Text / Dong Wei
Foreword: He has a nickname in the circle - "Dong Bureau". What are the causes of all this? Just because of a dream, a dream because of calligraphy. In his early years, he served as the head of the local Cultural Affairs Bureau, and had an enviable stable job and a comfortable and comfortable life, however, he resolutely gave up these and decided to go north alone to study at the Chinese Book Court, and a few years later, the whole family moved. Over the years, Dong Wei has experienced a similar and different experience to most Beijing drift artists.
He studied under Mr. Wang Yong and benefited from the teaching work of the China Book Court, which grew up with the growth of the China Book Court, and had a lot of opportunities to get close to the first-class contemporary calligraphy masters and masters, and learn their artistic concepts, rather than their artistic faces. He has been looking for the foundation of calligraphy, looking for a channel through which to express his secret mind. Finally, this trace slowly became clear. He prefers the calligraphy style of combining the sui pre-Sui seals and the late Qing Dynasty inscriptions. ——Shi Han
Perverse
-- Talking about the "law" nature of "ugly books"
(According to the recording text of Mr. Dong Wei's 12th Art Live Class in Rice Art)
"Ugly books" have a very high degree of attention in today's book world, and they are also the most criticized, and the reason why there is a lot of criticism is mainly because of the lack of understanding, cognition and non-understanding of "ugly books". Today, I take this opportunity to make some specific analysis of the "ugly book" in combination with pictures, and strive to be reasonable and well-founded, and have pictures and truths. I hope that it will be helpful for everyone to understand the "ugly book" and further distinguish the advantages and disadvantages of the "ugly book".
Baidu "Ugly Book" found about 2,480,000 related results
Seven or eight years ago, Teacher Wang Yong once said that "popular book style" is a "dirty hat" thrown by people with ulterior motives, and the same is true for "ugly books", which is a legacy of the Cultural Revolution, first stigmatized and then criticized, such as a word invented in that year called "black painting", Mr. Li Keyan's painting was criticized as a "black painting" because it was painted black. In fact, what does the black painting have to do with the quality of the painting and the quality of the person?! However, when it comes to "black", it is easy to think of "gangsters", "underworld", and "black hearts", so it is "logical" to criticize. The intention of the person who named the "ugly book" is also here, so that people can easily think of "ugly", "ugly", "ugly" when they hear it, which makes the masses who do not know calligraphy and do not know the truth feel disgusted. Since "ugly books" have been "deeply rooted in the hearts of the people", today I will use this word for a while, but just like "beautiful books" have advantages and disadvantages, "ugly books" also have good and bad points, and today I am talking about "ugly books" with academic value and artistic height.
There is no clear definition of "ugly books" at present, for example, some people have classified Liu Yanhu's very elegant works as "ugly books", which is related to the fact that the batch of "ugly books" are laymen - but everyone who looks unpleasant to himself, even outside of Tang Kai, is called "ugly books". Although everyone has different understandings of "ugly books", there is also a general standard, which generally refers to works in the style of simplicity, clumsiness, and strangeness.
Basic features:
Ugly Books: Quality, Simplicity, Raw, Clumsy, Odd.
Correspondence: Wen, Hua, Cooked, Qiao, Ping.
Confucius said, "Quality wins over literature and wilderness, literature wins over quality and history, and then gentleman is polite." Like people, the works of past dynasties also have partial "literary" and "qualitative", and "ugly books" are partial to "qualitative". For the characteristics of the "ugly book" - quality, simplicity, life, clumsiness, strangeness, many sages have emphasized its aesthetic value, such as:
Dou Meng of the Tang Dynasty "Shu Shu Fu": "Humble: Do not rely on cleverness to be clumsy." ”
Huang Tingjian's "Treatise on books": "All books should be more clumsy than clever. ”
Song Dynasty Ouyang Xiu's "Collection of Ancient Records" of the King of the Bawang Dedication of the Fa Ti: "The so-called Fa Ti ... Yi pen after-pleasure, dripping and waving, or yan or ugly, a variety of things... It makes people suddenly see it amazingly, and when they look at it, the more endless their meaning is. ”
Zhao Zhiqian: "The scholar has the highest realm, the ancient and modern two ears." A three-year-old child can see the quality of nature; the accumulation of great Confucianism will have a divine show, so the book is based on those who do not learn books and cannot write. ”
Liu Xizai: "Ugly to the extreme is beautiful to the extreme, and the hills and ravines in an ugly word are not easy to say." ”
Zeng Xi: "Yu commented on the book of Dreams, the work is clumsy, the magic is in life, and the victory is in instability." ”
Liu Xizai: "Scholars start by not working, and then seek work by work. Those who do not work, the extremes of work. ”
Fu Shan: "Ning is clumsy, Ning is ugly rather than charming, Ning is not slippery, and Ning is straightforward than arranged." ”
Teacher Wang Yong has a passage that is particularly good: "Clumsy" is relative to "qiao". The higher realm it shows in aesthetics is a kind of re-understanding and positioning of beauty that is ignored by people in life, and this realm may have more vitality and expression than "cleverness". Zhao Zhiqian once said: "'Humble' is the highest point in all aesthetic realms." In this regard, we may be able to transform a concept, that is, to use "cooked" and "raw" to understand, too skillful and sleek things are often tacky, and "raw" itself has the meaning of raw clumsiness, which contains a lot of extra-flavored purposes, as well as a lot of more difficult to express the sense of beauty.
The old man and the trunk in the photo above, do you think it is ugly or beautiful? The old man's face and the ravines on the trunk of the tree are crisscrossed, and the richness and vicissitudes conveyed in them cannot be described simply by the obnoxious "ugly" in daily life, right?
I originally studied fine arts, and I remember that the only plaster head I painted when I was in school Chinese was a Guangdong youth, probably because the eyes of Cantonese people are deep and their faces are not so flat. You see the above Laokong head, the face is vicious, according to the daily vision will feel ugly, but such a facial structure appears rich, flavorful, there is a picture head, if replaced by Zhang Ziyi, although very beautiful, but the painting will feel tasteless, which shows that the beauty and ugliness in art and the beauty and ugliness in life are different, can not be completely equated.
These three works are Liang Kai, Chen Hongshou, Qi Baishi, the characters are very ugly, I downloaded from Mr. Bai Ling's circle of friends, I remember he commented at the time, if you take these and Western oil paintings in the beautiful women and handsome men are definitely "ugly paintings", if according to the view of the "ugly book", these paintings should also be approved. Finally, he also said that shamelessness is often due to ignorance. Indeed, many people are prejudiced against "ugly books" because they do not understand the aesthetics of "ugly" and are too one-sided and superficial in their traditional understanding.
Below I will analyze the relationship between the "ugly book" and the tradition in combination with the pictures of the work, and how it is legitimate:
First, the origin of the "ugly book"
The "ugly book" is not a source of water, it is inherited. The following calligraphy works are selected sequentially from the dynasties, and the two works of each dynasty (or similar period) are juxtaposed together, and you can feel the difference between the styles of the two works in the same period and the same book style:
【Zhou】Sanshi Pan & King Zhongshan
【Han】Zhang Qianbei & Cao Quanbei
【Han】Rencheng King carved stone & ceremonial stele
【Three Kingdoms】Tianfa Divine Monument & Zhong Xuan Xiaokai
【Eastern Jin Dynasty】Cuan Baozi Monument & Wang Xizhi Xiaokai
【Southern and Northern Dynasties】Statue of Zheng Changyou & Zhang Xuan's Epitaph
【Tang】Yan Zhenqing Kaishu & Chu Suiliang Kaishu
【Yuan】Yang Weizhen Xingshu & Zhao Mengfu Xingshu
【Ming】Zhang Ruitu line cursive writing & Dong Qichang line cursive writing
【Qing】Gong Qinggao cursive writing & Chen Hongshou cursive writing
【Qing】Yi Bingshou Lishu & Yang Dan Lishu
【Qing】Jin Nong xingshu & Lin Ze Xu Xingshu
【Republic of China】Xu Shengweng Xingshu & White Banana Xingshu
Through comparison, it should not be difficult to see that the two works of the above contemporaneous (or similar periods) are "ugly" on the left and "beautiful" on the right, which shows that in any dynasty, aesthetics are not single, and beauty and ugliness are like the two wings of a bird, which always coexist. This is enough to show that the "ugly book" has a long history and is traditional.
Second, the reasonable legitimacy of the "ugly book"
Let's talk about the affluence and legitimacy of the "ugly book", which is also the focus of today's sharing.
The title of today's lecture uses the word "abnormal harmony", and when you look at the accomplished scholars of the past generations, they are "both opposite and in harmony" relative to the teachers and the previous generation of scholars--the anti-"constant" is the norm and appearance, and the "Tao" of the union is the truth and the law. Further, "harmony" means inheritance, and "abnormality" means innovation. If there is no "anti" in complete "union", then there will be no creativity, no new face, and calligraphy will not be able to develop forward; if there is no "reverse" without "union", there will be no inheritance, and it will become a water without a source and a wood without a root. Although the faces of calligraphy works throughout the ages are different, because they all have the element of "unity", the inner "Tao", "Reason", and "Law" are consistent.
So what manifestation does the Tao pass? In the eyes of the ancients, everything is a natural relationship, the yin and yang between heaven and earth are intertwined, and the yin and yang are specifically put on the calligraphy, which is a variety of contrasting relationships. Such as the use of pen of the hidden dew, turning, square circle, press, thickness, rapid, smooth, smooth, light and heavy, thick and thin, virtual and real. Knots, the obliqueness of the chapter, the tightening, the tightness, the opening and closing, the retraction, the straightening, the continuous break, the length and shortness, the height, the fat and thin, the size, etc. In the long-term practice of creation, the ancients gradually formed a standard and law for the treatment of various contrasting relationships, that is, the rational law followed by posterity.
Just as "beautiful books" have advantages and disadvantages, "ugly books" also have good and bad, and an important criterion for judging is whether there is inheritance, whether the treatment is reasonable, reasonable, and legal, specifically whether it is in line with the "yin and yang" way. What lacks tradition and does not conform to the yin and yang way is the jianghu body, which cannot be compared with the "ugly book" with academic value.
Below, from the online "ugly book" famous list, I select the top three calligraphers: Wang Yong, Wo Xinghua, zeng xiang, from the yin and yang of several specific manifestations - abnormal treatment, center of gravity, dense and virtual, opening and closing and other aspects of their works, to see if the "ugly books" of the three teachers are reasonable and legal.
1. "Abnormal" treatment.
One of the reasons why everyone thinks ugly is that it is not the norm, it is more unique, strange, and the image we usually look at is not the same, which is also a major reason why the public does not accept the "ugly book". Because Chinese from a young age to see the regular printed body, in the rice character grid to write a neat and uniform word, after habituation is easy to form an aesthetic psychological stereotype, for some abnormal, peculiar treatment, at first glance will feel unpleasant, subconscious will resist. In fact, there is also a tradition of abnormal treatment, many ancient writers have applications, such as some partial head, originally in the second place, the small but written large.
At the beginning of the creation of words, the ancients did not have the concept of partial side heads, and the side heads could be moved at will, and the position and size were not fixed. Later, with people's continuous summary, the partial side head was gradually fixed and had a clear concept of the partial side head. After the partial head is clear, it is easy to standardize, fix and unify the shape, and lack of novelty and ancient meaning. "Ugly Book" represents that in the creation of the calligraphers, they borrowed from the early way of writing, deliberately broke the concept of partial heading, and handled it unconventionally, so that the work presented a clumsy taste.
The first word in the picture above is the "folding" word written by Jin Nong, according to the current custom, originally the handle should be written small, but he wrote large, plus the horizontal he wrote not only did not follow the normal left low right high, but left high right low, such abnormal treatment will make people feel ugly and strange. The other few are the words in the stele of the good king, the Han Jian and the Song Gaoling Temple, which are obviously different from the way they are handled on the side now, the small big, the big and the small, and the unconventional treatment, so that there is an ancient and strange effect, which is special.
The picture on the left above is Wang Yong's couplet, and the words "divide" and "collar" are anti-conventional treatment, which is very clumsy. If you analyze it in detail, you will also find that the size of Teacher Wang's partial treatment is also related to the upper and lower characters, which is the need of the chapter, which is the same as the treatment of the word "affection" in the preface of Wang Xizhi Lanting.
The words "Pong" and "Pin" in Teacher Wo Xinghua's works (pictured left), the words "Huan" and "Duck" in Teacher Zeng Xiang's works (right) are also abnormally handled, in addition, the words "Weng" in Teacher Wo's works, and the words "year" and "long" in Teacher Zeng's works also borrow the structure of the seal book, which is even more clumsy and strange.
2. Center of gravity.
The big head son on the left side of the picture below has a large head and a small body, with a low center of gravity, which looks clumsy and cute; the big head father on the right has a small head and a long body, a high center of gravity, and appears slender and elegant.
In the calligraphy works of the past generations, the "ugly" works generally adopted the treatment of low center of gravity. The words "East, Mo, Right" in the "Scattered Disc" in the picture on the left above have a large head and a significantly lower center of gravity, just like the son of the big head, which looks clumsy. The words in the "King of Zhongshan" on the right are tightly closed above and pulled apart below, and the center of gravity is obviously high, like a small-headed father, very slender, and looks beautiful.
In the following ancient "ugly books", the center of gravity of many words is very low.
Zhang Qianbei & Cuan Baozi Monument
Statue of Zheng Changyou & Jinnong Codex
Contemporary "ugly books" clearly inherit the characteristics of the low center of gravity of the ancient clumsy style.
Works by Wang Yong
Works by Wo Xinghua
The treatment of the three characters "Zeng", "Wei" and "Zi" in Zeng Xiang's works is completely in line with the treatment of the three words "Hua", "Wei" and "Xian" by Mi Fu and Wang Xizhi.
3. Dense and virtual.
"Dense" is an important means of dealing with the structure of Chinese characters, dense and real, sparse virtual, there is a dense in order to be virtual reality, meaning endless, the first-class writers of all generations are masters of dealing with denseness. By analyzing the sparse treatment of contemporary "ugly books" representing scholars, it can be found that there are many places that are completely consistent with the ancients.
The upper row is Wang Xizhi, Mi Fu, Yang Ning-style characters, the lower row is Wang Yong teacher wrote the same or similar words, through comparison, it can be found that the upper and lower characters are completely consistent in the dense treatment, and the appearance is different.
Through the comparison of the two lines of words in the above figure, it can be seen that these words of Teacher Wo Xinghua (lower row) and Yan Zhenqing's words (upper row) are completely consistent in the treatment of denseness and blank space, but Teacher Wo has appropriately exaggerated.
Huang Binhong: "Painting is like the following chess, we must be good at making living eyes, and if there are many living eyes, chess will win." Through the analysis of the single word (right side) of the "Holy Order", it can be seen that Wang Xizhi is very good at making "eyes" (relatively large blank spaces), and the same is true of Zeng Xiang's words (left).
4. Opening and closing.
"Opening and closing" has many forms of expression, disconnection is one of them, the place of connection is "closed", and the place of disconnection is "open". When dealing with the word "ren" in the ancients, they used to break the left and right, that is, left and right, as shown in the following figures: Wang Xizhi, Yan Zhenqing, Mi Fu, Zodiac Zhou, and Yu Youren's characters are all the same.
The picture below is the character of Wang Yong, Wo Xinghua, and Zeng Xiang, which is exactly the same as the way the ancients handled opening and closing, except that individual words will do the opposite, such as the word "Weng".
The above analyzes the "ugly book" from the four aspects of abnormal treatment, center of gravity, dense virtual reality, and opening and closing, of which the abnormal treatment is the problem of size, and the center of gravity is the problem of high and low tightening, in fact, the four aspects are all around yin and yang. Through these specific analyses, I hope that it will be helpful for everyone to understand the origin between contemporary "ugly books" and ancient classic works, and to understand the legitimacy and legitimacy of "ugly books".
Third, the lack of aesthetics of "judging ugliness" is incomplete
"'Quality' and 'Yan' are two systems that have coexisted throughout the ages." One represents beauty and one represents grandeur, one embodies femininity, and the other embodies masculinity, and they reflect the basic content of calligraphic aesthetics. 'Yan' and 'ugly' are two sides of the same thing, and as an opposing and unified existence, no one can be replaced, and one is indispensable" (Teacher Wo Xinghua). Therefore, the aesthetic that includes "judging ugliness" is complete.
If "beautiful books" are compared to "comedy", then "ugly books" are like "tragedies", "tearing beautiful things apart for people to see", which has a special expressiveness.
Only appreciating that Yanmei can't understand the "ugly book" is a manifestation of narrow vision, single aesthetics, incompleteness, and failure to see through the common principles within. Because of its unconventional, creative, expressive and personality characteristics, the "ugly book" is indispensable in today's era of freedom, democracy, openness and tolerance!
The "Ugly Book" in the History of Calligraphy
Fourth, the study of books should be "beautiful and ugly" equal emphasis
Focus on a style for a long time, often chen Chen cause, the connotation is more and more empty, the form is more and more simple, it is difficult to go deeper and better, if the beauty and ugliness are involved, it will form a complementary relationship, mutual benefit, to achieve the opposite.
"Quality wins over literature and wilderness, literature wins quality over history, literary quality is polite, and then gentleman" - as a personal study book, it should also attach equal importance to literary quality, beauty and ugliness. Many accomplished scholars throughout the ages have been beautiful and ugly, please see the following "beautiful books" and "ugly books" of these big names:
Yan Zhenqing, "The Tale of the Immortal Altar of Magu", "Many Pagodas"
Yang Ningshi "Leek Flower Thesis", "Immortal Living Law", "Lu Hong Caotang Ten Zhi Tu Bao"
Kang Youwei Xingshu and Xiao Kai
Let's take a look at the contemporary "ugly book" representing the "beautiful book" skills of the calligrapher:
Works by He Yinghui and Works by Shi Kai
Works by Zeng Xiang
Yu Ming's interpretation
Cheng Fengzi works
Does "beautiful book" need an "ugly" component?
The following are all works similar to Wang Xizhi's life period, after reading it, can you realize that Lao Wang's "beauty" is also boiled out of the "ugly book" pile by "hard work"?
From the "Aunt Post" on the right, you can glimpse Lao Wang's "ugly book" skills.
By comparing with the works of Zhao Mengfu (pictured on the right), you will find that Lao Wang's works are more simple and ancient, is it because his words have more "ugly" elements?
Fifth, my practice of "beauty and ugliness" in the teaching of pro-creation and calligraphy
Whether in my own practice of creation or in the teaching of calligraphy at Shangyi Academy, I attach equal importance to "beauty and ugliness".
The "beautiful book" that I copied and created:
Pro King Duo Letter
Daily news transcription
Xingshu Doufang "Poetry with the Garden"
The "Ugly Book" I Created:
The "beautiful book" copied by the students of Shangyi College:
I not only guide the students to the works of Lingu Humble All the Way, but also conduct some "ugly appearance" training.
"Beauty and ugliness" eat all the road wide.
Xu Chaokai, a student of Shangyi College, created works
Works by Luo Yiming, a student of Shangyi Academy
Works by Chen Wenfei, a student of Shangyi College
Dong Wei (1974-), a native of Yancheng, Henan, studied under Mr. Wang Yong. He has served as the director of the Teaching Department of the China Book Court for a long time, and is now the president of Shangyi College, the vice president of the Calligraphy and Seal Engraving Institute of the Successor Teaching Institute of Chinese Min University, the tutor of the Calligraphy and Painting Advanced Research Class of Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, the tutor of Dong Wei Calligraphy Studio of Hebei Academy, the member of the Chinese Calligraphy and Seal Engraving Art Committee of the Youth Federation of the Ministry of Culture, and a member of the "Inch Farming Society". He has long been engaged in the research and practice of calligraphy teaching methods, and has been praised by wang yong, Liu Zhengcheng and other famous artists as "outstanding figures among contemporary calligraphy educators".
Source: Rice Art
Producer: Shi Han
Original title: On the "legal" nature of "ugly books"
(Originality and copyright belong to the original author)