Text/Li Mingyang
As a traditional culture, the art of calligraphy is closely related to the art of Peking Opera.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the audience recognized five Peking Opera masters, Yu Shuyan, Mei Lanfang, Ma Lianliang, Yan Jupeng and Gao Qingkui, who made indelible contributions to the development of Peking Opera vocal cavity art while devoting themselves to Hanmo, which was rumored to be a good story. Among them, Mr. Mei Lanfang has a deep foundation in calligraphy, elegant and handsome, mainly in xingkai, and xiaokai is particularly refined. Its Xiaokai style is derived from the "Two Kings" Xiaokai such as "Le Yi Theory", "Huang Ting Jing", "Thirteen Elements" and so on, and is accompanied by Tang Dynasty writing. People often compare Wang Xizhi with Mei Lanfang, not agitated, not plagued, not fiery, peaceful and strange, etc., which are both "Wang Shu" and "Mei Opera", all of which take the beauty of moderation as the highest principle. In addition, Yu Shuyan's calligraphy takes the Fami Yuanzhang, and Xi Xiaobo's calligraphy can be called a unique step in today's book world.
Both calligraphy and Peking Opera have the stylistic characteristics of traditional culture. The stylistic nature of Chinese opera lies in the fact that its performance must follow certain procedural rules, the original appearance of natural forms is not allowed on the stage, and all natural forms of dramatic materials must be refined, summarized, exaggerated and deformed in accordance with the principle of beauty, so that they become a technical format with a clear rhythm and strict rules, that is, a program. Such as the plate style, song card, gong and drum sutra in singing, the rhyme and tone in the recitation, the figure, gesture, footwork, and gong frame in the performance, the various sets in martial arts, so that the expression of emotions such as joy, sorrow, crying, laughter and amazement, all of them are the regularization of language tone, psychological changes and physical movements in life, that is, stylized performance. In short, the program is a unique set of virtual and symbolic expression methods formed in the practice of Chinese opera stage. "A 'bitter wow'! The sun drifted past, a slow board, the earth's rotation stopped... A toast, a banquet, a turn, a journey of thousands of miles... 'Wow' the roar of the flower face, the cry of the 'hey ya' qingyi... Four fingers together — solemn, five fingers open — bold, loose fingers — old, orchid fingers — depicting the feminine delicacy... Oars - the boat of consciousness, whips - rendered horses, side gongs are water, drums are night..." (Peking Opera is poetry)
The stylistic nature of calligraphy is also distinct. In his Eight Tips, Ouyang Qing described the basic strokes of calligraphy as follows:
(Point) like the falling stone of the peak,
(Lying hook) like the first month of the long sky,
(Horizontal) If a cloud of a thousand miles,
(Vertical) like a dead vine of long live,
(Oblique hook) such as a strong pine upside down hanging stone cliff,
(Horizontal folding hook) like the crossbow of ten thousand jun,
(Skimming) the sword cut off the horned teeth of the rhinoceros,
(捺) A wave of often three strokes. "The metaphor is vivid and vivid, and it is very full of vitality. The thick and dry color of calligraphy ink, the rapid and gentle movement of the pen, such as the tone of peking opera to suppress the rise and fall; the true grass of calligraphy is attached to the various bodies, such as the role of Sheng Dan jing and the ugly in Peking Opera; the four masters of calligraphy (Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Ouyang Qing, Zhao Mengfu), such as the "four famous Dans" of Peking Opera (Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Shang Xiaoyun, Xun Huisheng); the beginning and end of the calligraphy chapter, and also the beginning, development, climax and ending of the Peking Opera plot.
I think that the way of calligraphy is particularly similar to the stage style of Peking Opera characters. "Concession" is the eighth law in the European "Thirty-Six Laws of KnotTing". This method generally refers to the word "reciprocal concession" of the left and right structure, and the left and right of the word, more or less, must be conceded to each other in order to be perfect. Taking the European "Chi" character as an example, the word "horse" on the left is long, and the word "also" on the right is flat, which looks unrelated and difficult to manipulate. According to the principle of "concession", the word "horse" is written plainly, but the four points of "horse" should have leaned up, but they could not lean on very high, why? Because there are many blank spaces in the lower part of the word, it is necessary to fill in, and the four points of the word "horse" are not on the top to reflect the taste of stretching. The vertical folding hook of the word "also" should have been vigorously sent out, but because the left "horse" word is slightly stretched at four points, the right side is stretched excessively, and it is precisely because of a collection of strength that the whole word appears to be subtle and flavorful, which is the magic of "concession". Because the whole word is oblique, the middle part of "horse" and "also" should be obliquely aligned, but it is necessary to be aligned without stiffness, which is very powerful.
The way of calligraphy is most fully interpreted in Peking Opera martial arts. In traditional Peking Opera, actors can skillfully arrange the body movements in martial arts, and skillfully reflect the distinction between primary and secondary, the contrast between high and low, the combination of dynamic and static, and the handling of virtual reality, so that the martial arts scenes on the stage are fierce and orderly. Among the four famous dans of Peking Opera, Shangpai art is characterized by being strong and upright, and being free and unrestrained. Tianjin male Dan Yang Ronghuan performed the famous Shangpai drama "Lost Son Crazy", in which Hu Shi suddenly lost his young son in panic, and he was in a hurry and went crazy. Yang Ronghuan in the large section of the singing voice, coupled with water sleeves, squatting and other techniques, with the eyes, body, round field, etc., to show Hu's body shape after the behavior is out of control, not only to show madness, confusion and disorder, but also to dissolve the chaos in the roundness, the upside-down body in the rules of the program, properly show the beauty of art. In the Shang Pai drama "Zhaojun Out of the Plug", Wang Zhaojun, played by Shang Xiaoyun, boldly adopted the method of "literary opera and martial singing", singing and dancing, and the voice was full of emotion, organizing almost all the footwork of the Peking Opera Danxing, and also absorbing the body movements of Wusheng, fully reflecting the full, strong, healthy and bold style of the Shang school. Shang Xiaoyun used large legs, large bow legs, large whips, sharp steps, and one-legged tremors when getting on the horse, stacking mud, and riding the horse round field to create a series of dynamic pictures. In the plot, Zhaojun and his party come to the Fenguan land boundary, and the horse does not move forward. Zhaojun asked, "Why can't horses?" Groom said, "This south horse does not cross the north." Zhaojun sighed: "Speak slowly, people have the meaning of homesickness." That mahu, there is no heart of love, let alone people... Shadows are rare, shadows are rare, only to see the Northern Yan flying south, cold and miserable wind like arrows, but also the wilderness clouds are low, drizzle is drifting, the road is full of thorns..." Shang Xiaoyun in order to fully express Zhaojun's nostalgia for his homeland and the scene of border pass road danger, boldly broke through the boundaries of the industry, designed for Zhaojun the dance movements of "getting on the horse", "big kicking" and "big slide", vividly and vividly showing the thrilling scene of "the horse losing its front hoof". In order to shape the image of Zhaojun immediately, Shang Xiaoyun designed techniques such as "braiding braids" and "collapsing waist round field" in the play, and the posture was like an eagle spreading its wings, swooping down, rushing down like a whirlwind; then the body suddenly jumped, and the action stopped abruptly, reaching the realm of "unrestrained place without departing from the law, and taking care of the spirit in the subtle place". It not only gives the audience a strong sense of beauty to enjoy, but also profoundly shows the vivid scene of Wang Zhaojun not afraid of hardships and dangers and fierce horses. Zhaojun's series of dance movements have the same theory as the escapement, reflection belt, avoidance, concession, echo, and qi in the calligraphy, knotting, and chapter.
"Farewell to the King" is a classic Mei Pai famous drama performed by Mei Lanfang, a master of Peking Opera. It was when Xiang Yu was trapped in an ambush on ten sides, embattled, which could be described as the end of the hero. At this time, Yu Ji was dressed in fish scales and armor, wore a ruyi crown, danced with mandarin duck swords, and sang and danced, "advising the king to drink and listen to Yu Song, and relieve the king's depression and dance." Yin Qin had no way to break the country, and the hero went all the way. Since ancient times, it has been said that I will not be deceived, and success or failure will rise and fall in an instant. Sit down with a drinking glass and listen to military intelligence." If you think about it, the graceful dancing style here can greatly inspire calligraphy creation.
"Shocking Dance" is the famous dance of Tang Xuanzong's early favorite concubine, Princess Mei, which has been lost. In the play "Princess Mei", Cheng Yanqiu recreates the beautiful image of the amazing hong soaring in the air with freehand techniques through dance movements, and the dance posture is light, flowing, soft and free. In the fifth scene of "Concubine Mei", Emperor Tang Ming said: "Today's lonely family is very happy, Concubine Mei, why don't you just dance in front of the flowers to help Yaxing?" "Princess Mei Jiang Caiping led the will and danced with a white jade flute." When I came down from the pavilion, I only felt a burst of fragrance, and I was dressed in the same room. At first, it is like playing with the shadows between the swings and flowers, and then it is like playing hide and seek the sound under the moon; the ears hear the thunder and thunder drums gradually tighten, then learn the dust of the body and the socks. Suddenly taking off in the air is like the crane soaring in the sky, suddenly swooping down is like the gull skimming the waves, suddenly obliquely moving is like the swallow facing the wind, suddenly turning sideways is like the crane falling on the clouds; Hun is not the first sleep of the willow linfeng awakening, hun is not the dancing garnet branch taking shape; the back of the body is like a round ball standing, only the shadow of the immortal flowers is colorful. "Singing and dancing, like a thunderbolt."
The relationship between calligraphy and Peking Opera can be summarized by Mr. Shen Yinmo's words. Shen Yinmo studied in Japan in his early years, and later became a professor and president of Peking University and a professor at Fu Jen University. Shen Yinmo is famous for his calligraphy, and in the early years of the Republic of China, the book world was known as "Southern Shen Bei Yu (Yu Right Ren)". In the 1940s, the book world also said "Southern Shen and Northern Wu (Wu Yuru)". Together with Li Zhimin, he was called "two great masters in the history of Peking University calligraphy". The famous literary scholar Xu Pingyu said that Shen Lao's artistic achievements in calligraphy "surpassed the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and went straight into the four houses of the Song Dynasty without shame." The late Professor Xie Zhiliu, head of the National Cultural Relics Appraisal Group, said: "For hundreds of years, there have been many scholars, and no one has surpassed them. Shen Yinmo's "Treatise on Calligraphy" Yun: "Although the shape of the word is on the paper, and its expression is interesting, it has a wonderful use that naturally fits with all the dynamics in the natural environment other than paper and ink." That is to say, calligraphy has the principle of calligraphy, which can be called "calligraphy"; other things also have their own reasons, which can be described as "physics". People who study or study calligraphy have "calligraphy" in their hearts, and when they encounter the "physics" that is connected with "calligraphy", they cause an epiphany, and they improve the "calligraphy", and the pen is super different, and the calligraphy grows.
Not only the action modeling of Peking Opera, but also the most moving Peking Opera lyrics, but also give people a kind of enjoyment, more appreciation, more taste, can contain calligraphy. It should be said that a considerable number of Peking Opera repertoire are highly literary, of which the Cheng School is the most important, and those moving lyrics are really in the subtleties of the world's sorrows and joys. "Suolin Bag" is a Cheng Pai play, and it is also the best play in the history of opera, which is about the impermanence of life and the coldness of the world, mourning but not hurting, and having the joy of enlightenment. "In a flash, the seven emotions have been exhausted" is the most representative singing section of "Suolin Bag", and it is also a high summary of the theme of the play. In an instant, the seven emotions were exhausted, and the tears wet the placket of the sour and bitter place. I only say that the iron rich and noble are destined for a lifetime, and who knows that the number of lives is instantly clear. I think I used to spoil sex, and even now I don't believe in the past. This is also a lesson from God, who taught me to collect residual hatred, avoid pampering, and rehabilitate, change my temperament, rest in love with the lost water, come back to life in the bitter sea, and realize Lan Yin early. The protagonist of the play, Xue Xiangling, has experienced great changes in his life and finally understands that glory and wealth may be lost overnight. You should cherish what you have, not spoil sex, hate and seek sorrow. In fact, not only rich and noble, beauty, youth, relatives and friends, status, power, etc. are all the same. "Spring Girl's Dream" is a woman's dream to set off the cruelty of war. The young woman misses her husband and dreams. In the dream, she experienced the situation of the person she loved in the war and her own mood: "Poor crossbow is in the front, and it has gone through all the hardships and hardships. Hungry, cold, full and warm, no one asked, sleeping alone and eating alone. Whether he had been physically injured or not, whether the wind and smoke were repeatedly frightened. Thinking about the past, I still hated it, and I divided the Mandarin duck twice. In the end, he was drunk and sick, and sat bitterly in a smoke cage until he was bright. When I went, the flowers on the strange were like brocade, and today the building was willow and green. Poor Nong was waiting in the deep boudoir, and I thought of the day when the begonia opened. The door knocker occasionally rang suspicious letters, and the city language was slightly mutated. Why did I go without a word, regardless of the people in my family who had broken intestines. After all, how thin and fortunate the boy is, the word mistaken is a meritorious name. Sweet words are so good, who knows it is all that fake kindness. "This singing expresses her emotions subtly and vividly, and the layers of pity, concern, disgust, and resentment are progressive and gripping." Door knockers even ring" "city whispers" especially convey the spirit! The end of the dream is happy, and the recruiter who thinks about it day and night has finally returned. However, dreams are dreams after all, and the real war is even more cruel, "poor and uncertain river bones, like people in the dreams of spring girls" (Tang Dynasty Chen Tao's "Four Songs of Longxi Journey · Part II).).
Of course, the moral indoctrination function of Peking Opera is also very prominent. When the cultural media was backward, people were educated by watching performances and understanding the good and evil of the world. Peking opera is like a textbook, so that generations of people draw spiritual nourishment from watching the opera. Even today, when cultural media is developed, the role of Peking Opera in promoting traditional culture is still very important.
In addition to studying, I also love Peking Opera. The main way of learning is to listen to the audio and video recordings of famous Peking Opera masters. I especially like The famous Qipai sections such as Zhou Xinfang, the founder of Qipai Art. Qipai is an important genre of the old students of the southern school in China, and the Peking Opera circle has "Mei Lanfang in the north, Zhou Xinfang in the south" and "Nanlin And North Horse". Qipai laosheng sings vigorously and thickly, with strength as beauty, good at using external actions such as "bouquet python" and "shaking hair" to show the delicate heart of the characters, using both programs and paying attention to life in the recitation, the performance is rhythmic, and has a strong control over the stage. In 2012, the famous Cheng sent Li Haiyan to lead a delegation to the University of Science and Technology of China and Anhui University to perform the Peking Opera "Red Lady", and on behalf of the Department of Education, I hosted a banquet for Li Haiyan and his party, and talked about the art of Peking Opera during the banquet. Teacher Li Haiyan learned that I was a Fan of Peking Opera, so she invited me to sing a paragraph and ordered her violinist to accompany me. I felt that the first was a rare opportunity; the second was not respectful; coupled with the office director and the head of the physical health department who went with me, I sang a passage of "Xiao He Yue chased Han Xin". Roughly out of encouragement for public servants to learn Peking Opera, Teacher Li Haiyan said that I sang well in the "Qi Pai" and insisted on Yunyun. I am grateful and encouraged in my spare time. I also had the privilege of getting to know a few Peking Opera actor friends and ticket holders, one after another, quite interesting, but on the occasion of the dense clouds, rain and snow, I found a farmhouse tavern, "green ant new wine, red clay small stove", you come and go, push cups to change cups, beat the festival and sing, sing harmony with each other. It is: "I have been practicing yellow skin for several years, and I have worked hard and sweetened a lot." Draw the tiger into a cat Jun Mo smile, Xi Pi a section of dedication to the front of the hall. After retiring, I introduced Peking Opera into my amateur life, insisting on "ten thousand steps, one page, one glass of wine, and one play" every day (the play mainly watched the opera channel of the Central Television). Of course, the steps can be fast or slow, the words can be more or less, the drama can be long or short, and the cup can be large or small. This is a digression.
I am very fond of calligraphy in the traditional Peking Opera singing cavity, which is like a cloud flowing water, sometimes like a broken shore, sometimes like an iron plate copper lute, sometimes like a pharyngeal loop. And the ups and downs of the calligraphy brushwork, the jagged and staggered knots, and the ups and downs of the chapters are all in line with the rhythm of the Peking Opera singing. In the sound of Peking Opera calligraphy, the body and mind are in a relaxed state, the pen naturally integrates into the rhythm of Peking Opera, the pen goes as it pleases, or urgent or slow, or thick or light, suppressed and frustrated, walking must not be done, stop at the indispensable, believe in the horse by the reins, a natural.
Wine and calligraphy are indeed an unavoidable topic. Shi Zai, Tang Zhangxu was once a lieutenant of Changshu County, good at cursive writing, drunk, every drunken call to go wild, is the next pen, the world is called "grass sage". The couplet written by the master Liang Zhangju for the Changshu Grass Sacred Shrine in Jiangsu Province reads: "The calligraphy enters the gods, the paper clouds and smoke, and the eight laws are passed on in ancient times; the wine is called the holy grass, full of wind and rain, and it is advisable to pay three cups when the year is old." ("Yang Lian Continued Words" Volume 1) can be said to have written Zhang Xu's style of book wine to life. Tang Libai described the ultimate expression of the art of cursive writing after Huaisu was drunk in the Tang Dynasty in his "Cursive Song Line": "The young master is called Huaisu, and the cursive world is called a solo step. The ink pond flew out of the Beiming fish, and the pen blade killed the Zhongshan rabbit... In August and September, the weather is cool, and the drinkers are full of high halls. A few boxes of silk rows of notes, Xuanzhou stone ink color light. When my master was drunk, he leaned on the rope bed and swept away thousands of sheets. The wind and rain are fluttering, and the falling flowers and snow are vast! Get up and keep your hands on the wall, a line of numbers as big as a bucket. Trance is like smelling the gods and ghosts, and all the time I see dragons and snakes walking. The left plate and the right side are like shock and lightning, like fighting with Chu Han. There are several in the seven counties of Hunan, and the family barrier books are all over the place..." In the history of calligraphy, there are many good stories of calligraphers and wine. I thought that calligraphy is creation, and that creation requires passion and imagination, and imagination requires the creator to be in a relaxed, natural and excited state of mind and body, and that a slight drunkenness can be achieved.
Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Preface" Yun: "Here there are lofty mountains and mountains, lush forests and bamboo, and there are clear streams of turbulence, reflecting the left and right, taking it as flowing and bending water, and sitting second." Although there is no grandeur of the silk bamboo orchestra, a glance and a chant are enough to tell the story. Ouyang Xiu of the Song Dynasty said in his "Drunken Pavilion": "The meaning of drunkenness is not wine, but also between mountains and rivers." The joy of the landscape, the heart and the wine of the apartment. "Drunk can enjoy it, awake can narrate the text, too shouya." Who is too conservative? Luling Ouyang Xiuye. "It's about the relationship between wine and creation. At a deeper level, it is to drink to the slightest drunkenness, so that the "self" with defensive and intermediary functions that represent rationality and wit is moderately weakened, so that the instinctive driving force contained in the "original self" such as image thinking is moderately publicized, forming the state required for artistic creation. Speaking of this, I simply said my poem "Drunken Book", and the Bo Fang family smiled: "The wine is drunk and the book is returned, and the chest rises and falls." Thick ink dipped in the pen in the hand, standing half-open blindfolded. The beginning of the pen is like a light plucking string, and the words are like pearls falling on a jade plate. Then, on the boating on the Ping Lake, I saw hundreds of birds flying high. In an instant, the sky was stormy, and the rapid rain was fiercely flashing with lightning. Shi Tiantian was surprised to come out, and the tiger roared and the dragon roared. The rain is illuminated by the sun, and the mountains and rivers are full. The pearls were full of ignorance, and they threw pens high and lay dry at night. ”
Drunk or even drunk after writing good, such as Huai Su, Zhang Xu, this is because the method of calligraphy in these people are internalized in the heart, externalized in the form, the creation of handy, out of the mind, I forget both. They only borrow wine to cultivate their temperament, so that the charm of calligraphy can be more publicized and exerted to the extreme. Look up to everyone, it is made of heaven and earth, and I and other ordinary people can't reach the dust. To borrow today's advertising slogan: please do not imitate. As for the calligrapher who never drinks, do not drink, do not force it.
(Originally published in The World of Calligraphy and Painting, No. 4, 2019)