Today, calligraphy, as a unique art in China, can be said to be the envy of foreigners.
Just like Picasso, he has always dreamed of becoming a calligrapher in China.
But this kind of calligraphy as we understand it today,
Is it really the same as calligraphy in the eyes of the ancients?
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For a considerable period of time, due to the scarcity and high cost of materials and tools, writing on paper has always been a pretending skill enjoyed by ancient nobles.
Therefore, as an ancient literati, the most sloppy calligraphy art may not be the same as calligraphy in our eyes.
When we look at calligraphy, in addition to being able to distinguish cursive script, we may even feel the same calligraphy, line calligraphy, and regular script, not to mention Wei Tablet, Yan Ti, and Liu Ti.
But you must know that in these calligraphy that we can't distinguish, there are many secrets buried, and generation after generation will die for it.
Let me give you an example of the ancients' pursuit of penmanship.
Zhong Xuan was a famous calligrapher in the Wei and Jin dynasties, known as the "ancestor of calligraphy", and he was one of the two people Wang Xizhi admired the most (the other was Zhang Zhi).
Zhong Xuan was obsessed with calligraphy to death, and it is said that another famous calligrapher at that time, Wei Dan, had the "Gestures" of Cai Yong, a great calligrapher of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so the level of calligraphy was very high. Zhong Miao wanted to borrow this book very much, but Wei Dan refused, refused again and again, and was so angry that Zhong Miao beat his chest and vomited blood, but fortunately Cao Cao used the Five Spirit Pill to save his life.
After Wei Dan died, he also buried the "Gesture" in the tomb. Zhong Xuan actually hired a group of tomb robbers to dig up Wei Dan's tomb to get this book. After that, he studied hard and eventually became a grandmaster.
Zhong Xiang "He Jie Watch"
Seeing no, the attitude of the ancients towards calligraphy can be dug graves.
Although this is just a story, it describes a key message: the role of penmanship in the transmission of calligraphy.
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In the ancient social environment, the inheritance of calligraphy was actually very fragile. The incense is thin, and if you don't pay attention to it, a genius calligrapher may lose the penmanship skills that he has cultivated throughout his life.
Speaking of which, I will give you a list:
Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Wang Hui, Wang Huizhi, Wang Xun, Wang Shengqian, Zhiyong;
Ouyang Xun, Ouyang Tong;
Yan Tengzhi, Yan Xie, Yan Zhitui, Yan Qinli, Yan Zhaofu, Yan Weizhen, Yan Zhenqing;
Mi Fu, Mi Youren;
Zhao Mengfu, Guan Sheng, Zhao Yong, Zhao Yi, Zhao Feng, Zhao Lin;
Wen Zhengming, Wen Peng.
Have you discovered a secret: those children and grandchildren of the same family as the great calligraphers are good at handwriting, and it seems that it is easier to become calligraphers? In fact, in the early days, Chinese calligraphy was almost always passed down from family to family.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, most of the Confucian families were calligraphy families, such as Yingchuan Zhong, Xun, Jingzhao Duling Du and Wei. Wang Xizhi's teacher, Mrs. Wei, belonged to the Wei family, which had a great influence in the Eastern Han Dynasty book circle, and was even more famous in the Wei and Jin dynasties.
In the process of the development of Chinese calligraphy, the inheritance of this technique is also effective in different dynasties, and the style of the same dynasty tends to be more unified, such as "Jin people are still rhyme, Tang people are still law, Song people are still meaning, Ming people are still interesting, Qing people are still simple" and so on.
Of course, there are reasons for the emergence of this phenomenon, and there is another important reason for the transformation of the predecessors, that is: the loss of techniques.
For example, there is a list that is even more mysterious than the one at the beginning of the article, which I did not compile, but was included in the Tang Dynasty Zhang Yanyuan's "Calligraphy Records", called "Teaching the Name of the Pen Law".
In this case, the penmanship was pioneered by Cai Yong and taught to Wang Xizhi. Wang Xizhi passed on to his son Wang Xianzhi, Wang Xianzhi passed on to his nephew Yang Xin, Yang Xin passed on to Wang Xizhi's fifth grandson Wang Seng Qian, Wang Seng Qian passed on to Xiao Ziyun, Xiao Ziyun passed on to Wang Xizhi's seventh grandson Zhiyong, and Zhiyong passed on to his nephew Yu Shinan.
Yu Shinan passed it on to two apprentices, Ouyang Xun and Chu Suiliang, and of course Li Shimin was also Yu Shinan's apprentice. Ouyang Xun also passed the penmanship to Yu Shinan's nephew Lu Cambodia, Lu Cambodia's son Lu Yanyuan, Lu Yanyuan passed on his nephew Zhang Xu, Zhang Xu had a number of apprentices, Li Bai, Yan Zhenqing, Xu Hao, and then Yan Zhenqing passed on to Liu Gongquan, Huaisu, and Wu Tong.
The characteristics are very distinct: it is not passed on to his own son, nephew, or to his own apprentice.
This is the end of the list, and the end time is in the Tang Dynasty, and the teaching of penmanship is interrupted at this point.
Therefore, we see that the people of the Song Dynasty are very unconfident in the face of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu said, "The prosperity of books is not in the Tang Dynasty, and the waste of books is not wasted in the present." Su Shi said more thoroughly: "Since Yan and Liu's time, the penmanship has declined, and the late Tang Dynasty has been in turmoil, the characters have withered, and the literary style has been swept away." ”
Meaning: The teaching of penmanship ended in the Tang Dynasty.
Left: Tang Liu Gongquan, right: Song Sushi
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The loss of techniques is divided into two situations, one is the complete disappearance, such as the direct death of a skilled calligrapher, and there is no successor. The other is dissipation, which gradually distorts in the process of circulation and eventually disappears.
When we look at the calligraphy works of the ancients today, we feel ordinary, and that's it. But in fact, there are many complex skills and pen habits hidden behind us, such as the coordination of fingers and wrists, writing postures, and so on. These skills may be difficult to learn if they are not watched by the learner himself.
For example, Yan Zhenqing's "Self-written Confession Post", some people think that it was written by Yan Zhenqing's juniors, but it can almost be true. Because of the complex technique hidden in Yan's body, it is difficult to imitate it without watching its writing with your own eyes, so this post is likely to be the work of a younger generation who studied with Yan Zhenqing. In later generations, it is almost difficult for those who cultivate the face and body to have both god and form, and only one Qian Feng can be regarded as a high achievement.
Yan Zhenqing and "Self-written Confession"
Some people may say that many ancient calligraphers copied works that were also similar. For example, Mi Fu once claimed that he copied the king word can be true. But people are geniuses, and they see the real thing. It is very difficult to figure out the original brushwork of a calligrapher by looking at the works or even the reproductions, and it can be said that this path is very difficult to follow without extraordinary understanding and foundation.
Therefore, the history of Chinese calligraphy is often the history of the transformation of the predecessors by later generations.
The master's brushwork was lost, and the latecomers deduced a new style on the basis of speculating and restoring the techniques of their predecessors. For example, Zhao Mengfu has been following Wang Xizhi in his own way all his life, but has formed another style. The Ming people learned from Zhao Mengfu, which is another style, and the Qing people learned from their predecessors and learned into another style.