The other side: the humanistic pursuit of calligraphy by the ancients
Speaker: Zheng Xiaohua
Venue: Mingde Lecture Hall, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Speech Time: June 2021
For a long time in ancient China, calligraphy was a practical skill that readers must study, and it was also a "stepping stone" for readers to enter the world, and it was also regarded by the traditional intellectual class as a "Taoist" tool for self-cultivation and personality. Starting from the beauty of Chinese character writing, the literati of china's ancient dynasties built a system of hanmo ideal world by looking up, looking down, imagining and creating. As the old saying goes, "Although the trail must be considerable." "Calligraphy seems to be a small skill of carving insects, but step by step, we will find that under the general pattern of traditional culture, calligraphy seems to be a simple black and white dot line weave, hiding the rich ideas of the ancestors." They are a unique landscape of ancient Chinese culture.
Zheng Xiaohua, deputy secretary and secretary general of the sub-party group of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Arts of Chinese Min University, expert of special government allowance of the State Council, was selected as a cultural master and "four batches" talent project.
Ancient scholars and calligraphy
There is a cloud in the Book of Rites: "The journey of the great road is also the common good of the world, the selection of the wise and the able, and the preaching of faith and the cultivation of harmony." Among them, the four words "selection of talents and ability", I think it represents the traditional political ideals of ancient China. Early societies moved from primitive societies to slave societies, and social organizations were managed based on blood relations and the state was divided into lands and feudal lords. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, due to the "Gentleman's Zee, the Fifth Dynasty and the Beheading", as the generations changed blood and kinship became more and more indifferent, the conflict of interests between small states intensified, resulting in the emergence of a struggle for hegemony among princes. Later, Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, adopted the county system, abolished the original blood-based feudal system, and handed over the management of the state to an administrative system based on the center of imperial power. The implementation of such state management requires a group of capable talents. The history of the Qin Dynasty is very short, the Han Dynasty attacked the Qin system, and the elite politics of ancient Chinese society was gradually established, and the Han Dynasty "recommended" and "recruited" Guangluo talents, and the recommendation was recommended by local officials from the bottom up; the conquest was the Tianzi "conquest", the princes were "promoted", from top to bottom , the most capable people were selected to the state management departments at all levels. Later, when it developed into the Sui and Tang Dynasties, it evolved into an ancient imperial examination system that lasted for thousands of years.
At the "Characters of the Ancient Times- Special Exhibition of Su Shi's Themed Calligraphy and Paintings collected by the Palace Museum", the audience is visiting. Photo by Du Jianpo/Guangming Pictures
So, how is the ancient art of calligraphy related to such a talent selection?
First of all, calligraphy can give people wisdom enlightenment. From the beginning of their enlightenment, young children in ancient times had to read and write. The reading and writing of Chinese characters brings the first rays of wisdom and sunshine of life to young children, giving them a conceptual frame of reference for understanding the world. The enlightened Chinese character writing education has also laid the foundation for the natural affinity of china's ancient ancestors for Chinese character calligraphy. Chinese and calligraphy, in ancient times, a kind of cultural fate was born.
Second, calligraphy made it easy for the ancestors to display their personal character. In ancient traditional societies, the vast majority of human interactions involved language and writing, and calligraphy became the most direct tool for people to show the individual. "The text is the meaning of the word, and the book has seen its heart" (Tang Zhang Huaiwan), for the ancients, calligraphy is a visual communication, more direct than other carriers. On the other hand, ancient Chinese writing instruments are very special, a bamboo pipe is tied in front of a handful of animal hair, made into a soft pen, "but the pen is soft and strange" (Eastern Han Dynasty Cai Yong). Writing control with a soft pen is very difficult. If a scholar wants to write well, he must conquer the brush in order to be able to control it freely. To conquer the brush, it is necessary to have tenacious faith, extensive knowledge, and superior understanding and perseverance. The old proverb says that "words are like their people", for scholars, what people write in their interactions, how to write, through the size of a few strokes can show their quality. Therefore, in the long social development of ancient times, calligraphy has been most widely disseminated among the intellectual class. Liu Xi of the Qing Dynasty has a generalization: "Books, such as also." As it learns, as its talent, as its aspirations. In short, just like his people. This has led to a unique cultural phenomenon in Chinese history: almost all outstanding figures love calligraphy, and they often have good achievements in calligraphy. And this cultural phenomenon continues to this day, for the public level, no matter where the Chinese people are, in the depths of their hearts, there will be a natural reverence for the art of calligraphy; in the veins of every Chinese child, there is a constant love affair.
The triple realm of calligraphy art
Looking at calligraphy with an objective and truth-seeking research attitude, the art of calligraphy that has undergone thousands of years of development history is inaccurately expressed, and there are roughly three realms: one is the secular realm, one is the artistic realm, and the other is the philosopher's realm.
The so-called secular realm is to conform to the ancient law, to win with technology, and not to create it yourself. Learning the existing technology and mastering it skillfully can meet this need. This is a secular and general requirement for calligraphers, and it is also a basic realm of calligraphy as a calligrapher, moving to the first peak of calligraphy. The way to achieve this goal is to specialize. If we are interested in calligraphy, choose a traditional classic, 365 days a year, copy every day, time and energy in place, and come to fruition. Some people say that calligraphy is very profound, saying that there must be talent, child skills, etc., I think not necessarily. Be diligent, use the right method, invest a certain amount of time, step by step, and you can also enter the house all the way to calligraphy.
This stage is technical. If we only pursue the first stage, skillfully master the existing technology, and do not talk about creation, it is achievable by everyone. However, there is also a prerequisite for such success, that is, it requires a lot of time investment and accumulation of work. Taking stock of the well-known scholars in history, more than their own homes, is because if there is no material foundation, all day for food and clothing, it is impossible to spend so much time mastering an art.
Yan Zhenqing duo pagoda stele (partial) information picture
The second realm is the realm of artistic ability, which is the realm of the artist, and learning wins. He not only needs to master the existing technology, but also can use his knowledge and cultivation to think, judge, and operate, process and integrate the existing calligraphy language, and create a new artistic language. The artistic energy realm needs certain technical support, that is, the basic technology of the first stage in the front. But how rich the foundation is, I can't say for sure. I don't think there is a need to be too careful in carving, and there is no need to climb to the top and do the second step of the work, because it may be a little late at that time, after all, if the technology is too refined, the exquisite technology itself may have a "curing effect". Precision and refinement will also constrain people and affect the exertion of creativity. So I think the underlying technology should be moderate and keep an open system. With a certain technical height, it is necessary to mobilize the accumulation of knowledge and carry out the "calculation" and integration of artistic language. At this time, it is necessary to understand the principles and laws of calligraphy with historical and theoretical vision and insight, how to enter the ancient and out of the ancient, and how to inherit the ancient and open up the new. To be different from the predecessors, the study of the ancient must be able to enter and go, but also to get out. And when you come out, you must be on the same track with the ancients, but not the same; you must be different from the ancients, but not "contradict the peace." I thought that the way to achieve this goal was to integrate, to sort out what had been learned, and then to see compatibility with each other, to break them apart, to crush them, to piece them together, like cement mixed with sand, completely merging into a new thing. This is the realm of the scholar-type or artist-type calligrapher, which promotes the art of calligraphy at the aesthetic level.
The third realm is the philosopher's realm, similar to the philosophical realm, which penetrates the heavens and the human beings, and integrates the spirituality, and expresses the individual disposition, the inner spiritual temperament, the physical and psychological composition through the visual language of calligraphy. The temperament is integrated, the people and books are one, and I think this may be a unique place for the art of Chinese calligraphy. Because in the history of Western art, there seems to be no situation in which "the unity of human painting" is promoted as a dominant artistic concept. However, the focus of oriental art, since ancient times, calligraphy pursues "the integration of things and me", "the unity of heaven and man" and "natural humanization", and the realm of calligraphy yearning is: "Husband is on one side, with thousands of miles of affection", "Cloaked to see the traces, happy as to meet" (Tang Zhang Huaiwan), in the spiritual dimension of the ancestors, calligraphy is the epitaph of his life.
In history, like Xu Wei and Bada Shanren, their calligraphy has reached such a realm, and calligraphy has become the display of their individual life. At this stage, it is not only necessary to cross the technical barriers, but also to transcend the formal aesthetic barriers, the so-called "can cross the laws of the families", "alone with the spirit, transcending the appearance of things", "learning to create, creating rules" (Tang Zhang Huaijuan). What kind of body calligraphy has, what form it has in the past, must be transcended, like the Creator who opened up the world, created Hongmeng, and created a unique, vivid and natural self.
The so-called formal aesthetic barriers are various fixed calligraphy programs and patterns formed in the history of calligraphy. In the first two stages they are system rules, the basis of technology and convergence. But in the third stage, artistic thinking does not unfold at this level, but rises to the spiritual level of people, creates a personified artistic image with the symbolic meaning of life, and finds pen and ink endorsement for the personality of life, which is the third realm of calligraphy art, and it is also the highest realm of calligraphy as art. People and books are old, and people and books are one. At this stage, it's important to think outside the box. We say that the true color of calligraphers is to enter the first realm and skillfully master the existing techniques of calligraphy, and most calligraphers in history stay in this realm, want to break through, and cannot come out. There are some excellent scholars, who have enough learning and understanding, who can learn and understand, understand thoroughly, break through the cocoon on their own, and enter the second realm, that is, everyone in history. But very few people can achieve the third realm of calligraphy. At this stage, we must break the inertial thinking, which solidifies people's thinking and is not easy to break free. In fact, the so-called ancient and modern laws are summed up by others. In order to realize the unity of people and books, we must have breakthroughs, find gaps, and break new paths of our own. This involves respect for the universal laws of art, both respect and breakthrough: for the rules of calligraphy, it is necessary to change the bright and the secret. Mingshou is to keep the style, to keep what the eyes can see directly; to keep the secret is to abandon the style, to keep its god, the core spirit is not discarded, but at the formal level, it seems to be completely discarded.
It seems a bit mysterious to say that the form abandons The God stays, but after the form is abandoned, how can the God stay? If according to the thinking of scientists, it is necessary to say one-on-one which is God, which is the form, how to stay, how to leave a few points, this seems to be impossible to explain to everyone precisely. But this kind of abandonment of god does exist in art and in everyone's feelings.
At this stage, the use of tools crosses from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom. The kingdom of necessity is the rule we must also obey, and the "man" is governed by the rules. The Kingdom of Liberty is where "man" transcends the rules. Without following these rules, we are free to create, but we are in the common principle of human aesthetics, which does not violate the commonality of human aesthetics. To borrow an old saying, it is "do what the heart desires without overstepping the bounds". At this time, the artist only listened to the call of the heart. What flows under the pen is the rhythm of individual life. Neither the ancient law nor the rules of heaven are violated. Days are the highest rule. Be fully personalized, but not casual, not rude, not crazy. "Zhuangzi Shanmu" has a cloud: "Rampant arrogance, but it is generous", which can be regarded as describing this realm, on the surface it seems to be rampant and arrogant, as if it is chaotic ancient law, in fact, it is "generous and generous", grasping the commanding heights of art. There is also a saying in ancient texts called "anti-meridian and harmony", and the sutra is the law and the classic. It is necessary to oppose the scriptures, but also to be in harmony with the Tao, and to unify dialectically. Artists and scientists are actually on this mission, carrying forward the spirit of exploration, subverting and transcending existing laws, and creating and discovering new knowledge.
The epitaph of Yan Zhenqing Shudan unearthed from archaeological excavations in Shaanxi. Xinhua News Agency
The third realm of philosophers, from entering the ancient world to leaving the ancient world, the unity of people and books, the transformation of the spirit of life into pen and ink, is the most difficult to achieve. Look for possible symbolic relationships between pen and ink and the spirit of life, and connect two unrelated things. Pen and ink is written by the brush according to the Chinese character system, how can it be related to life? For the ancients, this required introspection on pen and ink, life, and long-term exploration to find commonality. As Zhang Huaihuan said: "To the point of the skull, the sleeve is short and truncated, and it is like the festival of the lord of Kuang. The moment is turned around, but the secret is sparse, and it is like the heart of the husband and filial piety to be cautious and think about the distance. Yao quality contains chapters, or soft or rigid, similar to the fu zhe people's line of knowledge of the knowledge of the retreat also. Solidifying its many traces, touching into a state, or dividing the fronts, or combining the situations, it is also the five constants and the five elements, although they are mutually reinforcing, they are also opposite. The ability of things to be like sages is actually subtle and difficult to name. "Poetry" Cloud: 'Bell Drum Chin chin, drum ser drum qin, sheng chi homophony. Yes, yes, yes. Tang Dynasty calligraphers have discovered that between the form of calligraphy and the existence of life, there is a phenomenon of "sheng chi homophony", which is called "formal isomorphism" in modern visual psychology. The humanized development of calligraphy art is based on this visual art principle, finding the correspondence between life and pen and ink, and the dialogue of "heaven" (the natural state of existence of life) and "man" (artistic language, etc.) of calligraphy can be unfolded.
Yan Zhenqing of the Tang Dynasty was a model of the unity of people and books. He used the spirit of life to interpret his rich and extensive calligraphy. Su Shi of the Northern Song Dynasty said: "I look at Yan Lu's public book, and I don't want to see its style. It is not in vain that he is a man, but he is as if he sees his slander. Zhu Changwen of the Northern Song Dynasty said: "When it originated in Pen Han, it was strong and strong, and its body was strict and legally prepared." Such as loyal and righteous soldiers, the right color of the dynasty, the great festival and can not be seized. Yang Ziyun painted with books as his heart, and Yu Lu was trusted. They gave a vivid explanation of the life atmosphere of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy.
The calligraphy of the Bada Shanren can also be said to be the externalization of his life spirit. His words are from the "Orchid Pavilion Preface", but they are anti-classic, cramping and boneless, demolished and unloaded, to gorgeous, to the worldly, lead and Hua to unload, leaving a lonely and even sick cold pen and ink. Looking at his calligraphy, it was as if you could hear his hoarse cries of pain and the bleeding heart behind him. In the history of calligraphy, he is also a generation of masters who can transform the realm of life into calligraphic visual symbols.
There is also Xu Wei of the Ming Dynasty, "Half a life has become a man, and the independent book is roaring in the evening wind." The pearl at the bottom of the pen has nowhere to sell, and it is idle and thrown in the wild vine. His calligraphy, "eyes empty for eternity, independent for a while" (Ming Yuan Hongdao), is full of madness. The title of his arrogant book: "A good donkey does not enter the donkey march" "The high book does not enter the vulgar eye, and the vulgar eye is not a high book." With these few words, he was destined to endure the cold eyes of a lifetime, and he was destined to be lonely for a lifetime.
Du Fu has a poem, "The Article Hates Destiny". Mencius once said, "Born of sorrow, died of happiness," and the truth is the same. Without arduous tempering, we cannot create a mind and arrogance that transcends the ordinary. Without a mind that transcends the mundane, there is no art beyond the mundane.
The artistic sublimation of calligraphy
The three realms mentioned above, calligraphy is the realm of "art". The "other shore" stepped out of art and into the so-called "science of life" in ancient China.
What is art? Different historical periods have different interpretations. The Spanish Altamira cave paintings, associated with primitive witchcraft, can be said to serve the survival of primitive people. A large number of works of art in the Middle Ages, full of religious speech. After the modern industrial revolution, art was commercialized and the commercial atmosphere was strong. In modern art, artists adhere to the supremacy of art. Picasso said that art is a lie, and it reveals the truth. Contemporary art began to become a tool of thought.
The ancient art of calligraphy once had a cultural driving force, that is, the aforementioned political elite consciousness. In the stage of philosopher's realm, calligraphy has gone beyond the scope of visual art, the pursuit of life symbols, the humanistic construction of calligraphy, once pushed by the ancients to the height of life value shaping and ideological guidance. Looking back at Chinese history, there has always been a tendency in art history to use art as an exhortation to human nature. Because the mainstream Of Confucianism in traditional Chinese thought itself has a strong ethical color, Chinese art has placed great emphasis on ethics and moralization since ancient times, and ancient calligraphers have also had bold imaginations in the construction of the spiritual homeland of mankind. Zhang Huaihuan of the Tang Dynasty, Xiang Mu of the Ming Dynasty, and Liu Xizai of the Qing Dynasty are three of the representative figures.
Zhang Huaihuan was the first to put forward the theory of "heart inspiration" of calligraphy. His vision is that calligraphy "straightens the teacher of nature", "the magic of exploring the ink is there, and the essence of all things is the essence." With the bones and bones, with the look of polishing" "encompassing all the specialities, cut into one picture", drawing from the world of the mighty and majestic beauty of the people's hearts, it is contained in pen and ink, so that when people see it, "it is like entering the temple to see God, solemn and majestic", the soul is immediately immersed in the sublime, solemn, and solemn like religion, and the spirit is purified and sublimated. He believes that calligraphy can "mark the spirit of ambition, the spirit of the algae", guide human nature, change customs and customs, and is "an immortal event".
Xiang Mu also has a "personality indoctrination" theory. He believes that "virtue is rooted in the heart, full of color, handy, and the book is the same." Personalities are different, temperaments are different, strokes are transported, and evil and righteousness take shape. "Calligraphy is all from the inside to the outside, so the calligrapher must first "idle the sacred way", the calligrapher repairs himself, and then through the high realm of calligraphy from the inside to the outside, "right calligraphy, so the right heart". In his book "Calligraphy and Elegant Sayings", he said: "At the beginning of the opening of the great volume, the gentleman of Judah came from afar, looked at it from afar, and the standard was weiyi, Qingxiu Duanwei, fluttering like a god, and burly as noble." And its entry, close to the observation, gas filling, tolerant of Yongmu, thick and foolish, mighty as mountains. As he sat there, Ji Yu regained his face and listened with a sigh of relief. Frustration is not angry, ti ti is not alarmed, temptation is not moving, and the mausoleum is unyielding. Moral and virtuous, kind and obedient, it is despicable and self-excreted. ”
Liu Xizai put forward the famous proposition of "establishing heaven and fixing people, and people restoring heaven". He believes that the initial stage of calligraphy is "establishing heaven and fixing people", life determines art, and the objective state of people determines creation. The advanced stage is "from man to heaven". By the subjective initiative of the person, consciously change their natural state, through self-observation, self-repair, change the self, to achieve the subjective initiative of the "original self" of the heavy hope, and finally transformed "people" in the work to get "regeneration", this is "by man to heaven". Liu Xizai called the first stage "Book Zhao Nature" and the second stage "Book Creation Nature". He proposed, "The nature of the pen and ink is based on the temperament of its people." It is the rational lover, the first duty of the book also." The first lesson of a calligrapher is to repair one's soul and improve one's moral character.
Portrait of Yan Zhenqing in the Qing Dynasty's "Late Laughing Hall Painting Biography" Information picture
From the above theory, we can see that the ambition of ancient calligraphers in the design of the social function of calligraphy far exceeded the definition of calligraphers: in small calligraphy, they wanted to undertake more grand historical content. This cannot but be said to be a large-scale collective spirit "offside" of Chinese calligraphers. According to the thinking of Zhang Huaihuan, Xiang Mu and Liu Xizai, calligraphy is not only practical, aesthetic and individual expression, but also led by human nature, spirit and values. At this time, calligraphy seems to have gone out of "skill", "art" or "calligraphy" and has become a kind of "teaching" - some people in history directly call it "calligraphy".
From this point of view, the calligraphy in China's ancient history seems to be understood as a fourfold realm: the secular realm is based on technology, is the true color of the calligrapher, and it can meet the practical conditions. The art realm is to treat calligraphy as art and express aesthetic ideals. The philosopher's realm is to regard calligraphy as the "Tao", which is the conquest of the personality of pen and ink by the wisdom of life. The final "other shore" is calligraphy that crosses the artistic horizon, like Master Hongyi, who pursues the transcendence of life.
epilogue
From the perspective of historical development and origin, Chinese calligraphy has lofty humanistic ideals: serving people, expressing people, cultivating people, and promoting people. The foundation of calligraphy is technology, but it is not just technology, behind it is people. Technology is only the foundation in the grand narrative of calligraphy. At the top of the art of calligraphy is the other shore, the sublimation of human nature and life. Calligraphy must carve people, plump people, and elevate people. If this "person" is thin and not rich enough, then calligraphy has no value. More than nine hundred years ago, Su Shi proposed: "The ancients discussed the writers and discussed their lives. Although the work is not expensive. "The "work" here is good technology. Su Shi's warning is: Don't be only technical, calligraphy alone has little value. Therefore, I think that calligraphers must strive to expand their own life pattern and enrich calligraphy from "outside the word". Judging from the above-mentioned three-fold realm of calligraphy, the first realm only has technology, and the support of culture is very small. In the second realm, calligraphers from technical experts to technical elites, it should be said that they have a certain thickness of support, but the intersection with society is still relatively small, and they are not enough to be social elites. Only when the third realm, the philosopher's realm, the calligrapher's external skills, that is, the connotation and achievements outside of calligraphy, form a certain thickness, can the art of calligraphy gain solid background support. The calligrapher's vision must remain public and open, and the field he involves must not be just calligraphy. So I would like to put forward a bold proposition here, that is, "calligraphy seems to have to be amateur to be able to become everyone." Why, because he started with technology and eventually got out of technology. If you don't get out of the shackles of technology, it may be difficult to become a person with a deep traditional humanities support. Only by maintaining "amateurism", that is, maintaining a certain degree of openness, can it be possible to overcome the narrowness of technology, introduce calligraphy into the broader humanistic world, and give calligraphy a richer connotation.
All in all, ancient Chinese calligraphy guided the knowledge group to consciously pursue elitism and transcend the world, which is also a special mechanism of "educating people with culture" in ancient Chinese society - the so-called "Tao" exists in daily application, and comprehensively enhances people's character through the study and cultivation of daily tool calligraphy. From this point of view, the other shore may be the ultimate ideal of the calligraphers of past generations.
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Guangming Daily (2021-08-14 edition 10)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily