Kim Hong-dae Tian Rin/Wen
In recent years, Xi Chuanning and Hu Yanzhi and others have studied the relationship between the influence between the five inkblots of the existing "Orchid Pavilion Preface", Nishikawa Ning believes that the first "Orchid Pavilion Preface" of the Eight Pillars most completely shows the original appearance of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface", and Hu Yanzhi believes that the third "Orchid Pavilion Preface" of the Eight Pillars is a copy of the Ming Chen Jian collection. [1] But I disagree with them.
In the history of Chinese calligraphy, it is difficult to find more important and more symbolic works than the "Orchid Pavilion Preface", which can be said to be a representative work of Chinese calligraphy. Therefore, it is very important to find the most original style of works in the five existing inkblots, not only the first step in interpreting the "Orchid Pavilion Preface", but also related to the accuracy of the study of chinese calligraphy history, as Mr. Fu Xinian said, "it is the work of cleaning up the research objects of art history, sorting out its development context and the relationship between the past and the future, and providing materials for the formation of a correct art history". [2]
The scope and methodology of this paper is different from that of existing papers. First of all, the subject of the study has only one "羣" character. There are three reasons for choosing the second "羣" character in the third line of the five existing "Orchid Pavilion Prefaces" as the research object: first, the character retains the writing characteristics of the Six Dynasties period; second, the word objectively shows the logical relationship between the modeling development between the imitated work and the imitation work; third, the writing method and modeling characteristics of the word have not attracted sufficient attention in the academic circles. Secondly, in terms of research methods, this paper mainly uses the style analysis method (calligraphy modeling) that is more commonly used in the study of painting history. [3] Although the application of this method in the field of calligraphy history has not yet matured, it can sort out the history of the development of modeling languages more accurately, especially in cases where there is no documentation or the documentation is not reliable.
This article will take the character "羣" in the five inkblots of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" as an example to analyze their objective forms and draw the relationship between them. This paper is a basic study that attempts to analyze the structure and morphology of words, hoping to provide different research ideas for the academic community.
(1) The basic characteristics of the word "羣"
The writing method and structure of the "sheep" part under the "羣" character in the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" are more common in the calligraphy of the Six Dynasties of the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the cross-interruption effect and the ins and outs of the writing characteristics have been discussed in detail in papers and works such as "Research on the Styling Characteristics of Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy", "Research on the Broken Pen Centered on Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy", "Research on the Calligraphy Modeling of the Six Dynasties of the Qin and Han Dynasties", etc., and will not be repeated here. [4] The following goes directly to the main point, observing the structural characteristics of the word "羣" in the five inkblots of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" (Figure 1), and analyzing the relationship between the structure of the five characters.
Figure 1 The five "Lan Ting Prefaces" have the character 羣
Figure 1.1 is the "羣" character of the third book of the Eight Pillars (Shenlong Ben), Figure 1.2 is the "羣" character of the first book of the Eight Pillars, Figure 1.3 is the "羣" character of the second book of the Eight Pillars, Figure 1.4 is the "羣" character of the Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and Figure 1.5 is the "羣" character of the Ming Chen Jian Collection. [5]
Through the visual display of the five inkblots "Orchid Pavilion Sequence" in Figure 1, it can be found that although they are different in word structure, they have some commonalities in word structure and internal form. In order to facilitate understanding, this article takes the third book of the eight pillars with the most complete structure of the word shape as an example (Figure 1.1) to sort out the characteristics of this word. The word has two points worth noting: first, the vertical painting of "sheep" is completed separately from left and right; The second is that the two horizontal paintings below the "sheep" are interrupted by the vertical painting as the center. The "sheep" section is exactly what this article focuses on observing and analyzing.
The Qing Dynasty scholar Weng Fanggang was one of the earliest scholars to pay attention to the unique structure under the character "羣", and he observed various versions of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" "羣" character, believing that the "sheep" part was the effect of breaking the edge [6], that is, the separation of the left and right sides of the vertical painting was the result of the splitting of the brush head during the writing process. If we consider that Qing Dynasty scholars could not see the original handwriting of the Han Dynasty inkblots, Weng Fanggang's understanding of the writing methods of calligraphy works during the Six Dynasties of the Qin and Han Dynasties was insufficient, and his judgment had certain limitations of the times, but he was able to observe and analyze the details of the "羣" character, which was very different from that of previous generations of scholars, which in itself was a manifestation of academic progress.
Thanks to the fruitful archaeological results of the 20th century, it is now easier to see the inkblots of the Qin and Han Dynasties period, and through the inkblots of that time and the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi, we can find the inappropriate parts of Weng Fanggang's claims. If the "sheep" part is caused by the fork of the brush tip, the completion effect should be as in Figure 2.2, but the "sheep" part of the third "羣" character of the eight pillars is centered on the vertical painting e and f like Figure 2.1, and the horizontal paintings a, b, c and d are separated. Therefore, the assertion of a broken edge on this part is not convincing. In fact, this way of writing "sheep" is a more common multi-stroke writing effect during the Six Dynasties of the Qin and Han Dynasties. [7]
Figure 2 Illustration of the word "羣"
In addition, from the perspective of the overall word structure of the "羣" character in Figure 1.1, although the "sheep" part has a special shape, the overall shape of the "羣" character is independent and complete, the strokes are flexible and powerful, the lines are natural and gorgeous, the sense of human operation is less, and the vividness of the details is expressed completely. It can be said that the word has the following seven characteristics: First, the structure of the word is complete; Second, the strokes are both dynamic and dynamic, and the strokes are smooth; Third, the delicacy and vitality of the pen end are maintained; Fourth, the change of stroke thickness is rich and refined; Fifth, the morphology is novel; Sixth, the details are handled completely; Seventh, creativity and expressiveness are sufficient.
(2) Comparative analysis of the "sheep" part
In order to clearly compare the structural characteristics of the "sheep" part of the five "羣" characters, Figure 3 deletes the upper part of the word "羣", leaving only the "sheep". Figure 3.1 is the "sheep" in the third book of the Eight Pillars, centered on the vertical painting separated from the left and right, and the interruption of the two horizontal paintings below is the focus of the word.
Figure 3 The "sheep" part of the "羣" character in the five "Orchid Pavilion Prefaces".
Figure 3.2 is the "sheep" in the first book of the eight pillars, the lower part of the vertical painting is slightly separated, the shape of the lower two horizontal paintings is complete, but there is a break in the middle of the uppermost horizontal painting, although the visual effect is not very obvious, but the horizontal painting is separated. In short, there are irregular forks and interruptions on both the vertical and horizontal drawings of the word.
Figure 3.3 is the "sheep" in the second book of the eight pillars, the three horizontal paintings are very complete, especially the bottom horizontal painting, and the effect of pressing at the end of the pen is obvious. The focus of the word is the vertical painting part, starting from the bottom of the bottom horizontal painting, the vertical painting is divided into two parts, from the width, angle and closing position of the left and right vertical paintings, this part is not a thief is more likely.
Figure 3.4 is the "sheep" in the collection of the National Palace in Taipei, which focuses on the interruption effect of the middle horizontal painting, and the right side of the middle horizontal painting is connected with the lower horizontal painting like the English letter c, forming a "Huajie" effect. [8] The topmost horizontal painting and the lowest horizontal painting are complete, and the vertical painting is written from the bottom horizontal painting downwards, and no special effect is formed in form.
Figure 3.5 is the "sheep" in the Ming Chen Jian collection book "羣" now stored in the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the biggest feature is that the vertical painting forms a left and right separation effect in the middle of the second and third horizontal paintings, and the bottom horizontal painting is also interrupted left and right with the vertical painting as the center. The vertical painting on the right is small and short, starting from the bottom of the second horizontal stroke to the right part of the third horizontal stroke, forming a cross-break effect with the lower horizontal stroke.
(iii) The influence relationship of the "sheep" part
Let's analyze the influence relationship between the five "sheep" in detail. The comparison between Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.2 shows that the distance between the left and right vertical paintings of the third "Sheep" (Fig. 3.1) of the eight pillars is large, the visual effect is obvious, and the interruption of the two horizontal paintings below is also very obvious. However, the vertical painting of the first "sheep" (Figure 3.2) part of the eight pillars is not obviously separated, and the horizontal painting interruption appears on the uppermost horizontal painting, which is not only not obvious, but also the stroke is not full of vitality and lacks a sense of vividness. Through the comparison of these two parts, it can be found that the first "sheep" of the eight pillars (Figure 3.2) is more likely to learn the third book of the eight pillars "Sheep" (Figure 3.1), while the third book of the eight pillars ,"Sheep" (Figure 3.1) is less likely to learn the first "sheep" of the eight pillars (Figure 3.2).
The comparison between Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.3 shows that the vertical painting of the second "sheep" (Figure 3.3) of the eight pillars begins to separate left and right under the third horizontal painting, and the distance between the two separate vertical paintings is not obvious, but from the change of the thickness of the two separate vertical paintings and the position of the pen, it is unlikely that it is not a thief here. In addition, the three horizontal painting forms of the word are very complete, and the effect of the third horizontal stroke at the end of the brush is particularly obvious, so it can be seen that the writer of the second book of the eight pillars "sheep" (Fig. 3.3) failed to understand the structure and writing method of the third book of the eight pillars "sheep" (Fig. 3.1), the second book of the eight pillars "sheep" (Fig. 3.3) is more likely to imitate the third "sheep" (Fig. 3.1) of the eight pillars, and the third book of the eight pillars "sheep" (Fig. 3.1) has a lower probability of imitating the second "sheep" of the eight pillars (Fig. 3.3).
Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.4 Can be seen: the "Sheep" (Figure 3.4) section of the National Palace Museum collection in Taipei shows the fork of the vertical painting through the Huajie effect in the middle of the second horizontal painting, and the interruption distance between the left and right horizontal paintings is more obvious, which is different from the cross interruption effect of the third "Sheep" (Figure 3.1) of the eight pillars. The interruption of the "sheep" (Fig. 3.4) part of the Collection of the National Palace Museum in Taipei is limited to the part of the word, and there is only one separation of the vertical and horizontal paintings, so it is more likely that the "sheep" (Fig. 3.4) of the Taipei National Palace Museum collection will imitate the third "sheep" (Fig. 3.1) of the eight-pillar collection, while the third "sheep" of the eight-pillar "sheep" (Fig. 3.1) will imitate the "sheep" (Fig. 3.4) of the Taipei National Palace Museum collection.
Figure 3.1 and Figure 3.5 Comparison can be seen: the Ming Chen Jian collection of the Beijing Palace Museum "Sheep" (Figure 3.5) part of the ming Chen Jian collection has two important characteristics of vertical painting left and right fork and horizontal painting left and right separation, but the two effects appear in a small part of the word, the forked right vertical painting is thin and short, so that the structure of this part is unstable, the stroke is simply hooked to form a break so that the word structure loses integrity, in addition, the "sheep" part of the stroke width lack of change, are relatively thin, so the whole word is heavy and light, Lack of stability (Figure 1.5). According to the above analysis, it can be seen that the Ming Chen Jian collection "Sheep" (Figure 3.5) collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing is more likely to imitate the third "sheep" (Figure 3.1) of the eight pillars, while the third "sheep" of the eight pillars (Figure 3.1) is less likely to imitate the Ming Chen Jian collection book "Sheep" (Figure 3.5) collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing.
In ancient times, if it was not an imitation work for the purpose of complete reproduction, it was difficult to fully reproduce the creative spirit and form of the original work, and there were many cases where the details of the original work were omitted or missing. Especially when the original work is placed next to it and watched or relying on impression imitation, if you cannot understand the detailed structure of the original work or the method of moving the pen, in most cases there will be simplification of performance, which is a common feature of imitation. The first book of the Eight Pillars, the second book of the Eight Pillars, the Collection of the National Palace in Taipei, and the Collection of Ming ChenJian reveal such simplified information in the four "Orchid Pavilion Prefaces". These four kinds of "Lan Ting Preface" "羣" characters more or less have the modeling genes of the eight-pillar third "Lan Ting Preface" "羣" character, but they are neither complete nor vivid, and do not have the seven characteristics of the eight-pillar third book "羣" character. However, how the four inkblots "Lanting Preface" "羣" characters are imitated is not easy to explain so far, and the possibility of secondary imitation between the four inkblots cannot be ruled out. But in any case, the third book of the Eight Pillars, the character "羣", retains its most complete form.
Through data statistics, the relationship between imitation and imitation can be more objectively shown. First, the characteristics of the "sheep" part of the third book of the Eight Pillars are divided into five points, and the contents of Table 1 can be listed by comparing them with the other four inkblots.
The first book of the eight pillars is 30% the same between the first book and the third book, the first book of the eight pillars has been damaged several times in the process of circulation, and has been comprehensively altered, so the handwriting is blurred, and the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" can not see any unique stroke processing methods of the Six Dynasties period in the words "Bi", 11th line "can", 14th line "Tong", 21st line "Lan", and 25th line "Jin", and the overall stroke details lack vividness.
The second book of the eight columns and the third book of the eight columns are 20% the same, which is a big difference. The Orchid Pavilion Preface also does not see any unique stroke treatment in the words "Bi", 11th line "can", 14th line "tong", 21st line "Lan", and 25th line "今", as if it does not understand the writing method of the Six Dynasties period at all.
The Collection of the Forbidden City in Taiwan is 20% the same as the third book of the Eight Pillars, and the difference is large. The above unique glyph representations are also not seen in the Orchid Pavilion Preface, but some of the character structures appear in the brushwork commonly seen during the Six Dynasties period. Such as the "sheep" part and the "mountain" part of the "ridge" in line 4 of the "mountain" effect.
The Ming Chen Jian Collection is 70% identical to the third book of the Eight Pillars, and the similarity is the highest, so Hu Yanzhi argues that "many of the detailed features of the Shenlong Ben come from Chen Jianben, especially Chen Jianben's unique imitation defects, the Shenlong Ben or rigid inheritance, or the remains of the traces, the Shenlong Ben is derived from Chen Jianben's imitation should be no doubt." [9] However, Hu Yanzhi's observation of the details is not fine enough, and it is impossible to analyze the characteristics of the calligraphy of the Six Dynasties period that the work itself has, and the structure of the characters in Chen Jian's collection "Orchid Pavilion Preface" is loose, the stroke thickness changes are rigid, and some decorative effects appear frequently exaggerated, such as the "parallel long hollow" effect that appears in the 14th line "Tong" in the 15th line "no" and the 22nd line "no", and various exaggerated interruption effects appear more frequently, such as the 9th line "Inspection", the 20th line "Exhaustion", "Ancient" and "Cloud", etc. This is also a typical feature of imitation. [10] Therefore, the author believes that these characteristics are more objective to show that the Chen Jian Collection imitates the third book of the Eight Pillars.
In addition, the Japanese scholar Nishikawa Ning analyzed the structure, the starting stroke, the stroke method, and the stroke angle running downward to the right, and concluded that the first "Orchid Pavilion Preface" of the eight pillars best conveyed the original style of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface". [11] However, the author believes that the first eight-pillar "Orchid Pavilion Preface" does not have the writing characteristics of the calligraphy works of the Six Dynasties period in terms of writing methods, character structure characteristics, and stroke details, so I do not agree with Nishikawa Ninh's claim. [12]
The historical content related to the Orchid Pavilion Preface is very complicated, and it is easy to fall into confusion when studying works from a documentary point of view, but the shape has its own history, and from a certain point of view, it can be more intuitive and direct than written records.
Through a comparative analysis of the second word of the third line and the second word of the five inkblots in the Orchid Pavilion Preface, we can see the relationship between imitation and imitation between them. The third book of the Eight Pillars has more elements of originality, while the other four inkblots, the Orchid Pavilion Preface, imitate more factors.
In order to focus the arguments and enhance the pertinence of the analysis, this article only uses the word "羣" to see the micro-knowledge, through its characteristic analysis, to spy the uniqueness of the calligraphy of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface", but the complete elaboration of the difference between the five inkblots of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" requires a more three-dimensional and more comprehensive analysis, and I hope that the characteristics of the five inkblots of the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" can be compared through more detailed examples in the future.
exegesis [1] (Japanese) Xi Chuanning, Yao Yuliang, translated, "Zhang Jinjie Nu Ben Lan Ting Shu Study", Chinese Calligraphy, 2017, (06); Hu Yanzhi, "Shenlong Lan Ting" from Chen Jianben Examination", Calligraphy, 2014, (12) [2] Fu Xinian, "On the Experience of Calligraphy and Painting Appraisal Work", "Collection of Papers on the Identification of Calligraphy and Painting in Chinese Dynasties", Forbidden City Publishing House, 2000, 26 pp. [3] The study of this method in the study of the history of calligraphy is called "Calligraphy Modeling Research Method", see Jin Hongdae, "Research on the Characteristics of Calligraphy Modeling of Wang Xizhi", Ph.D. Dissertation of Tsinghua University, 2010, 10 pp. [4] Reference to Jin Hongdae's papers, pp. 1-63; Jin Hongdae, "Research on the Broken Pen Centered on Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy", Proceedings of the National Forum of Fine Arts of Peking University, Shaanxi Normal University Press, 2011, 86-106; Jin Hongdae, "Calligraphy is Not Art- A Temporal Study of Calligraphy", Drama House, 2018, (18), 215; Jin Hongda, "Research on calligraphy modeling in the Six Dynasties of Qin and Han Dynasties", Guangxi Normal University Press, 2018, 158-162-p. [5] The picture refers to Sun Baowen, "Selected Inkblots of Famous Artists of Past Dynasties 1 Five Kinds of Inkblots in the Orchid Pavilion", Jilin Literature and History Publishing House, 2006. [6] Weng Fanggang, "Sumi Zhai Lan Ting Kao", "Lan Ting Complete Edition", Huashan Literature and Art Publishing House, 1995, 646-649 pages; Liu Tao, "Orchid Pavilion Preface", Calligraphy, 2017, (08), 64 pp. [7] Jin Hongdae, "Research on calligraphy and modeling in the Six Dynasties of the Qin and Han Dynasties", Guangxi Normal University Press, 2018, pp. 158-162; Reference Note 4 [8] For "The Huajie Effect", see Dr. Thesis of Hongda Kim, pp. 166-167. [9] Hu Yanzhi, "The Divine Dragon Lanting Originated from Chen Jianben's Examination", Calligraphy, 2014, (12) [10] For the characteristics of "parallel long hollow", see, Kim Hong-dae-serm. [11] Xi Chuanning, Yao Yuliang, translated, "Zhang Jinjie Nu Ben Lan Tingxu Study", Chinese Calligraphy, 2017, (06) [12] See Jin Hongdae, "A Study on the Characteristics of Calligraphy Modeling of Wang Xizhi", Ph.D. Thesis of Tsinghua University, 2010.
(Reprinted from Calligraphy Appreciation, No. 1, 2021)