On April 11, Shaoxing will usher in the 40th Lanting Calligraphy Festival. Thinking of the Eastern Jin Dynasty in the ninth year of Yonghe, the third day of March was warm and smooth, and the forty-two sages were elegant, Wang Xizhi wrote "the first line of books in the world" and was canonized in one fell swoop. Now the book saint has long since gone, and the world is still the king's book.
Today, let's reveal the secret of Wang Xizhi's "Road to Sanctification", the story behind the masterpiece "Orchid Pavilion Preface".
One
Chinese characters are the cornerstone of Chinese civilization, and calligraphy is the foundation of Chinese characters. Calligraphy is the only one that has the function of writing and inherits more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, only its aesthetic taste has nurtured the sons and daughters of China through the ages, and it is the only one that is rich in changes and has a unique Chinese charm.
Chinese history developed to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period, the north of the war continued, the south was relatively stable, and the Huiji is unprecedentedly prosperous, the Book of Jin called "the present Huiji, the past of the Guanzhong", "Zizhi Tongjian" left a record of "Huiji character Yin Fu". Huiji has become a metropolis in the south of the Yangtze River on a par with Jiankang.
The great integration of the northern ethnic groups, the great economic development of the south of the Yangtze River, and the great social and political turmoil have created a unique humanistic phenomenon in Chinese history - the demeanor of the Wei and Jin dynasties. The scholars advocate the spirit of nature and transcendence, the concept of being honest and self-appreciative, the self-consciousness of not being willing to sink and independent aesthetics, and the comfortable life of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, poetry, wine and tea, has become a typical display of the demeanor of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and the Huiji has become the display center of the demeanor of the Wei and Jin dynasties.
The demeanor of the Wei and Jin dynasties is manifested in calligraphy, which is the interplay development of various calligraphy styles, and calligraphy has entered the artistic realm of conscious creation. At this time, Lishu has entered the end of stylization, regular script tends to mature, cursive scripts have developed into Jincao from the stage of chapter grass, and many famous calligraphers have emerged, producing many important calligraphy theoretical works, becoming a glorious era in the history of Chinese calligraphy, and Wang Xizhi is the most brilliant representative of this era.
Two
In the long history of Chinese calligraphy, the most widespread, longest, and most profound influence, as far as a family is concerned, it is undoubtedly the Wang family from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Xizhi, the sage of calligraphy through the ages, was cultivated in the official eunuch house, the scholarly family, and the calligraphy family that were filled with the fragrance of Han ink.
Statue of Wang Xi
Wang Xi's word Yi Shao, Langya Linyi people, later migrated to Huiji Shanyin, tasted the general of the right army, the internal history of Huiji, known as "Wang Youjun", after his death, he was buried in Jinting County, Shaoxing City (now Jinting Town, Shengzhou City, Shaoxing City).
Wang Xizhi's uncle, Wang Xuan, works in grass, subordinate, and flying. Erfang Congbo Wang Dun is also good at cursive, and his pen gesture is strong. The big house is guided by the king of Bo, and the line and grass are good. The three elders tried their best to teach their own calligraphy skills, so that Wang Xizhi received a good calligraphy education from an early age.
The young Wang Xizhi benefited the most from calligraphy because of the careful teaching of Mrs. Wei. Mrs. Wei Shuo, whose name is Maoyi, is Wang Xizhi's cousin, and Zhang Huaijun of the Tang Dynasty called her book "graceful like a tree, Mu Ruo Qingfeng" in "Book Break". Mrs. Wei not only has beautiful calligraphy, but also summarizes the practice of calligraphy and writes the "Pen Array". Wang Xizhi has a deep affection for his aunt, and after learning the news of his aunt's death, he was devastated and overwhelmed, and wrote the world-famous 42-word "Aunt Sticker".
Wang Xizhi's "Aunt's Post"
Those who had a major influence and made significant contributions to Wang Xizhi's becoming a scholar were his father-in-law Xi Jian and his children. Xi Jian was not only a politician, but also a famous calligrapher, and his "cursive writing is outstanding, ancient and powerful" in the "Book Break". Xi Jian's daughter Xi Xuan, and his sons Xi Su and Xi Tan are all educated and good at writing. Wang Xizhi has been continuously improving in the exchange and discussion with the Xi family.
Wang Xizhi's success is an excellent inspirational story. Because according to the records of historical books, in terms of his own talent, physical and other congenital conditions, Wang Xizhi is worse than ordinary children. But congenital deficiencies are made up for later. It is on the basis of the preaching of good teachers, mutual learning from friends, and the edification of his family, Wang Xizhi has studied diligently, learned from others' strengths, inherited the past and enlightened the new, stood out, and became a saint of ancient books.
Three
Sage is the highest praise for a person in ancient China. Only those who have the noblest personality, the highest wisdom, and the most pure deeds are worthy of sainthood. Wang Xizhi, as a sage of calligraphy, is not self-appointed, but formed by history; it is not temporary, but recognized by later generations.
As early as the Liang period of the Southern Dynasty after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xiao Yan, Emperor Wu of Liang, who was good at books and good learning, believed that "Wang Xi's book is majestic, such as the dragon jumping over the heavenly gate, and the tiger lying on the phoenix. He also ordered Zhou Xingsi to collect Wang Xi's characters and compile them into the "Thousand Character Text", which was used as an enlightenment teaching material for literacy and character learning, thus greatly promoting the spread of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy.
Tomonaga "1,000 Character Sentences" (Local)
On the occasion of Chen Sui, Wang Xizhi's seventh Sun Zhiyong Zen master, with the responsibility of promoting the book of Wang, will collect more than 800 copies of the "Thousand Character Text" of Wang Zi, and distribute them to the temples in eastern Zhejiang, which greatly promotes the style of Wang's calligraphy.
Tang Taizong's Wen Tao Wu strategy, but also admired Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, admired it, and gave a supreme evaluation of Wang Shu: "Carefully inspect the ancient and modern, study the essence of the seal, and make it perfect, but Wang Yi is rare!"
Li Sizhen, one of the "three young" bachelors of the Hongwen Museum in the early Tang Dynasty, gave Wang Xizhi the title of "Sage of Books", "Sage of Grass" and "Flying White Immortal" for the first time in "After the Book".
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (713-741), the connoisseur Zhang Huaiqian further made a supreme evaluation of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy in the "Discussion of Calligraphy". Since then, the evaluation of Wang Shu has been unparalleled.
Wang Xizhi's status as a calligrapher is not only based on his groundbreaking calligraphy art, but also on the basis of his glorious calligraphy theory. He is not only the saint of calligraphy, but also the saint of calligraphy, not only the saint of calligraphy, but also the saint of regular script, the saint of cursive script, and the saint of Chinese calligraphy.
Wang Xizhi's "Shangyu Post" IV
Thanks to Wang Xizhi's outstanding innovation in calligraphy, calligraphy, cursive, and regular script have matured from grass creation, and have been shaped by change, reaching the pinnacle of the realm of the merits of the general family and the wonder of the collection of schools; This is Wang Xizhi's great contribution to the development of Chinese calligraphy, which is of unprecedented significance.
The general direction of the evolution of the book style is to simplify the complex, artistic and beautiful, and easy to write and remember. It is in this direction that Xingshu has gradually developed from the practical writing of Lishu as a new style of calligraphy.
Among the Han Jian, there are already early Xingshu. Wang Xizhi's greatest contribution to the three types of calligraphy, line, and cursive is Xingshu. His greatest contribution to Xingshu was to realize the stereotype of Xingshu. His strokes and structure are both unbridled and restrained, giving people a sense of poised momentum. Between the words, it seems to be broken and not broken, and it seems to be connected and not connected, giving people a sense of affection. Throughout the article, the brushwork is grassy, the lines are miscellaneous, handsome and beautiful, giving people a sense of fresh breeze out of the sleeves and the bright moon in the arms. Representative works in this area include "Orchid Pavilion Preface", "Shangyu Post" and so on.
At the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty, cursive writing has sprouted. By the end of the Han Dynasty, a group of cursive masters with Zhang Zhi as the most outstanding representative appeared.
Wang Xizhi's contribution to cursive writing lies in increasing and losing ancient methods, removing subordination, eliminating complexity and simplification, and paying attention to charm, so that Jincao is mature and stereotyped on the basis of Zhang Zhi's initial creation. His present grass, with the pen to make the turn smart, dot painting indulgent and free, the gestures are smooth and elegant, to reach the realm of looking forward to the surroundings, breaking the thread, and flying spirit. In Wang Xizhi's handwriting, cursive works account for more than 70%, and his representative works include "Seventeen Posts" and "Funeral Posts".
Wang Xizhi's "Funeral Post"
Regular script, or the main book, the real book, is a kind of book style formed in the process of the transmutation of the official script, and the prototype has been seen in the Han Jian. At the end of the Han Dynasty, during the Wei and Jin dynasties, it was popular among the people and became a fashionable book style different from the official book.
Wang Xizhi's contribution to regular script lies in changing the ancient form and cutting it into a new style, realizing the dignified and vivid stereotype of the modern regular script. He changed the official calligraphy in the regular script such as Zhong Xuan, and changed the flipping and flying in it to converge and inward, basically establishing the configuration relationship between the strokes in regular script, making the brushwork more concise and bright. He changed the horizontal to the vertical, so that the knot of the regular script is more dignified and stable, generous and stable. Representative works in this area include "On Le Yi" and "Cao E Monument".
Wang Xizhi's "Theory of Happiness and Yi" (detail)
Wang Xizhi, as a saint of calligraphy through the ages, is the perfect combination of the saint of calligraphy and the saint of calligraphy. On the basis of the practice of calligraphy, which is characterized by inheritance and innovation, he founded the theory of calligraphy, which is also characterized by inheritance and innovation. His calligraphy practice, which seeks to embody the nature of all living beings, has resulted in a theory of calligraphy that is in line with the essence of Chinese culture, and in turn, his theory of calligraphy has sublimated his practice.
Wang Xizhi is not only a conscious person of calligraphy practice, but also a conscious of calligraphy theory. In the history of Chinese calligraphy, there are nine theoretical works on calligraphy written by Wang Xizhi. After the research of generations of scholars, it is generally accepted that the "Self-Treatise Book" was written by himself, and the rest of the eight articles such as "Twelve Chapters and Preface to the Theory of Gestures" were not written by himself, but many of them originated from Wang Xizhi.
The core idea of the book is to achieve the realm of "meaning" through "dedication and refinement", that is, from the beginning of "not enough care", through the middle of the "meaning to deepen", to the end of "dot painting between the meaning". In fact, this illustrates the three realms of calligraphy creation based on "meaning": the first realm, casualness, the second realm, wholeheartedness, and the third realm, forgetfulness and pride.
In general, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy theory profoundly reveals the techniques of calligraphy in terms of brushwork, knotting, and cloth white, profoundly summarizes the methods of calligraphy creation, such as the paper man's array, the intention of the pen first, tirelessness, and being good at change, profoundly expounds the beauty of imagery and the beauty of the situation that calligraphy should pursue, and profoundly analyzes the relationship between calligraphy and Chinese philosophical categories such as Tao, qi, yin and yang, as well as traditional Chinese culture.
Wang Xizhi's calligraphy theory is the embodiment of people's self-consciousness in calligraphy creation during the Six Dynasties, and is the conscious expression of this self-consciousness in the aesthetic consciousness of calligraphy creation, which is the historical understanding and grasp of the law of calligraphy creation, which opened the history of Yuedi calligraphy theory and made its own unique contribution to the development of Chinese calligraphy theory and aesthetic thought.
Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Preface" (Shenlong Ben) five
Throughout the ages, people have taken "Orchid Pavilion Preface" as a synonym for Wang Xizhi, and it is natural and natural to bow to his five bodies and worship him. This is because "Orchid Pavilion Preface" is a classic display of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy art, a concentrated embodiment of calligraphy theory, and has an incomparable and incomparable four beauties.
First, "Orchid Pavilion Preface" has the beauty of calligraphy art.
"Orchid Pavilion Preface" 28 lines, 324 words, from the dot painting, the brushwork is exquisite, meticulous, hidden on the positive side, the law has it, the stroke form, exhaustive changes, yin and yang complement each other, rigidity and softness. From the point of view of the knot, turning danger into relieving and reversing is positive, pitching and conceiving, looking forward to affection, sparse and dense, unpredictable, different shapes and words, each with its own wonders. From the point of view of the chapter, the road swings, full of poetry, the rhythm is distinct, like a movement, the rhyme is natural, ingenious. This is a kind of beauty that never gets tired of appreciating, taking inexhaustible, and learning inexhaustible.
Second, "Orchid Pavilion Preface" has the beauty of language and rhetoric.
From a literary point of view, this is a collection of memorization, scene, philosophical in one of the lyrical prose, beautiful language, concise and bright, catchy, can be called Yue Di after Qin's "Huiji carved stone" after another beautiful essay, can be called a lyrical masterpiece, prose model. Many of the idioms and allusions are still easily used by people today. It is precisely its beautiful words that have attracted, fascinated and facilitated people's praise for thousands of years.
Third, "Orchid Pavilion Preface" has reverence for the beauty of nature.
The full text of "Orchid Pavilion Preface" expresses people's worship and awe of nature, and it is the "extreme audio-visual entertainment" and "self-sufficiency" that people feel when they devote themselves to the nature of "clear weather" and "gentle wind", and "look up at the vastness of the universe and look down on the prosperity of categories". This kind of enjoyment of beauty is the supreme happiness obtained by the closeness between people and the nature of the landscape, the artistic interest of the nature of the landscape as the aesthetic object, and the full expression of the nature of the person and the full display of the true color of the person.
Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Preface" (detail)
Fourth, "Orchid Pavilion Preface" has the beauty of the realm of life.
Behind the beautiful calligraphy and rhetoric, "Orchid Pavilion Preface" shows the author's frank mind, full of feelings and profound life thinking, which is the life expectation of "the future looks at the present, and also looks at the past from the present", and is the life emotion of "the reader of the future, and will also feel the Sven", which is a life mantra that blends with nature, is in line with the times, pays attention to personality, maintains the authenticity, cherishes the time, and makes a difference.
The popularity of "Orchid Pavilion Preface" has not cooled down at all after more than 1,000 years, which has actually led to a core problem in the creation and transmission of calligraphy, that is, the problem of technology and art. On the basis of good content, supplemented by good writing techniques and forms of expression, that is art, and can become an immortal masterpiece.
The reason why "Orchid Pavilion Preface" has been able to flow so far is indeed because of the beauty of the words, but at the same time, it is also because of the beauty of the text. This kind of literary beauty is not only the beauty of words, nor is it only the beauty of the content of the appearance of words, but also the beauty of the natural breath, the beauty of humanistic feelings, and the beauty of life philosophy that "the drunkard's intention is not in the wine".
From this point of view, today's calligraphers can have Tang and Song poems and famous sayings, but they must or even have their own original content. Only the original writing content, coupled with the original writing style, can be called an artistic calligraphy work, and can also be called a veritable calligrapher. This is exactly the most profound enlightenment that Wang Xizhi and his "Orchid Pavilion Preface" gave to later calligraphers.
In 1985, the first Lanting Calligraphy Festival
Time is always passing in a hurry, but the accumulation of culture has been deepened because of this. The Rantei has a history of 1671 and the Rantei Calligraphy Festival, which was established to promote the relics of calligraphy, has also ushered in its 40th session. Forty and not confused. As an important symbol of excellent traditional Chinese culture, calligraphy has become a consensus; Lanting, as an important symbol of Chinese cultural tourism and humanistic economy, has also become a consensus.
On the third day of March, Hui Fengshu is comfortable, and forty-two virtuous people are more elegant. The mountains and forests reflect the clear streams, and the mountains and mountains show the bamboo and view the sky. You look forward to it, and sit in the second place to chant poetry. Now that the book saint is gone, it is still unforgettable to "Orchid Pavilion Preface".
May the wind of calligraphy and calligraphy blow stronger, and the wind of humanistic tourism and humanistic economy will blow stronger!
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Xiaobu on duty: Meng Zhouxia
Author: Feng Jianrong
Compiled and distributed by Shaoxing News and Media Center