Cong Wenjun | Wei Bei style examination

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Source: l Author of "Chinese Calligraphy" l Cong Wenjun

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Since the study of steles in the Qing Dynasty, there have been many people who have discussed the calligraphy of Wei tablets, and the historical clues formed by the characteristics of its calligraphy and the basic style and style have not yet been said and proved. The author will try to make up for this shortcoming based on my personal learning experience. As for the inheritance of the Qinghe Cui clan and the Fan Yang Lu clan related to this topic and their relationship with the Wei inscription style, it will be discussed in a separate article.

The so-called Wei stele style, that is, the type of work in the Northern Wei Dynasty carved stone calligraphy as the mainstream and has its regular script model style, is represented by the epitaphs of the royal family and the nobles surnamed Yuan unearthed around Luoyang. Its formation lasted for a long time, and there were many factors, which needed to be verified by many parties. The first is to grasp the shape and style of writing, and pay attention to the ink that can be used as a reference in close time; the second is to investigate the clues of the development of stone calligraphy; the third is to study the fashion of chiseling and carving, and understand how they transform the original appearance of writing and make it a "secondary finished product", especially to pay attention to comparing works with different purposes, such as the proportion of knife and chisel factors in the difference between epitaphs and statues. To make a simple and intuitive judgment on the phenomenon, the predecessors have made too many mistakes, and they should be discarded. （1）

At the beginning of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Tuoba Xianbei fought in the east and west, and Buddhism in the troubled times also turned into decline. Emperor Taiwu worshiped Taoism, and in the seventh year of Taiping Zhenjun (446), he ordered the slaughter of monks in Chang'an, the burning of Buddhist scriptures, and the destruction of Buddha statues, causing Buddhism to suffer a catastrophe. Emperor Wencheng ascended the throne, and the Buddha's ban was solved. Its reinstatement of the Buddha Zhaoyun:

(Shakya Nyorai) to help the royal government of the forbidden law, the benevolence of wisdom, the rejection of evil, the beginning of enlightenment, so the previous generations have come to advocate, but also the mainland family respected.

One of the consequences of the restoration of Buddhism was the rapid formation of a huge market for writing scriptures in Pingcheng, Chang'an, Dunhuang and other places, and the work of writing books became a better way to earn a living. "Wei Shu Liu Fang Biography" cloud:

Liu Fang, the word Bowen, Pengcheng people also. …… Murong Baiyao sought Qingqi in the south, and Fang migrated north to the people of Pingqi at the age of sixteen. …… Although Fang is in poverty, his industry is still chaste, intelligent, and dedicated. During the day, the book is paid at its own expense.

Fang often writes scriptures for the monks and maids, the handwriting is good, the volume is straight to a thread, and more than 100 horses can be entered in the middle of the year. For more than ten years, it has been quite inspiring.

The Jin and Tang dynasties often wrote scriptures with different workmanship and no certain style, but with simple penmanship and fast writing as their common characteristics. In later generations, there is the purpose of "living beings", and the cover is also derived from this. However, in exchange for food, the scripture writer must pay attention to work efficiency, and the need for art is secondary. Scholars and servants are no exception. We can only infer that the scholars are well-trained, and in addition to "good handwriting", there will also be some implication of learning to penetrate into it, and the basic value orientation of craftsmanship and beauty is due to the established position and concept. Compared with ordinary servants' scriptures, there should be a nuance of the so-called "gentlemen are harmonious but different" in the Analects of Zilu. and "Wei Shu Jiang Shaoyou" cloud:

Jiang Shaoyou, Le'an Bochang people also. Murong Baiyao's Ping Dongyang, seeing that he was captured in Pingcheng, filled the flat household, and then served as a soldier in the clouds. Clever and skillful, quite able to draw and engrave. There are literary thoughts, chanting, sometimes there are short stories, so stay in Pingcheng, to help the book as a business, and the name is still in the town. Later, he was called to be a scholar of Chinese calligraphy.

Liu Fang and Jiang Shaoyou were both Pingqi people who forcibly migrated to Pingcheng, Liu used a mercenary book to revitalize himself, and Jiang used a mercenary book to dry Lu, indicating that the Xianbei rulers could still select and appoint talented Han scholars. In addition, Jiang Shaoyou's calligraphy can meet the needs of both domestic books and government copying documents and books, which shows that there was still a consistency in the society at that time. This consistency is characterized by "approaching the time and elegance". Trending refers to the fact that in the Northern Wei Dynasty, without the necessary cultural support and institutional guarantees, calligraphy still has the edge of "conventions and customs", and it also means that the calligraphy of the Han Dynasty has its popularity; Again, "Wei Shu Cui Guang Biography" cloud:

Murong Baiyao's Ping Sanqi, light year seventeen, migrated with his father. The family is poor and studious, ploughing day and night, helping books to support his parents, and Taihe worships Dr. Zhongshu for six years......

Again, "The Biography of Wei Shu Cui Liang" narrates the clouds:

and Murong Baiyao's Ping Sanqi, the internal migration of Sangqian, for the Ping Qi people. He was ten years old at the time, and he often lived according to Ji's father. The family is poor, and the maid is self-employed.

The fact that a boy can help books shows that Confucianism is inherited and has accumulated habits. If this is the Han scholars, it is probably only a small part of the self-employment of the people of Pingqi. With their participation, it will be helpful to improve the calligraphy level of the helper group, make the scripture writing tend to mature, and reflect the popular beauty and standardization. As for whether Cui Guang and Cui Liang can abide by their law of guarding the house and be independent of the world, it does not matter.

Judging from the available information, the relationship between the scriptures and the Wei tablet is the closest. For example, the Jin people's scripture "Commentary on the Fifty-third Qualities" (Fig. 1) is tilted sideways and slightly trapezoidal, and the basic characteristics of the Wei stele style have been prepared at the beginning, while the manuscript of the Sixteen Kingdoms, Jin Yangqiu (Fig. 2), is slightly similar, indicating the consistency of the writing groups and their writing habits and fashions. Si Feng along the Northern Wei Dynasty, the performance is clearer. (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4) and once the traces of the sword and axe are added, they will be no different from some works in the statues and inscriptions of the same time. If the specifications are further beautified, and then the edges and corners of the chiseled exaggeration will become the masterpiece of the Wei tablet. (Figures 5 – 7)

The Jin people wrote scriptures

(Figure 1)

Sixteen Kingdoms Manuscript "Jinyang Autumn"

(Figure 2)

In the eleventh year of Taihe of the Northern Wei Dynasty (487), he wrote scriptures

(Figure 3)

The Great Nirvana Sutra of the Northern Wei Dynasty

(Figure 4)

The Great Nirvana Sutra of the late Northern Dynasties

(Figure 5)

The Western Wei Dynasty Virtuous and Foolish Scripture

(Figure 6)

In the second year of Emperor Ming of the Northern Zhou Dynasty (558), he wrote the scriptures

(Figure 7)

Here, we need to have a good imagination to bridge the gap between the ink and the "secondary finish" of the carved stone. In contrast, some of the relics of ancient books that were carefully copied are far away from the Wei stele body, such as the wood-panel lacquer book of the tomb of Sima Jinlong in the Northern Wei Dynasty. (Fig. 8) This situation is enough to show that the Wei tablet style is standardized and detached from the popular calligraphy fashion similar to scripture writing.

It should be noted that in the atmosphere of the Buddha, calligraphy is still convergent, which is of great significance to the rapid maturity of the Wei stele and the formation of a certain popular style. Without the flourishing Buddhism and scripture writing activities as a medium, it is inconceivable that the Northern Dynasties, which did not have time to study writing and did not attach importance to calligraphy, would have been able to achieve an astonishing consistency in the various types of stone calligraphy in the vast northern regions. In this way, the purpose is to emphasize the commonality and kinship between the scriptures and the Wei tablet style, and does not equate the books of scholars and scribes with the scriptures. As a scholar and a scribe calligraphy, he should be able to write with his cultural accomplishment and good writing ability, so that the pen reflects more of the norms of craftsmanship and beauty, representing the value orientation of the intellectual class, which is also the fundamental reason why the epitaph calligraphy of the royal family members, nobles surnamed Yuan, and dignitaries in Luoyang and Chang'an follow the exquisite road. As a scripture writing calligraphy, it has always been associated with practicality, speed and other utilitarian characteristics that reflect the characteristics of the profession, and the aesthetic demand is far less strong than the purpose of writing quickly and writing more in exchange for food. Therefore, scripture writing and calligraphy have never been able to connect with Ya culture and integrate into the mainstream, which is utilitarian. In other words, the writing of scriptures has made the Wei tablet style, but it can only play a supporting role.

Northern Wei Dynasty Sima Jinlong tomb lacquer book

(Figure 8)

Regarding the historical clues of the Wei stele in the carved stone calligraphy, we can put it in the context of the Wei, Jin, Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern Dynasties, and restore the whole process of its development as much as possible.

In the regular script of the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Wei only passed on the Zhong Xuan family, and there was no monument, which was caused by the clear use of its Kai and subordinate. There are three kinds of Eastern Wu: one is the Emperor Xiangshu "Songjiang Ben" Urgent Chapter", Kai and grass contrast, Kai for the penmanship after the Jin Dynasty, not enough to believe; the second is "Gefu Jun Tablet", the inheritance of the rubbing book is only 12 characters on the tablet, the calligraphy is close to the Tang Dynasty, the predecessors have doubted it, this article is not taken; the third is the "Gu Lang Tablet", the first year of the Phoenix (272) April book carving, the word is between Kai and Li, and the characteristics of the book body of the remnant paper of the "Urgent Chapter" unearthed in Loulan are similar. The above works are of no significance for exploring the origin of Wei monuments, so they are omitted.

The works of the Jin people are related to the Wei inscription, which is the epitaph and the inscription in the remote area after the southern crossing. Among them, the important ones are the epitaphs of Wang Xingzhi and his wife, Wang Minzhi, Wang Danhu, Wang Jianzhi and other Wang families from Yonghe to Xian'an (348-372) in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, as well as the Epitaph of Liu Wei, although the epitaph of Wang Yan is sloppily chiseled, but the calligraphy is the same. (Fig. 9) The author once regarded it as "an inscription book used by craftsmen or maids to degenerate under the influence of the times", and its original appearance is also covered by the traces of swords and axes. (2) There are two additional points to be made here. First, this kind of work is independent of the calligraphy style of scholars represented by the two kings, and the calligraphy style cannot be pure, and its style characteristics are quite similar to the inscription phenomenon in the early Northern Wei Dynasty. This is enough to show that the formation of the Wei stele is not at the same level as the Jiangzuo Fengliu, but is based on the conventional degeneration of the inscription stone book, and constantly adds the evolving northern Shi Wenkai method. A large number of official relics of typical Wei stele works can also be proven. Second, there are many similarities in the carving process between the north and the south, which will help to explore the position and historical origin of the "carving style" in the Wei tablet. In addition, unearthed in Ba County, Sichuan, the Eastern Jin Dynasty Long'an three years (399) "Yang Yang Shendao Que", unearthed in Qujing, Yunnan Province four years (405) of the Great Xiang (405) "Baozi Tablet", are all located in the remote, the calligraphy and the above-mentioned maid books and craftsman works are similar, but more exaggerated, so that the origin of the official book of Fang Zhe Ao Qiao is more prominent. (3) (Figure 10)

Wang Min's epitaph

(Figure 9)

Epitaph of Bao Zi (Picture 10)

The stone carvings of the Southern Dynasty are of significance to the study of Wei stele body for Liu and Song dynasty objects. The first is unearthed in Yunnan Lu Liang's "Planing Dragon Yan Tablet", engraved in September of the second year of the Ming Dynasty (458). Ruan Fu Bayun "font square, between Kaili, Bi Xiao Northern Wei Dynasty monument", (4) "quite is." Historically, it should be the evolution of the book style of "Jiao Baozi Stele", which belongs to the continuous development of the degeneration inscription stone book, which is very helpful for the study of the germination and evolution process of the Wei stele. The second is the "Liu Huaimin Epitaph" unearthed in Yidu, Shandong, which was engraved in the first month of the eighth year of the Ming Dynasty (464). The place once belonged to the Southern Yan, the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Ming Yuan Emperor was captured by the Northern Wei Dynasty in the last years, and soon was seized by the Song Wu Emperor. With the special location of this place, the calligraphy also has the style of the northern school, if this chronicle is placed in the inscription of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it will be difficult to see that it is a thing of the Southern Dynasty. Therefore, we regard it as the forerunner of the Wei tablet style, which can make up for the lack of stone carvings in the Pingcheng period. (Figures 11 and 12)

Epitaph of the Dragon's Face

(Figure 11)

Liu Huaimin's epitaph

(Figure 12)

The old objects of the Sixteen Kingdoms are very rare, and there are not many works in the early Northern Wei Dynasty, but the clues of the formation of the Wei stele can still be examined. For example, in the fifth year (339) of Zhao Jianwu's "Zhao County Taishou Yuanshi County Boundary Sealing Stone" (Fig. 13), which was newly unearthed in Hebei, the characters are a metamorphosis inscription book with a mixture of Kai and subordination, and its style seems to indicate that the Wei stele has begun to conceive. A few years ago, after the excavation of the tenth year of Yan Jianxing (395) in Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, the "Tomb Table of Cui Shu" (Fig. 14) was unearthed in Chaoyang, Liaoning Province, and the "Tomb Table of Cui Shu" (Fig. 14) was unearthed in Chaoyang, Liaoning Province. This tomb table or out of the hands of its protégé and deceased officials, the word is heavy and open, the meaning is obvious, and it has begun to take shape as a Wei tablet. Chaoyang out of another stone, for the Northern Wei Dynasty Huangxing two years (468) "Zhang Luo tomb table", Zhang Luo was cool during his lifetime, and was buried after his death. The calligraphy is quite vivid, but the evolution of the calligraphy is very slow. In addition, in the Oroqen Autonomous Banner of the Hulunbuir League in Inner Mongolia, it was found that the "Daxinganling Gaxian Cave Zhuwen Mo Cliff Carved Stone" was engraved by Emperor Taiwu Tuoba Tao in the fourth year of Taiping Zhenjun (443) when he sent envoys to the birthplace of Xianbei to celebrate the sacrifice. (Figure 15)

After Zhao Yuan's county boundary sealed carved stone

(Figure 13)

Table of the tomb of Hou Yan Cui Shu

(Figure 14)

Gaxian Cave Zhuwen

(Figure 15)

The newly discovered stone carvings in the Datong area of Shanxi Province should be the most direct for understanding the calligraphy of the Pingcheng period of the Northern Wei Dynasty and investigating the formation of the Wei tablet. The earliest is the third year of Xing'an (454) "Han Crossbow's True Wife Wang Yichang Tombstone", which is rumored to be new from the south of Datong City. The characters are multi-square, and the Kaili is mixed, which is very characteristic of the degeneration of the inscription stone book. Later, there is the remnant of the "Ode to the Emperor's Southern Tour" in the second year of peace (461), and the stone is in the south of Bijia Mountain in Lingqiu County. According to the "Wei Shu Gaozong Ji", in February of the second year of peace, Emperor Wencheng toured Zhongshan and Ye in the south, and returned to Lingqiu in March, competing with the ministers, and the monument was determined to be prosperous. This monument is of great significance and should have been written by a good scrivener. Its word side shrugged, for the typical Kaifa "suppress the left and promote the right" trend, but more than the pen, and Wei stele body still has a distance. (Fig. 16) In addition, it is not long after the death of Cui Hao, and it is not clear that there is an influence of Chuanwei's calligraphy, or Cui's goodness, which is not as good as the book of inscriptions on the stele. After that, there was the "Epitaph of Shen Hong" in the second year of Yanxing (472), which was quite clumsy, and the "Epitaph of Qinwen Jichen" in the fourth year of Yanxing (474), which was more subordinate to Kai and the form was ancient than "Ode to the Emperor's Southern Tour", indicating that the formation of a calligraphy atmosphere had to go through a long period of selection and recognition. Engraved in the seventh year of Taihe (483) Yungang Grottoes "Yishi Fazong Statue Record", the words are quite simple and thick, and the characteristics of the Wei tablet are also strengthened a lot, but it does not seem to be from the handwriting of scholars, it is because it cannot continue the "Ode to the Emperor's Southern Tour". Unearthed in the east of Datong City, the Taihe Eighth Year (484) "Sima Jinlong Tomb Table" is closer to the Wei tablet style, and the remaining law shows that the orthodox influence of the eight-point inscription stone book is still there, although the calligrapher is no longer familiar with the ancient law, but still along the inertia of customs, in the regular script of the time to tenaciously highlight this indifferent consciousness. After the Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital to Luoyang, the characters of Pingcheng, the former capital, withered, and calligraphy also declined. The "Epitaph of Feng Hetu" engraved in the first year of Zhengshi (504) and the "Epitaph of Yuan Shu" in the first year of Yongping (508) have all become the scale of their Wei steles, but their skills are mediocre, marking the end of Pingcheng calligraphy. (Figure 18)

Ode to the Emperor's Southern Tour

(Figure 16)

Table of the tomb of Sima Jinlong

(Figure 17)

Won-sook's epitaph

(Figure 18)

In the eighteenth year of Taihe (494), Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, and the stone calligraphy of the Northern Wei Dynasty entered its heyday. As an exemplary work of the mature Wei stele, it was first seen at the beginning of Qianluo. Engraved in the 19th year of Taihe (495), the "Statue of Yu Chi", which is made by the wife of Qiu Mu Lingliang, the king of Changle, for the deceased son Niu Ling, the inscription is written by the subordinate officials, so it can be beautiful, and it has become one of the masterpieces of the Longmen statue. Engraved in the third year of Jingming (502), the "Sun Qiusheng Statue Record" is the statue inscription of 200 people such as Sun Qiusheng and Liu Qizu of Xincheng County, and the writer Xiao Xianqing should be a good book scribe with the same identity as Sun Qiusheng. It is a magnificent book, one of the four products of Longmen. Engraved in the second year of Jingming Dynasty (501), the "Statue of Zheng Changyou", the book is neither workmanship, nor is the carving clumsy, so that some scholars suspect that it was not written and carved directly by craftsmen. (5) In fact, whether it is calligraphy or not, the residual subordination is reminding people of the origin of its degeneration of inscription stone books, and the exaggeration of chiseling can show that the statue craftsman class lags behind in the use of characters. The calligraphy of the above works is very representative, and it is of great reference value for a comprehensive understanding of the calligraphy of the statues of the Northern Wei Dynasty and even all kinds of stone carvings. The "Epitaph of Yuanzhen", engraved in the 20th year of Taihe (496), is a representative work of the early Wei tablet style, and its dot painting style has a certain style, which is different from similar works in the statue record, indicating that its calligraphy belongs to two different groups. The work that helps to illustrate this problem is the "Epitaph of Princess Li of Rencheng" engraved in the second year of Jingming Dynasty (501), which is quite beautiful and exemplary, and is signed "Ru Zhongjingzao, the former national Tainongfu Gong Cao Shichen", which is the solid evidence of the scholar's calligraphy. At that time, the epitaph had not yet formed a certain format, so there was a special case. Engraved in the same year, the calligraphy of "Yuan Yu Epitaph" is particularly good, the words are tight, the muscles and bones are strong, but the pen is less interesting and hateful, and its cover is all in the traces of the knife and axe. Compared with the above-mentioned statue works, there are also traces of sword and axe transformation and exaggeration, and the style is different. It is not difficult to imagine that the carving process and habits may be different depending on the group of craftsmen, and this detail cannot be ignored when it comes to stone calligraphy. (Figures 19 – 24)

Statue of Wei Chi

(Figure 19)

Sun Qiusheng's statue

(Figure 20)

Zheng Changyou made a statue

(Figure 21)

Former Tomb Zhi

(Figure 22)

The epitaph of Princess Li of Rencheng

(Figure 23)

Former Yu Tomb

(Figure 24)

At this point, can we say that the Wei stele body matured rapidly after Emperor Xiaowen moved his capital to Luoyang? First of all, Luoyang lacks the necessary culture and talent accumulation. At the end of the Jin Dynasty, Luoyang was defeated. The Eastern Jin Dynasty Yonghe and Taiyuan were temporarily transformed, while Taihe and Long'an were lost; Emperor Wu of the Song Dynasty set Guanluo in the north, and the Shaodi Jingping Chu (423) was restored. (6) "For both the northern and southern regimes, Luoyang during this period was in a marginal position. It is reported that in October of the 17th year of Taihe, Emperor Xiaowen ordered the edict of "passing through the beginning of Luojing" and moving the capital in the following year; in the 19th year, the Xianbei nobles who moved to Luoluo were ordered to "die and be buried in Henan, and must not return to the north", and their hometown was "all from Luoyang, Henan", in September, "the six palaces and civil and military forces were all moved to Luoyang", and in September of the second year of Jingming, "323 squares of the Beijing division were built, and the forty years were stopped", and in three years, the reconstruction of Luoyang was completed. (7) That is to say, the scholars, scribes, and craftsmen who carved and made statues were all moved from Pingcheng to Luoyang, and the Wei stele was also brought to Luoyang by them. Secondly, during the Pingcheng period, the Wei stele body seen in the carved stone has approached maturity, but its ink pattern must be more than that. In addition, the atmosphere of inscription is not prevalent, and the book of Shi Guanfu has not been widely involved in its affairs, so it cannot be inferred that the regular script at that time was still in the process of evolution and transformation based on the state of the carved stone and its degeneration of the inscription book. Third, after Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang, a series of reform measures were implemented, and the core content was a comprehensive sinicization, and the general burial of the funeral was one of its manifestations. Inheriting the habit of forbidden monuments in the Wei and Jin dynasties, the status of epitaphs has risen, which is similar to the monument strategy. The Jin and Song Dynasty scholars and scholars took the calligraphy of the Qing Stream, while the Xianbei nobles of the Northern Wei Dynasty first practiced the Han system, they only wanted to let the scholars and scribes of good books do what they wanted to do, in front of foreign rulers, the book of the Tu Dafu did not care about the "clear stream" and "elegant", it was just a tool. In the Northern Dynasties, there was a culture of scholars and doctors in Shishudan, which was completely the need of the rulers, and they had to do it. Fourth, scholarly calligraphy, for example, has an elegant cultural atmosphere, even if it is not possible to hope that the river is left to the wind, but the general principles of calligraphy standardization, beautiful character shape, and calligraphy aesthetics can be realized by the inheritance and training of knowledge, concepts and skills. The appointment of Han scholars by the Xianbei rulers was to take their strengths. Unfortunately, due to the long-term lack of sufficient ideological and cultural nourishment, calligraphy has not been able to achieve purity and elegance, which is why later generations call it "felt fur" (8). "Wei Shu Gaozu Xiaowen Emperor Ji" cloud:

Shi Chen said: There are Wei Shiji Daishuo, Kuoping Nanxia, Yang Yang Jingshi, Xian to Wuwei as a business, cultural and educational affairs are not far behind. Gao Zu inherited Hongxu, the wind of early kindness and wisdom, and the time was civilized and regent. ……

It can be seen that when the comprehensive sinicization is carried out, the Wei tablet body has been formed, and the habits are deep, and it is difficult to return to elegance. In the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the children of Guiyou abandoned Zhao Wenshen and learned from Wang Bao, which was not only a de-qualitative writing in calligraphy, but also a return to the pure and elegant culture. After that, the interior of the universe was mixed, and the calligraphy was gradually developed in the south and north, and the typical Wei stele with exaggerated and sharp characteristics gradually disappeared.

In the basic form and style changes of Wei stele, the engraving process and level occupy an important position, and while we discuss its style of writing, we should also pay attention to its "carving style". In this regard, we will explain it from the following aspects. First, the issue of craftsmen. Most of the 100 workers of the Northern Wei Dynasty forcibly migrated to Pingcheng from all over the north, and their status was low, and they were all under the jurisdiction of the government. The state clearly stipulates that craftsmen are not allowed to emigate, and they are not allowed to change their careers, and their children are not allowed to study in schools, but can only learn from their fathers and brothers. This kind of professional family learning has specialization, and the inheritance of skills is relatively stable. For example, the same is a masonry, statue, building, inscription has its own division of labor; the same is the lettering, the inscription of the inscription is a professional specialty, its technology is naturally different from the carving of statues and construction craftsmen, and the style is different; the same is the professional inscription craftsman, for the royal family and the Yuan surname of the nobles to serve the expert, in terms of technology, habits, etc., will also be different from ordinary masonry, local counterparts, and maintain a relatively stable group characteristics. For example, in recent years, the hometown of Yecheng in Linzhang, Hebei Province has newly published the "Epitaph of Li Boqin" in the third year of Jingming of the Northern Wei Dynasty (502), in which the grandfather Li Bao, father Li Zuo, and uncle Li Chong were all ministers of the imperial court. With his family background, he is naturally easy to be a good scholar, but he is a famous hand in Luoyang, and it is difficult to confirm that he is seeking it in Hebei. Mr. Liu Heng is more than Wenhan in the Li family, and speculates that "the book of this Zhi Dan may be the expert in his clan", (9) It seems that it is not impossible. Its book is quite workmanlike, which is the typical style of Wei tablet at that time, and the artistic level is not below the famous products of Luoyang. Chiseled by two people. The first eight lines are carefully examined with a knife, and the brushwork is intent, this kind of scene is rare for Luoyang carved stone; the last twelve lines of carving are rough and stiff, and the knife marks are similar to the statue, and the time is to do the reduction, resulting in the state of scattered glyphs and incomplete strokes, and the original appearance of the writing is also gone. The difference in the craftsmanship of this inscription represents the difference between the techniques and the "carving style" between the skilled and the mediocre, and they are different from the "carving style" seen in the Luoyang epitaph, which is the intention of this article to focus on the group of craftsmen and regional differences.

Second, in ancient times, the things of the royal family and the nobility were often imitated, from respect to possession, and the ritual system was transformed into customs, constituting a unique historical and cultural trend. Similarly, the phenomenon of deducing calligraphy fashion due to "weathering from above" is also quite common, and "carving style" may also complement each other. In the early Jin and Song dynasties, the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Wei Dynasty, there were degenerate inscription stone books in various places, and the basis of this was the irregularity and lag of popular characters in popularity, and the "carving style" aggravated this tendency. The difference is that the calligraphy of the Jin and Song dynasties was dominated by the scholars and scholars, while the north allowed the natural development of the inscription stone calligraphy. When the Wei stele was formed, the inherent "carving style" of craftsmen from all over the world was equally divided with the calligraphy of scholars and scribes, and elegant and vulgar coexisted. Once the atmosphere is established, there will soon be a situation of upward and downward effects. If the inscription "carving style" representing the style of the king takes a step in transforming and disguising the original appearance of calligraphy, the imitator will turn to exaggerate and take three steps, or even ten steps, and the development of cliff and statue calligraphy in the Northern Dynasty is exactly like this.

Third, in the stone calligraphy of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the traces of the knife and axe include almost all the works, but the degree of transformation of the original appearance of the writing is poor. We take the epitaphs of the royal family and the Yuan nobles unearthed in the Luoyang area as the basis for investigation and the reference standard for measuring other types of works, mainly because they are relatively light to be transformed, and they are closer to the real state of calligraphy and calligraphy.

For example, the "dots" in this kind of epitaph are mostly triangular shapes, olive shapes with different fat and thinness, and sometimes with slight gestures, although they are not the original appearance of writing, but the feeling of using the pen is still there; compared with the same nature of the statues, the latter is mostly a triangle with a corner out, and the sense of writing is poor, and it is easy to draw words if it is imitated.

In this regard, the author has conducted many physical investigations, and found that most of the chiseling carvings of the "points" in the epitaph are accurate and light, and the statue records are more upright and stiff, and the junction of the two knives is quite deep, and there is a clear angle when it is extended. Of course, the size of the words between the two is often different, and the size of the knife also changes, and the size of the knife is naturally square. It is conceivable that the light in the cave is not good, and after the statue is completed, the owner does not have clear requirements for the inscription calligraphy, nor does it supervise the acceptance, and the craftsman simply chisels to perfunctory, which is very normal. (10) Another example is the horizontal painting of Fangda and Guijiao at both ends, and the epitaph is far less exaggerated than the awkward exaggeration of the statue record, indicating that the remnants of the degeneration inscription under the latter's knife and axe are much heavier.

How to grasp the transformation and disguise of chiseling on the original appearance of writing, and clarify the respective proportions of "engraving style" in different works, we can also give examples for further comparison and explanation. The last line of the aforementioned "Epitaph of Yuan Yu" (Fig. 24) is "pine", which is familiar and beautiful with a pen, close to the original appearance of writing. If it is used to measure other glyphs based on its gestures and stippling, only the frame structure of the glyphs and the position of the stippling paintings are roughly still there, and all the vivid details such as style attitude, echo relationship, and brushwork are all damaged and lost. If we talk about its beauty and style, there will be illusions mixed in it, so as to spread false rumors and mislead ourselves and others. In addition, the turning point of the horizontal and straight strokes, the writing of the scriptures under the flat and straight folded belt, the wooden board lacquer book unearthed from the tomb of Sima Jinlong or the oblique killing of the pen is also the same, indicating that this is the common method of writing at that time. However, there is an oblique transition link at the horizontal and straight turns of the characters "Han", "En", "Xiang", "Liu" and "Ge" in this journal, which has nothing to do with writing, but later spreads and becomes a kind of atmosphere, which in turn affects writing.

Among the epitaphs of the Xianbei nobles surnamed Xianbei in Luoyang, there is a special case of hasty and hasty work, that is, the "Epitaph of Yuanjian", which is quite enlightening for our discussion. (Fig. 25) The chronicle was written by one person and engraved by two people at the same time. The first eight lines of characters are many shoddy, deformed, simplified, missing, damaged, and distorted, etc., and the inferiority of their skills and the severity of transforming the original appearance of the writing are self-evident. The latter part is slightly better, and there are fewer problems. After careful observation, the impression is still fragmented, and it is difficult to deduce the original appearance of the writing. If, according to experience, it is barely said that it is comparative, then the former can account for eight or nine out of ten, and the latter accounts for about six or seven out of ten. If you are not stubborn and do not insist on commenting on the stone calligraphy of the Northern Dynasty in the original form of writing, then there is no lack of merit in the phenomenon of his works, but it is difficult to say how long the mistakes in the study of steles and the various problems caused by the study of steles will be continued. If it is based on the original appearance of the writing, a good chisel will add color to it, and a bad one can make it inferior. It can be said that under the transformation and disguise of "carving style", the original appearance of writing has become quite blurred, and the pursuit of it will be quite difficult, requiring greater investment and unremitting efforts.

Yuanjian Epitaph

(Figure 25)

The author has already discussed the imbalance in the calligraphy of the Han and Jin dynasties, such as the differences between the cultural center and the remote areas, the differences between the Qingliu calligraphy of the upper class and the lower classes, and the differences between the north and the south. (12) Here, it is intended to make a brief summary of the calligraphy of the Northern Dynasties of the Sixteen Kingdoms from the aspect of the relationship between the choice of Han culture and calligraphy by the sinicization of minority regimes. Among them, the needs of politics and culture are far greater than the norms of writing, and calligraphy is more secondary, which is the headquarters program.

During the period of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Wuhu Rebellion caused great damage to the culture of the Yellow River Valley, and most of the minority regimes established successively were very short-lived, and even if there were sinicization and corresponding cultural measures, they had little effect. The sinicization of these minority regimes must first shift from horseback to land, that is, to abandon the inherent nomadic culture and turn to an agricultural culture, and begin its feudalization process. This is a long process of understanding, selecting, reforming, and adapting, and it does not depend on how many Han scholars the ruler appoints, only the ruler's own sinicization can revive the Chinese civilization from the overall situation and from the essential aspect. The Sixteen failed to do it. What can be said is nothing more than the translation and dissemination of Buddhism. Although the scriptures, scrap paper, carved stones and other works of this period have not been handed down much, they can still reveal the atmosphere of decay from their shoddy phenomena. The key is that calligraphy is a symbolic art of Ya culture, which is very different from popular characters in terms of shape and quality, and in terms of connotation. Even if we appreciate it today in its simplicity and vividness, it still cannot change the historical facts.

Sinicization is the result of staying away from the grassland, and it is a choice made by the ruler in his own interests. From the founding of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the north of Wuwei, to the relocation of the capital of Emperor Xiaowen to Luoyang, and the suppression of the rebellion of the Xianbei nobles, including the crown prince, in order to consolidate the achievements of reform, more than 100 years before and after, the sinicization was initially completed, and the Xianbei children went deep into the Ya culture, and the solution of its samadhi was later. (13) In contrast, Buddhism was a foreign culture that helped to rule, and the rulers of the Northern Dynasties of the Sixteen Kingdoms were keen on Futu. According to the "Book of Jin Yao Xing Chronicle", the Later Qin Shizhou County "has ten rooms and nine Buddhas", and its prosperity can be known. From the late Pingcheng period to Luoyang, the Northern Wei Dynasty gradually pushed the Buddha worship activities to a climax, which can be represented by the art of cave temples and the construction of temples. The art of the cave temple arose in the Han and Jin dynasties with the introduction of Buddhism, and it flourished in the Northern Dynasties of the Sixteen Kingdoms, and in terms of its popularity, scale, quantity, artistic level and reputation, the Northern Wei Dynasty should be the most. This kind of Buddha worship activities of digging caves and carving Buddha statues and painting on the walls are from Xinjiang and Hexi Corridor in the west, to Liaodong in the east, throughout the whole territory of the Northern Wei Dynasty, among which the most famous ones are such as Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Ganfo Caves, Ten Thousand Buddha Gorges, Bingling Temple Grottoes, Maijishan Grottoes, Qingyang Grottoes, Yungang Grottoes, Longmen Grottoes, Yixian Ten Thousand Buddha Caves, etc., the time is late to the end of the Northern Wei Dynasty to the East and the West Wei Dynasty. The prosperity of monasteries also began in the Northern Wei Dynasty, after moving to Luo, the number of temples in the country increased rapidly to more than 13,700, and the number of temples increased to more than 30,000 in the last years of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and there were more than 1,300 in Luoyang alone. There are many monks in the temple, and the things of the Buddha are also complicated, and writing and passing on the scriptures is one of them. The scripture writing led to the development of calligraphy with popular characters, forming a spontaneous and popular social foundation for the Wei tablet style. In fact, from the late Northern Wei Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, there are many traces of writing scriptures in small character epitaphs, which can be clearly understood as long as you carefully examine the scriptures written in drawings 5, 6 and 7, but they are often covered by the "carved wind" and are easy to be ignored. Furthermore, it can also be confirmed that the elegance of calligraphy of the scholars of the Northern Dynasty was not pure, mainly because their pen was inextricably linked with the writing of scriptures, and they appreciated this fashion. In other words, due to the long-term mixing of Hu and Han and the thinning of traditional elegant culture, the aesthetic ability of the Han scholars themselves is also declining. (14) There is no Bole, and Baili Ma can also be called Qiji.

Hu vulgar is still martial and rude, so he can tolerate and even appreciate the traces of the craftsman's knife and axe, and let the "carved style" of the fierce and exaggerated to transform and disguise the original appearance of the writing, so as to create a vulgarity. Imagine, if the Xianbei rulers knew how to appreciate the beauty of calligraphy art, they would have to be solemn and meticulously carved, and if the Han scholars and scholars could cherish their handwriting, they would also be solemn and make the carved stone calligraphy as fine as the Tang and Song dynasties. It can be said that during the Northern Dynasties, no one really cared about calligraphy, no one talked about calligraphy, and Wang Bao's book was greatly appreciated, and it was inevitable that it would be covered by the "carving wind". Here, we can also lead to a question, that is, the north and the south are enemies, but there can be no contacts, so why do we not see the traces of the introduction of the southern book? We speculate that the people of the Northern Wei Dynasty may not have the ability and demand to recognize the romance of Jiangzuo and appreciate its beauty. The Eastern Wei Dynasty and the Western Wei Dynasty were closely linked to Qi and Zhou, and the sinicization was deepening, and the atmosphere began to reverse slightly.

All in all, the Wei stele body is indiscriminately used in the degeneration of inscription stone books, borrowing from the scriptures, standardizing the scholars' regular methods, and the existing style and style changes are completed in the transformation and disguise of chiseling, all of which are indispensable. The beauty of calligraphy lies in the handwriting, and it is incomprehensible why Qingxian competes for the blade. It is also nonsense to graft the north monument with the calligraphy of Cui Lu, who passed on the guard of the ancestors and did not replace the industry. Although, the stele study picked up the historical relics, vigorously promoted the northern faction, so that future generations know the stele and learn the stele, and the contribution is indispensable. Today's vision is widespread, the academic is new, and the research conditions are far from those of predecessors.

Exegesis:

(1) For details, see "Analysis of the Nature and Academic Significance of Unearthed Writing Relics in the Wei and Jin Dynasties", Cong Wenjun Calligraphy Research Collection, China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Publishing House, 1999.

(2) Ibid.

(3) Regarding the relationship between Lishu Shudan and chiseling, and the influence on the style of the work, the author has a detailed analysis and explanation in the article "Baotou Han Tomb Unearthed Fragments and Scattered Examinations", which can be referred to. Chinese Calligraphy, No. 1, 2001.

(4) Quoted from Liang Piyun, Dictionary of Chinese Calligraphy, Guangdong People's Publishing House, 1984.

(5) For details, see Guan Dazhong, "Longmen Grottoes Art: A Discussion on Longmen Twenty Products", Shanghai People's Publishing House, 1981.

(6) For details, see "Song Shu Prefecture and County Chronicles"

(7) For details, see Emperor Gaozu Xiaowen and Emperor Shizong Xuanshi in the Book of Wei, Gu Yanshi's Records of the Mansion of the Past Dynasties, Zhonghua Book Company, 1984, and Gu Zuyu's Minutes of Reading History and Public Opinion, "Henan Mansion" and "Luoyang County", Shanghai Bookstore, 1998.

(8) Huang Bosi, "The Six Treatises on the Remainder of the Eastern View", in Selected Essays on Calligraphy in the Past Dynasties, Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, 1993.

(9) For details, see Liu Heng's "Two Epitaph Inscriptions of the Northern Dynasties", in Calligraphy Series, No. 2, 2002.

(10) Mr. Hua Rende also has a similar view, which coincides with his contempt. For details, see his "Analysis of the Publication and Engraving of Zheng Changyou's Statue and the Problem of the First Book and Later Engraving of the Longmen Statue of the Northern Wei Dynasty", Zhonghua Shudao, No. 36, Taiwan, 2002.

(11) The empirical evidence of this kind of horizontal painting upturned and then obliquely folded down to connect the straight painting can be seen in the table of the Gaochang tomb unearthed in Xinjiang. The first is the "Tomb Table of Guo Enzi" in the 29th year of Yanchang (589), and the second is the "Table of the Tomb of Ren Qian" in the 11th year of Yanhe (612), indicating the continuation and spread of this trend in remote areas.

(12) For details, see Cong Wenjun, "General Introduction to the History of Chinese Calligraphy", in The History of Chinese Calligraphy: Pre-Qin Volume, Jiangsu Education Press, 2002.

(13) "Zizhi Tongjian" Taiyuan 21st year Hu San Province notes that "since the Sui Dynasty, the name is promoted in the times, and the descendants of Daibei live in six or seven", which may be a bit exaggerated, and its sinicization has achieved remarkable results, which should also be a fact.

(14) Yu Beiwu's "Book Products" commentary sequence is the ninth class, which is the last "below" comment. Selected Essays on Calligraphy in the Past Dynasties, Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House, 1979.

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