Source China Military Network
Impression of Li Honghai
■ Qi Zhongliang
In more than thirty years of professional career, I have done a lot of reckless things. One of them happened recently: in a state of communication where the "live temperature" was relatively high and the chat was relatively strong, I took the initiative to tell Teacher Li Honghai that I wanted to write a few paragraphs to talk about his perception of the art of calligraphy. But as soon as the mood cooled, I regretted my rash statement. It would be unwise for a man who knows nothing about the art of calligraphy to want to talk nonsense on such a professional issue. However, it is difficult to harvest the water and ride the tiger, in order to fulfill the promise and maintain personal credibility, I had to make up for the calligraphy class with a hard scalp, and I was determined to try it.
Therefore, I concentrated on reading several books of Teacher Li's calligraphy works, and read and studied many reports and comments on himself and his calligraphy; I also expanded the scope of my study to a deeper level, browsed some of the materials of his teacher Mr. Qi Gong, and tried to explore the inheritance relationship between teachers and students in the art of calligraphy; I even turned over the history of calligraphy, trying to trace the academic origin from Qi Gong to Li Honghai from the pen and ink traces and line trends of Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang, Mi Fu and other taidou-level sages. But the end result is still confused and unclear. I was discouraged, Rome was indeed not caused by a day, the fat man did not eat it in one bite, relying on the skillful kung fu of sharpening the gun in the front, he could not control the right to speak of calligraphy appreciation. Learning the tongue and repeating the grand terms and unfamiliar terms commonly used in calligraphy reviews can also play an insider's role, and many people rely on this method to package themselves as critics, whether it is self-consolation or fooling others, this method is somewhat useful. But at least for now I don't want to do this kind of self-packaging. I have made a promise, and it is not easy to explain it without writing; I am not willing to go through the routine of pretending to be an expert and pretending to be a posture. After repeated weighing, I had to bypass professional issues and talk about Teacher Li Honghai from outside of calligraphy. In this regard, I really know a lot about his commendable topics.
For example, his diligence. Every day when I wake up and browse WeChat, I can see a batch of "homework" he is studying calligraphy, or write or forward academic impressions on the art of calligraphy, which is already a fairly fixed regular phenomenon. From this we know that year after year, his daily homework begins in the early morning when the sky is faint. Diligently expanding the relative length of time at his disposal, while we are still sleeping, in a daze, brushing screens, gossiping, he may have completed a batch of works, drafted a copy, or painted a batch of plum blossoms. It is based on his consistent diligence that he has not only achieved great results in calligraphy and seal engraving, but also extended his research field to the creation of lyrics and Chinese painting in recent years, and has made good gains. The plum blossom branches he painted are strong and powerful, and the flowers are very attractive, almost comparable to Mr. Qi Gong's similar works. A number of songs written by him also achieved considerable influence. Diligence doesn't necessarily lead to success, but success certainly starts with hard work. In recent years, he has successively held more than ten exhibitions of personal calligraphy works such as "Beautiful China" and "The Horn of Strengthening the Army and Rejuvenating the Army", among which the exhibition of "The Horn of the Strong Army and the Rejuvenation of the Army" co-sponsored by the Chinese Calligraphers Association and the Military Museum has been invited to 25 military and local units.
For example, his enthusiasm is bold. People familiar with him know that Li Honghai has many friends, and his mobile phone address book alone stores the numbers of more than three thousand people. Making so many friends, the main thing is to rely on his heroic style. His ability to integrate into the new environment, the ability to resolve embarrassment, and the ability to adjust the atmosphere are incomparable to ordinary people, and basically do not need to lay the transition to directly enter the realm of happiness and harmony. With his qualifications and achievements, it is said that he can and should put up a shelf, but he does not seem to have this interest, dealing with people, basically no sense of identity, even in the face of a dusty migrant worker friend, he can also face sincerely and frankly communicate. Some friends are willing to get close to him, and of course, they do not rule out the consideration of asking for a banner. If this is the case, there is a good chance that their wishes will not be disappointed, and they will basically be able to get what they want and fulfill their wishes. Li Honghai is not indifferent to the rewards of the fruits of his labor, but friendship and goodwill clearly occupy a heavier place on his scales. In the face of a work that is gifted to others, some scholars calculate how much silver they will lose, while he thinks more about how much happiness and camaraderie they will gain. He also has moments of reluctance, but after muttering a few words and moaning for half a moment, he will eventually satisfy the other party. He was embarrassed to refuse, nor could he bear to refuse. Rejection is almost a hurt, and he is not willing to do such a thing, so he always keeps his grievances to himself. When many people are both "good intentions" to fight for rights and interests, and "good intentions" to refuse obligations, we can see his compassion and kindness from his "embarrassment". Of course, asking the artist for words and paintings is not a good habit, writing a word looks like a few strokes of pen and ink, but behind a few minutes of swing is decades or even a lifetime of accumulation, so before asking Teacher Li for words, you should still consider it, and you must not use his "embarrassment".
Another example is his modesty and decency. In today's calligraphy and painting world, there are not necessarily many masters and achievements, but there are quite a few famous, big and temperamental, and people who are not careful will encounter a calligrapher who creates a new system, creates a new genre, and even rewrites the history of calligraphy. Those who like to boast about themselves often like to belittle others, shake their heads and sigh at the achievements of others, and resolutely pursue "non-recognition doctrine". In the face of this kind of abuse, Li Honghai maintained a valuable sobriety and vigilantly kept a distance from him, and one of his often humble words was "We are just a writer"! He has also privately evaluated his peers, but he basically affirms his strengths, and when faced with his shortcomings, he always chooses to be silent. When "non-recognitionism" becomes the norm, it is obviously more gentlemanly to be able to promote people's strengths and avoid people's weaknesses in private.
Finally, we have to go back to calligraphy. When commenting on a calligrapher, it is impossible to completely avoid his calligraphy. Although I don't know calligraphy, whenever I face a "pen and ink kingdom" and "a thousand worlds" constructed by the curvature, length, thickness, weight, urgency, density, virtual reality, positive slope, and ingenuity of the lines, I can't help but be shocked. Watching Li Honghai's calligraphy has a similar experience. His calligraphic lines are straight and powerful, the skeleton is beautiful and elegant, the shape is lean and free, or as heavy as a rock, or as light as a flying flower, or as fast as lightning, or as soft as a willow, and the living and free text is like a dancer with a handsome body and a jade tree facing the wind. I also enjoyed watching his writing process. He is a person who is accustomed to seeing big scenes, and under the scene of a large number of people waiting on all sides, he can also let himself immediately settle down, enter a peaceful and calm creative state, alternately wield various types of "long guns" and "short cannons", easily and freely lift and file, turn and move, and have a gorgeous posture, calmly, and in one breath, making people feel sick to their intestines.
It is not easy to know oneself, and it is difficult to know others, which is a matter of challenging personal wisdom. Therefore, I am not very confident about this text, and I don't know whether it is in line with and to what extent it is in line with Teacher Li's reality. It is precisely for this reason that I titled this text "Impression of Li Honghai". Since it is an "impression", it is natural to have a little elasticity, like or not like "impression", so as to leave some room for yourself.