Ge Chengyong/Wen
With the elegy of the end of the late Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty went to its demise, and history entered the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The scuffle of warlords and the change of dynasties have made the culture of the chaotic world take on its own characteristics: the Central Plains is the region with the deepest cultural tradition, and although it has experienced many wars and chaos, there is no shortage of short-term "well-off" times; the literati at the end of the Tang Dynasty fled in seclusion at the time of mourning, preserving and spreading the seeds of cultural creation; the cultural ties between the north and the south have not been broken, and some rulers have advocated cultural activities in order to attract intellectuals, so that the culture at this time has not been completely eclipsed.
At this time, the art of calligraphy was in the alternation between the Tang and Song dynasties, and the most important feature was the disappearance of the strict tradition of calligraphy since the Tang Dynasty, and only cursive writing for the exchange of letters was developed because of its wide application and convenience. Under the general trend of this decline of calligraphy art, it cannot be denied that there are indeed some calligraphy art innovations, and the most famous calligrapher at that time was Yang Ningshi, who was good at grass.
Yang Ningshi lived to be eighty-five years old, born in the family of the prime minister at the end of the Tang Dynasty, born as a scholar during the time of Emperor Zhaozong, and was a secretary lang and other officials, and was a micro-minister, and the "History of the Old Five Dynasties" said that although his body was full of wisdom, his spirit was enlightened" and "rich in literary algae, and he was greatly promoted by the times". How to deal with the regime change of the five dynasties at the end of the Tang Dynasty is a serious problem facing Yang Ningshi. According to the historical records, when Zhu Wen wanted to usurp Tang's self-reliance, Yang Ningshi advised his father Yang Shi to say: "The lord is the prime minister, and the country cannot be said to be blameless at this point, but he even holds the seal of the Son of Heaven to pay others and protect his wealth. After hearing this, Yang Shi was very panicked and could not be at peace for several days, believing that this would "exterminate the Wu clan", and Yang Ningshi was also "afraid of leaking things, and he was crazy on the same day", and was called "Yang Fengzi". Although he pretended to be crazy, he still served as a high-ranking official of the Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Friday dynasties, from the rebbe wailang and the bingbu shilang to the prince's young master and the prince's taibao. Therefore, some people think that he can persuade his father not to treat others with social order, which is the same nature as Yan Lugong's "rejection of An Lushan and rebuke of Li Xilie", and he gave a high evaluation. But some people think that he has repeatedly held high positions in the chaotic world, and is a character who has not fallen from generation to generation and has no integrity. I don't think this statement is in context with the context of the times at the time. During the Five Dynasties period, the political situation was chaotic, and people could not but have some concerns about their lives, families, and careers; therefore, they could make euphemistic roundabouts and compromises on methods and local issues, but they were unambiguous and grasped the measure in matters of major issues of right and wrong and personality and conscience. This psychological structure maintained the independence of the personality and preserved the essence of talent, but it also damaged the dignity of freedom to some extent, and the intellectuals at that time measured between justice and survival, and the heart was also painful.
Yang Ningshi is like this, although he is a high-ranking official, but his life is often in the midst of "cold crying and hunger", he enters and exits the official palace without riding a horse but walking with a cane, sometimes even making a big fuss about the emperor, losing the "daya" of high-level intellectuals, even if it is laughed at as disrespectful, he does not care. This is not so much a manifestation of his wild spirit as it is his painful venting and sharp occasional exposure! On the one hand, he has a certain sense of justice, and on the other hand, he is unable to get out of the situation, so he has no choice but to adopt the attitude of "Fu and the world," and uses pretension to cover up the bitterness of his spirit.
Yang Ningshi's contemporary environment and his personal circumstances caused his mental distress and fanatical behavior, which in turn was closely related to his calligraphic activities and often expressed in his artistic practice.
A large number of Yang Ning-style handwriting is written on the wall of the Luoyang Temple, and the "History of the Old Five Dynasties" says: "Above the blue wall of the Luochuan Temple, the inscription is everywhere." "It can be seen that the number of his calligraphy works is very large. It is a pity that "the young master has a lot of books on the wall of the Xijing Temple, and there are very few authentic works received in the world." He did not like to be a ruler, and because of the chaos of war and the temple, the wall was exhausted, so that a generation of masterpieces died out.
Yang Ningshi "Leek Flower Post" (partial)
The inkblots and inscriptions of the Yang Shu that are circulating now include "New Steps imaginary words", "Lu Hong Caotang Ten Zhi Tu Bao", "Immortal Living Method", "Xia Re Ti", "Leek Flower Poster", and Song carvings containing eight characters of "Clouds Sailing Moon Halo, Boats Moving to the Shore". These works are not only complete in letters, lines, and cursive, but also have great changes in the style of the works, which are by no means similar, which is invaluable.
Suffering from political struggles and the sinister uncertainties of the eunuch sea, Yang Ning's reclusive attitude and unscrupulous behavior of "Fu and The World Network" are not only expressed in the mental state of his writing, but also reflected in the content and style of his handwriting. In addition to the acura wind and snow moon, the immortal hermit, that is, the method of eating or fitness, the content of the inkblot is also over-the-top, funny, and rarely involves serious political or social content, which reflects the psychology of intellectuals at that time. If it is said that "Leek Flower Thesis" and "Lu HongCaotang Ten Zhi Tu Bao" are still relatively regular from the knot to the chapter, showing his normal psychological state, then "Xia Hot Ti" and "Immortal Living Law" and other posts are arbitrarily written, scattered vertically and horizontally, and as strange as the change of clouds and smoke, it more or less reflects his wild and strange mental outlook.
From the perspective of calligraphy style, Yang Ningshi first learned Yan and Liu, and came out of it, and then entered the magic of the two kings, the overall layout of the loose and beautiful, the orderly lines of the pen, the slightly sideways but balanced frame, so that the changeable brushwork and unique layout caused a unique artistic conception of time and space interlacing: strange trance, unpredictable, reverie, neither the majestic momentum presented by Yan Zhenqing when he pioneered before him, nor the casual character that Su Dongpo had when he pioneered. His characters, like many calligraphers, can be different in size and appearance, and the tension has a new meaning, which makes those who have a thousand words and one face look beyond their reach. For example, "Leek Flower Post", it seems to be effortless to write, but it is actually soft and rigid, and it is based on deep skill. In particular, the chapters are clear, the lines between the lines, the words between the words are loose and wide, and the surrounding areas of each word are very empty, so that the dynamic posture of the words is fully exposed, which is a special phenomenon that is not easy to see in the calligraphy of others. Huang Tingjian praised this post with great praise, writing: "The people of the world have learned the Lan Ting noodles, and want to change the bones without Jindan." Who knows Luoyang Yang Fengzi, the next pen will go to the Wusi column" verse.
After all, fanaticism is a superficial phenomenon of Yang Ning's style, and he has profound skills and a "Ying enlightenment" mind, and he has made his own contribution at the critical moment of the transformation of the calligraphy era, which is a factor that pays more attention to lyricism, so that some people think that he opened the precedent of the "Shangyi" style of writing in the Song Dynasty. In fact, this is a continuation of the lyrical theory of the Tang Dynasty. However, due to the unification of the country and the strength of the country in the Tang Dynasty, people's lyrical cursive writing often contained vigor in strict order and sent emotions within the law. Five generations later, due to changes in society, calligraphy forms and contents that are known for expressing personal grievances and focusing on individual descriptions have come into being. Although the Song people violently attacked the "law" of the Tang people, they believed that they were the ones who diligently pursued natural innocence and pursued self-appreciation. In fact, they do not really want the "law" at all, and threaten to have no "law", but only to adapt to the requirements of the times and create public opinion for their own "self-innovation and not practice the ancients". Judging from the calligraphy practice of the Song people, there are also "laws" and "degrees", but the "laws" they require are far from the "laws" required by the Tang people, and their internal pursuits, aesthetic ideals, artistic interests, and creative motivations are very different.
Since Yang Ningshi pretended to be crazy all his life, he naturally would not seriously expound these truths, if he said that he appeared in some places in the form of "crazy monsters" and pursued "innocence" in his bones, it was better to say that some of his words often revealed a certain degree of patchwork traces. However, moving parts and miscellaneous bodies is originally one of the methods commonly used by calligraphers to innovate on the basis of tradition, especially the innovation of stroke lines with melodic lyricism, which is worth affirming, it not only has its own characteristics in terms of content, but also pays attention to the perfection of art forms, and the excellent works of calligraphers such as Wang Xizhi and Yan Zhenqing have always been respected by people, which is also a very important reason.
The Southern Tang Dynasty lord Li Yu's calligraphy "Entering the Country to Know the Teachings" (partial), after the post there is a Mi Youren Pa language.
In my opinion, the new spiritual characteristic of Yang Ningshi's calligraphy is to abandon the restrictions of Tang Kaiping's interest in being good and uniform, inheriting, restoring and focusing on the traditional part of the Wei and Jin Tang "wild grass", and bringing with it the lyrical characteristics of pouring out personal resentment. From this point of view, Yang Ningshi expressed his artistic creative talent, and played an important "pivot" role in the development process from Tang Kai to Song Xing, becoming a bridge connecting Tang and Song calligraphy.
In addition to yang ning style, calligraphers in the five dynasties period also had Li Yu, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty. Li Houzhuo was a literati emperor who liked poetry and painting, and of course belonged to the social category of intellectuals, who not only collected the calligraphy and ink of the previous generation extensively, but also preferred to comment on calligraphers. If he can say that the calligraphy works collected by the Secret House into four volumes of "Shengyuan Thesis" can still be regarded as a contribution to culture, then he is smug and self-exalted to evaluate the calligraphy works of his predecessors, which is harsh and demanding. For example, he thinks that Yu Shinan gained the beauty of the right army and lost his handsomeness; Ouyang inquired about the strength of the right army and lost his wenxiu; Chu Suiliang won the will of the right army and lost its changes; Zhang Xu won the law of the right army and lost it in madness; Liu Gongquan gained the bone of the right army and lost his life; Yan Zhenqing won the tendon of the right army and lost his rudeness. Almost all the calligraphy of the Tang Dynasty is full of flaws, and there is no essence worth inheriting and carrying forward. This kind of consciously degrading Tang may be an opportunity to compliment Song. At that time, the Southern Tang Dynasty was in a state of decline, and it sought perfection from the Song Dynasty everywhere in order to escape the doom of the fallen country and being captured. Of course, as far as Li Hou lord's own calligraphy is concerned, the brushwork is still very skilled. It is said that he "made big characters, did not write, and wrote books in volumes, all of which could be satisfied, and the world called the book of plackets"; Huang Tingjian said that he "changed the table with his hands, and his pen strength did not reduce Liu Chenghang (Liu Gongquan)".
(Originally published in Monthly Reading, No. 3, 2021)