Han bricks refer specifically to the Chinese Han portrait bricks and text Han bricks that are flourished in the two Han Dynasties. Han portrait bricks were often used for the decoration of tomb buildings, and at that time, the custom of burying dignitaries and nobles flourished in the world. The chinese bricks are mostly auspicious characters with decorative effects, expressing people's ideals and yearnings at that time and their pursuit and hope for a better life.
The calligraphy included in these brick texts include large seals, small seals, miao seals, insect books, eight points, lishu, chapter grass, present grass, xingshu, and italics, and at the same time, the two tendencies of standardization and sloppiness of each kind of book style are sometimes reflected in the brick text.
The text Han brick reflects the information of the lower class of the Han Dynasty and the true state of folk calligraphy, and also reflects the true state of the information of the lower class society of the Han Dynasty and the true state of folk calligraphy, which together with the inscriptions on different carriers of the Han Dynasty, such as inscriptions, Jian Mu, seals, copper inscriptions, tiles, pottery and other different carriers of the same period constitute the entire history of Calligraphy of the Han Dynasty, and are valuable physical materials for studying the evolution of Chinese character forms.
As an important physical material of Han Dynasty folk calligraphy, Han Dynasty brick script represents the writing atmosphere of the lower class society and plays an important role in the evolution of calligraphy and brushwork.
"Fu Gui Chang, Yi Gong Tang; Yi Qi Yang, Yi Brother; Sauvignon Blanc, Don't Forget Each Other; Jue Lu Zun, Shou Wan Nian", 24 characters Han Brick.
Yang Wen Miao seal, divided into four grids in the square brick surface, horizontal and vertical lines are arranged at equal distance, the seal is square, the words vary in length and length according to the situation, the space is coordinated and unique, it was discovered by Wang Yirong, the "father of oracle bones", in Sichuan Xinfan, widely known to the world, when the king of the bricks unearthed in the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty brick texts of this kind of auspicious language include "Thousand Autumns and Thousands of Sons and Daughters Yichang Changle Weiying", "Hai Nei Zhi ChenChen Mature Dao No Hunger People", "Xia Yang Fu Li Palace Lingbi and Heaven and Earth Wuji", "Shan Yu and Pro Qian Qiu Long Live Peace and Happiness Wei Yang", "Fule Wei Yang Descendants Yi Chang", "Left Chang Sui Right Rich And Noble Ji Xiang".
There are also "Yi descendants dajili", "Lihou descendants", "Yihou Wang", "Dafu'an", "longevity and gui", "undefeated", "Yiguan", "long live", "Daji", "Yigui", "Changyi", etc., expressing the ideals and aspirations of people at that time and the pursuit and hope for a better life, which is one of the main categories of Chinese brick characters.
In addition, the Han brick text also has a brick text with chronological content, such as Heping First Year March 7, Yang Jia 2nd Year July, Xiping 3 years of creation, Yongshou 3 years of work, Jianchu 2nd year, Yanguang 3 years, Yongyuan 11th year, Yanping Yuan year, Yongning Yuanyuan 5th, Yuanfeng, Yuanding, Wufeng and the more detailed "Yongxing 3rd Leap Month Jia Shen Shuo 24" brick text.
Then there are the chronicle brick texts, such as "Yonghe five years of fabrication, do not spare any effort, use thousands of mediocre, shifu mo do not help, the righteousness of life and death is prepared", "Yanxi seven years of rain bricks", etc., and even have the name information of the craftsmen, such as "Zhu Jun", "Zhang Shizuo", "Jing Ning Yuan Nian Tai Nian Liu JiZao in Pengzi LuXiang".
Brick is the main building material for building houses, walls, roads and mausoleums in ancient times, used to build walls, pave the floor, and adhere to the wall, and first appeared in the fufeng Zhouyuan site in Shaanxi in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. However, until the Western Han Dynasty, most of the bricks could only be enjoyed by royal eunuchs. Around the Eastern Han Dynasty, bricks began to be widely used in the folk.
"Yi Yanshou" brick, two tigers carved on the left and right, four beasts on the left and right symmetrical, the shape of the Qigu, according to research, this brick should come from present-day Chunhua County, Shaanxi Province, for the Han Wu Emperor Yuan Feng in the second year of the construction of the "Yi Yan Shou Hall" relics.
This kind of brick suitable for different needs was produced by the hands of the lower class of society and folk craftsmen at that time, and was carefully designed by skilled craftsmen, molded, fabricated, pressed, dried and other complicated processes, and then fired into the kiln.
According to relevant information, the production requirements of Han bricks are quite high: first, the mud should be dug several feet deep, and the sand-free clay soil should be selected, and the soil color needs to be distinguished. Sticky but not scattered, powder and not sandy. Subsequently, it is dried and crushed, water is drawn to nourish the soil, people chase cattle, staggered toes into thick mud, and then filled the wooden frame to prepare mud.
Finally, the billet is made of wooden mold bucket, naturally dried, and fired into bricks with square kilns, hanging kilns, horseshoe kilns, etc. Generally there are long strips and squares, tire quality has red tire, gray tire texture two kinds, four sides more see reticule, diamond pattern, circle pattern, checkered pattern, rice pattern and so on.
Brick text is the text written, engraved or molded on brick. Molded brick text needs to be engraved on the mold first, and then embossed on the undried brick blank, and then fired in the kiln after the brick blank is dried. Some impressions are also blank molds, and craftsmen have carved text patterns on the blanks in advance, so that the brick text is also molded and printed at the same time as the billets, which is prolific and efficient.
This kind of brick text is also the most seen in the Han Dynasty brick text, generally mostly for the Yang seal book or Lishu, the yin text is relatively small, the text is unfolded on the square or bar on the front and side of the brick, in order to adapt to the form of careful changes in shape and structure, exaggerated deformation, rich in decorative beauty, strict specification to see simple and flexible, and The Han seal has the same magic.
The carved brick text is divided into dry engraving and wet engraving.
Dry engraving is carved on the burned brick surface, mainly with sharp metal sharp tools such as chisels and carving knives. Similar to the carved stone, generally write the manuscript with a brush first, and then carve according to the stroke lines, some do not have a book and directly carve, there are single knives, some double knives, the lines are thin and straight, the pen is sharp, such as "Anxious on the Strange Bricks", "Luoyang Prisoner Tomb Brick Inscription", which shows the improvised state of brick craftsmen.
Wet engraving is a hard object such as a tapered rod on the undried mud, or directly carved by hand, the strokes are coherent, the strokes are clear, the lines are elastic, the flying nature is natural, showing skilled writing skills, this kind of brick text is mainly Cao Cao clan epitaph brick.
Han bricks are used in the construction of palaces and temples, and many are tomb bricks, with pictures, characters, patterns and other marks, called portrait bricks.
The bricks are painted with chariots and ceremonial guards, Que lou bridges, character stories, dance music and hundreds of plays, auspicious beasts, mythological allusions, strange and strange hui, etc., the content is rare, the ingenuity is unique, the painting techniques are simple, including the upper class of immortality, sacrifice, feasting, hunting, traveling, architecture, as well as the activities of warding off ghosts, disasters, and cooking, to the lower ordinary people's labor life scenes of picking mulberry, weaving, farming, harvesting, and hundred plays, etc., which can be called the encyclopedia of the Han Dynasty.
The Chinese brick script is another major calligraphy material found in modern times, which exists in Shaanxi, Henan, Sichuan, Jiangsu and other places in large quantities, which is unprecedented in terms of both the number of excavations and the appearance of the book.
The style of books included in these brick texts is also very comprehensive, with large seals, small seals, miao seals, insect books, eight points, Lishu, Chapter Grass, Present Grass, Xingshu, and Kaishu, and at the same time, the two tendencies of standardization and sloppiness of each kind of book are sometimes reflected in the brick text.
It reflects the information of the lower class of the Han Dynasty and the true state of folk calligraphy, and together with the inscriptions on different carriers of the same period such as Han Dynasty inscriptions, Jian Mu, seals, bronze inscriptions, wadangs, pottery and so on, it constitutes the entire history of Han Dynasty calligraphy, and is a valuable physical material for studying the evolution of Chinese character forms.
From this, we can see the great evolutionary significance of the Han Dynasty calligraphy, and correct the erroneous view that the predecessors developed from seal to subordinate, from subordinate to grass, grass and line developed into a single-line development model of Kai. At the same time, it is also an important written basis for the study of the intellectual history, calligraphy history and cultural history of the two Han Dynasties.
Unlike those inscriptions and simple writers, the well-educated "main documents" of the officials, the production and writing of brick texts are mostly lower-level craftsmen, the level of culture and art is not high, there are not too many rules and paradigms, the writing is relatively free, the design of the book body can also add personal aesthetics, and the words engraved have a natural and clumsy interest.
This is also the difference between folk craftsmen and official orthodoxy. It does not have the norms of the official writers to reach the extreme, nor does it have their stylized aesthetics, but it is precisely this kind of original text that can let us see the true face of Han Dynasty calligraphy.
Therefore, the Han Dynasty brick script is also an immature book with great room for development.
Because the Han brick clay is delicate and warm, refined and fired at high temperature, and strong and wear-resistant, its sound is like a chime, and the feel is heavy, coupled with the high ancient and simple pattern text, it was subsequently discovered and regarded as a treasure by the Qing Dynasty gold stone examiners, and some or were carved into bricks, easy to develop ink, and the use effect was excellent.
On the brick surface, take out a simple brick pond, square and open, the surrounding edge is not polished, wrinkled and full of cloth, do it yourself or invite famous people to inscription, "thick and quiet like benevolence, rigid and gentle like virtue, not anti-side like YiHanmo", showing the clumsy and unpretentious, high ancient and elegant state, Chen Yu Shuzhai, feel the vicissitudes of the world, think of the ancient feelings, it has become a literary elegant instrument, and has become a custom.
At that time, the prominent Tibetan bricklayers included Ruan Yuan, Chen Hongshou, Zhao Zhiqian, Zhang Tingji, Lu Zengxiang, Lu Xinyuan, Chen Jieqi, Duan Fang, Sang Dashou, Wu Changshuo and so on. Jiang Ren, one of the "Eight Houses of Xiling", obtained the "Yanguang Three Years" brick and made a brick inscription: "Yanguang Three Years, Canggu Shuojin." Because it was made into research, it was placed in the books and cases, and it was considered to be treasured, and the non-gold and stone friends did not look at it", which was ancient and antique, enough for future generations to follow suit.
At the same time, the number of ancient brick literature works increased greatly, and tibetan brick monographs and catalogs appeared, including Feng Dengfu's "Zhejiang Brick Record" and Lü Qisun's "Hundred Brick Examinations", and in 1891, Zhejiang Gui'an Luxinyuan's brick literature "Illustration of Ancient Bricks in Qianyongting" came out, and the brick text was greatly enhanced. In addition, there are also some works that include some brick texts, such as Lu Zengxiang's "Eight Qiong Room Golden Stone Correction", Chen Jieqi's "Ancient Catalogue of The Ancient Catalogue of Zhaizhai Tibet" and so on.
Recently, organized plans, large-scale cultural relics investigations and field archaeological excavations have obtained a large number of new ancient brick and tile materials, the number of categories has increased, and the collection and collation of ancient bricks and research works are also more complete, mainly including "Han Dynasty Brick Collection", "Zhengzhou Han Portrait Brick", "Han Wei Southern and Northern Dynasties Epitaph Collection", "Ancient Chinese Brick Text", etc., which are an important reference for ancient brick connoisseurs and brick researchers.
As an important physical material of Han Dynasty folk calligraphy, Han Dynasty brick text represents the writing atmosphere of the lower society, and plays an important role in the evolution of calligraphy and brushwork, changing things for stars, and the ancient clumsiness and frank beauty revealed in it are valued by contemporary calligraphers, and have become an important source of contemporary calligraphy and seal engraving creation.
"Disciples with heaven and disciples with the ancients, all the things of the learner." Heaven, when looking at its affairs; ancient, when looking at its changes" (Liu Xizai), there is great reference and reference value here.