligraphy theory, but also a treasure of the art of modern cursive calligraphy with deep achievements.
Part of Zhiyong's "True Grass Thousand Character Text"
In the layout of the chapters, although each word is independent, there is an internal connection between the words and the lines. The first and last strokes of a word have obvious strings of guidance from top to bottom, and the greeting between lines and lines is expected to coordinate nature.
Third, wild grass
Wild grass is easier and faster than modern grass writing, and it has the tendency to gallop uninhibited and become a one-shot, so it is called "a book". The characteristics of wild grass are wild and uninhibited with the pen, the gestures are continuously looping, the glyph changes without a trace, the knots and chapters are white, not bound by any boundary grid, sometimes sparse and dense, sometimes virtual, magnificent, and numerous postures. It is said that the wild grass was created by Zhang Xu in the Tang Dynasty, saying that he was drunk after drinking, and he waved his pen and took the Fa Jincao wildly and indulgently, so it was called "wild grass". Huai Su's "Self-Narration" is a representative work of wild grass in the Tang Dynasty. His "Four Ancient Poems" and Yang Ningshi, Song Huizong Zhao Xin, Ming Dynasty Zhu Yunming, Qing Dynasty Wang Duo Fushan and other scholars, all have certain achievements.
Part of Huai Su's "Self-Narration Post"
4. Standard cursive writing
Modern cursive calligrapher Yu Youren, in the 1930s, set up the "Cursive Society", gathered experts at home and abroad, searched for the cursive fonts of famous masters of the past, and in line with the principle of "easy to read, easy to write, standard and beautiful", collected characters into a thousand characters and named it "Standard Cursive". As a kind of writing, cursive writing often has a variety of ways to write a word, which brings certain difficulties to reading. The "Standard Cursive" tries to select a common writing style of many famous artists and standardize and promote it with many different ways of writing. At the same time, some side characters are standardized and used as combinations of composite characters. This achievement is still of great help to us in learning cursive today.
Yu Youren Standard Cursive
Two
Cursive writing rules
The general law of cursive writing mentioned here refers to the present grass. As a relatively independent font that is different from other fonts such as calligraphy, xingshu, and lishu, cursive writing has its own rules in stroke form, pen method, use of radicals and structure.
First, the growth rate of the line pen changes into a continuous
The line of cursive writing, compared with the letters and lines, is faster. The so-called "standing, walking, grass running" is a metaphor for cursive writing to running. In this way, some of the pen handling methods of Chinese character calligraphy have been changed, and the echo relationship between strokes has been enhanced by changing straight to arc, changing square into circle, and drawing silk leads, and speeding up the rhythm of cursive writing.
Second, simplify the complex with simplicity and simplify the glyphs
Some cursive characters are actually simplified characters with ligatures, while many of the current simplified characters have evolved from ancient cursive characters. In the current simplified characters, such as "shi, hui, book, and, character example: "che, dong, le" and other words, all reflect the simplified brushwork of cursive.
Third, the side of the multi-purpose, to replace the ministry
In cursive, the partial side is mostly replaced by characters, and the same character can often replace two, three or even more than ten kinds of calligraphy, which provides great convenience for the reading and writing of cursive.
Fourth, change the stroke order, easy to write
Cursive writing is convenient and fast compared to cursive writing, and the stroke order has undergone some changes. For example, the words "he, hand, year, rice, flat, fruit, and plastic" are changed from horizontal and then vertical to first vertical and then horizontal; the middle and lower parts of the word "ink" are changed to first down and then up.
Fifth, the body is changeable, oblique and positive
Because cursive writing has the characteristics of the growth rate of the line pen, the use of simplicity instead of the complex, the substitution of symbols for the part, and the change of the stroke order, its structure has also undergone some changes. There are generally the following situations:
(1) There are many ways to write a word This is a relatively significant feature of cursive writing. For example, the cursive of the word "year, end". See the following examples:
(2) Reduce the strokes, with the trend of the formation in cursive, most of the strokes of the word have been reduced. Some are pen-conscious, such as "land, autumn, harvest, winter"; Some are pen-saving deformations, such as "day, rain, water". See the following examples:
(3) Stroke continuous writing, into a new style cursive writing, because of the stroke continuous writing, the glyph has changed greatly compared with the letter, it can be said that it has been far away from the structure of the letter, if you do not add the letter annotation, it is difficult for people to recognize. Therefore, this part of the word needs to be re-recognized.
3
Top 10 cursive calligraphy in history
and appreciation of their works
One
Wang Xizhi (303-361), a calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was known as the "Sage of Books". His calligraphy is also good at li, grass, kai, and xing, refining the body posture, collecting the strengths of all, preparing all kinds of bodies, getting rid of the Han and Wei pen style, becoming a family of its own, and having a far-reaching influence. The style is peaceful and natural, the gestures are euphemistic and subtle, and the beauty is healthy. Cursive representative works: "Seventeen Posts", "First Moon Posts", "Distant Eunuch Posts".
Wang Xizhi's "Distant Eunuch Thesis"
Two
Wang Xianzhi (344-386), a calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was known as the "Little Sage". Wang Xianzhi practiced calligraphy with his father since childhood, and was famous for his calligraphy and cursive writing, but he also had a deep foundation in calligraphy and calligraphy. His cursive writing, skillful, beautiful and flying, is no less than his father Wang Xizhi, who is collectively known as the second king. Together with Zhang Zhi and Zhong Xuan Wang Xizhi, he was also called the "Four Sages in the Book". Cursive representative works: "Duck Head Pill Thesis" and "Mid-Autumn Festival".
Wang Xianzhi's "Mid-Autumn Festival"
Three
Zhang Zhi, Zi Boying. Diligent study is good at ancient times, light on Shijin, good at chapter grass. There are two predecessor calligraphers most admired by Wang Xizhi, the "Sage of Books": one is Zhong Xuan of Cao Wei, and the other is Zhang Zhi of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He said, "Wushu is better than the bell and the zhang, and the bell should be resisted, or excessive; Zhang Cao is like a goose. However, Zhang is skilled, and the pool water is full of ink, if Yu Is delayed, he may not be thankful. "Delay" means to be addicted, especially hobby. Even Wang Xizhi sighed to himself, which shows Zhang Zhi's love for calligraphy. Representative works of grass genus: "Champion Post", "February 8 Post", "Year-end Post".
Part of Zhang Zhi's "Champion Post"
Four
Sun Guoting (646~691) was a Tang Dynasty calligrapher and calligraphy theorist. Sun Guoting "good ancient boya, Gongwen Ci, named after Han Mojian". He is good at italics, lines, and grass, especially cursive writing. There are three kinds of handwriting handed down by Sun Guoting, all of which are cursive inkblots, of which the most successful and influential is the "Book Spectrum". Cursive works: "Book Notation", "Thousand Character Text", "Jingfudian Fu".
Sun Guoting's book genealogy
Five
Zhang Xu (685-759), a Tang Dynasty calligrapher, good at cursive writing, likes to drink, known as "Zhang Qian", and Huai Su and called "Reverse Zhang Drunken Su", together with He Zhizhang, Zhang Ruoxu, Bao Rong and called "Wu Zhong Si Shi", and he Zhizhang and others called "Eight Immortals in Drinking", and his cursive writing is called "Three Absolutes" with Li Bai's poetry and Pei Min's sword dance.
Zhang Xu was not from a low birth, he once learned calligraphy from his cousin Lu Yanyuan, and after his studies, he was admired by Wu Daozi and Yan Zhenqing; After reaching older age, he was admitted to the army through the recommendation or recommendation and conscription, and was released as a lieutenant of Changshu County; He successively served as the governor of Zuo Zhifu and the long history of Kingo, so he was known as "Zhang Changshi" by the world; He died around the second year of Qianyuan (759) at the age of about seventy-five.
In terms of calligraphy, Zhang Xu is diligent in observing objective things, good at combining objective natural objects with personal subjective emotions, inheriting both tradition and courage to innovate, inheriting the calligraphy achievements of his predecessors and innovating them, so that his own wild grass art reached a peak in the tang dynasty. Cursive works: "Belly Pain Thesis", "Four Ancient Poems"
Zhang Xu's cursive works
Six
Huai Su (737-799), a Tang Dynasty calligrapher, was known as "Wild Grass", known in history as "Grass Sage". Since childhood, he became a monk, and after zen time, he loved calligraphy, and zhang xu was equally famous, collectively known as "upside down crazy su", forming a situation in which the two peaks of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty stood together, and it was also two peaks in the history of Chinese cursive writing. Huaisu cursive, thin penmanship, flying natural, like a rain whirlwind, with a variety of changes. The calligraphy is full of twists and turns, ever-changing, and the law is possessed. Li Zhimin, a professor at Peking University and the pioneer of the introduction of the monument into the grass, commented: "Huai Su's cursive running has the god of qingxiu, and there is a pure and mu atmosphere in the wild." Cursive works: "Self-Narration", "Bitter Bamboo Shoot Post"
Part of Huaisu's cursive "Self-Narration Post"
Seven
Huang Tingjian (1045- -1105), a famous writer and calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty, was the ancestor of the flourishing Jiangxi poetry school, and was known as "one ancestor and three sects" (Huang Tingjian was one of them) along with Du Fu, Chen Shidao and Chen Youyi. Together with Zhang Qi, Chao Shuzhi and Qin Guan, they all studied under Su Shimen and were collectively known as the "Four Bachelors of Sumen". Before his death, he was on a par with Su Shi and was known as "Su Huang". He is the author of "Valley Words", and Huang Tingjian's calligraphy can also be unique, one of the "Four Houses of Song". Huang Tingjian's cursive writing was well thought out during his school days.
Cursive works: "Theravada Thesis", "Luoyang Yuji Poems", "Li Bai Recalls Old Travel Poems".
Part of Huang Tingjian's cursive book "Luoyang Yuji Poem"
Eight
Mi Fu (1051- -1107), a Northern Song Dynasty calligrapher, painter, and theorist of calligraphy and painting, was jointly known as the "Four Houses of the Song Dynasty" together with Cai Xiang, Su Shi, and Huang Tingjian. His personality is strange, his behavior is crazy, and he is called "brother" by encountering stones, and he is worshipped endlessly, so he is called "Mi Qian". Emperor Huizong of Song was a doctor of calligraphy and painting, also known as "Mi Xiangyang" and "Minang Palace". Rice calligraphy and painting are unique in their own, with dead wood and bamboo stones and landscape paintings with unique stylistic characteristics. He is also quite accomplished in calligraphy, good at seals, calligraphy, lines, grass and other calligraphy styles, and is good at copying the calligraphy of the ancients, reaching the degree of chaos.
Cursive works: "Yuan Ri Ti", "On Cursive Writing".
Mi Fu cursive book "Yuan Ri Ti"
Nine
Zhao Tuo (1082-1135), Emperor Huizong of Song, eighth emperor of the Song Dynasty, calligrapher and painter. The eleventh son of Emperor Shenzong of Song and the younger brother of Emperor Zhezong of Song. Zhao Tuo's artistic proposition, emphasizing the combination of form and god, advocating the combination of poetry, books, paintings and printing, he is the founder of Gongbi painting, flowers and birds, landscapes, figures, pavilions, all paintings, which is the common feature of everyone.
Cursive works: "Cursive Thousand Characters"
Part of Zhao Tuo's cursive work "Cursive Thousand Character Text"
Ten
Lin Sanzhi (1898.11.20-1989.12.6), zi sanzhi, number three idiots, left ear, jiangshang old man, etc., was born in Jiangpu County, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province (now Pukou District, Nanjing), his ancestral home is Wujiang Town, Anhui Province, Wujiang Town, QiguoSong Village, poet, calligrapher and painter, especially good at cursive. In 1972, he became famous during the Sino-Japanese calligraphy exchange selection, and his calligraphy work "Sino-Japanese Friendship Poem" was praised as "Lin Sanzhi's First Cursive Calligraphy". Zhao Puchu, Qi Gong, and others called poems, books, and paintings "the three masterpieces of contemporary times", known as "grass saints", and Lin San's cursive writing was called "forest body".
Cursive works: "Sino-Japanese Friendship Poem", "Xu Yao's Poem on Huaisu Cursive".
Part of Lin Sanzhi's cursive work "Sino-Japanese Friendship Poem"
Chen Haifeng was the chairman and secretary of Anhui Ocean Wind Culture Media Co., Ltd., a first-class advertising enterprise and a listed company on the New Third Board, the president of Ma'anshan Advertising Association, and the consultant of the presidium of Ma'anshan Artists Association.
From 1981 to 1993, he worked as a senior art editor at Ma'anshan Daily, and published thousands of inscriptions, illustrations, mastheads, sketches and cartoons for more than a decade.
He is currently studying at the China Academy of Art.