Bai Zi Rong/Wen
【Abstract】 The issue of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy has always been a hot topic in the study of the history of calligraphy, and many people in the Ming and Qing dynasties thought that Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy was as soft and boneless as his character. Through the analysis of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy practice and the reasons for his career, it is explained that Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy works have the artistic characteristics of embracing the ages and breathing out new breezes, and his character is expressed as true knowledge and sincerity in the world. 【Keywords】 Zhao Mengfu Book character
In the traditional Chinese concept of morality, character is used to judge personality, and its advantages and disadvantages mark the level of personal morality. In Confucianism, morality is the basis for standing up as a person, and the character contained in the category of morality has become the basis for discussing people and things. This concept permeates all aspects of social life, and art is no exception. Later generations' evaluation of Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy also placed moral evaluation before calligraphy evaluation.
Zhao Mengfu is a great integrator in the history of Chinese calligraphy. The wind of the two kings of Wei and Jin is chased up, and the door of the ancients is opened in the future generations. The influence of his calligraphy on later generations was extremely deep and extensive, and even spread to Goryeo at that time as "pine snow body". The value of his calligraphy is not only reflected in the works passed down to future generations, but also in the achievements of reform for the development of art.
Zhao Mengfu deeply realized the crisis caused by the "Shangyi" abuse of the Southern Song Dynasty to the calligraphy itself, and raised the retro banner and proposed: "When it is ancient, there is no vain to take the law from the present." "The retro direction refers to Wei and Jin, affirming the orthodox status of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. First of all, the importance of brushwork is emphasized in terms of technique: "Calligraphy is based on the use of the pen, and the knot must also be used, and the knot word is passed down from time to time, and it is not easy to use the pen for eternity." There is also "learning books to play with the ancient people's Fa Ti, and know the meaning of its use of the pen", with the ancient penmanship, through the meaning of the ancients. The so-called "entering the Tao with skill", only after the level of "skill" has reached proficiency, can you be lyrical and communicate with the ancient gods. "Do not seek to resemble the ancients, but seek to be in harmony with the ancients", this theory negates the thesis that later generations called his book "slave book", although he strictly abided by the ancient law, he did not eat the ancients, but absorbed the essence of the Jin people's calligraphy, and made his own appearance on the basis of casting hundreds of families. The so-called "'pen' is the body, 'knot' is used; 'pen' is one, 'knot' is many; 'pen' is not easy to have common sense, 'knot' is often impermanent. "Borrowing from the ancient and new and unique Zhao body, round and not losing strength, elegant and not lacking in handsomeness, fluent with the rhyme of Qingyuan, and the jin people's breath is connected, the true essence of the two kings has been passed on."
Zhao Mengfu's works include "Emperor Shi Bile Ba Stele", "Before and After Chibi Fu", "Lanting Thirteen Treks", etc., the brushwork does not lose its vigor in refinement; the knots are in a regular place to see the charm; the chapters are like a breeze, and the spirit is shining. As later generations said: "Yi Feng Chong Xiao, Xiang Yun Holding the Sun", interpreting Zhao Mengfu's perfect calligraphy art. Not only that, Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy also embodies "people", and his relaxed mentality coupled with aesthetic pursuit, artistic connotation, and cultural heritage are integrated into the book, making his calligraphy show human charm.
The work contains the "human" element, which can be seen that Zhao Mengfu attaches great importance to personal character, and once pushed Wang Xizhi's "right military character is very high, so the book is into the divine quality", but after affirming the Confucian concept of self-cultivation for good, he made a contrarian act, leaving a moral stain that will forever be recorded in the annals of history. So is it really a choice he made for his own selfish interests?
At the time of the song's death, Zhao Mengfu was twenty-five years old, and he returned to the countryside. Ten years later, the Yuan Dynasty regime gradually stabilized, Kublai Khan felt the importance of cultural rule, and ordered Cheng Jufu to "travel to the south of the Taijiang River and seek to be left behind", and Zhao Mengfu, who was a member of the Song Dynasty and had the cultural reputation of "Wuxing Eight Jun", became the first choice for recommendation because of his special status. Prior to this, Zhao Mengfu had several opportunities to become an official, but he resigned and did not give up. There were many reasons for the trip, including the fear that repeated disobedience to the ruler would lead to the scourge of death, and the dilemma of a poor life in front of us. The real determining factor was the Confucian political ideal that he had always embraced, "the scholar learns from home, and Gai also wants to go out and use it in the country, so that the sages can flourish in the world." The demise of the Song Dynasty blocked his career path, but did not dispel his heart, and even after his retreat, he hoped that one day he would be able to make the full belly of Jing lun useful, and prepare for it. There is a historical record: "After the emperor and the yuan were mixed, they lived idly in the middle." Lady Qiu said in a common saying: "The Holy Pilgrimage will take the talents of Jiangnan and use them." Ru Fei reads a lot, why is it different from ordinary people? 'The public welfare is self-reliant on learning, and when the old Confucian Ao Jigong questions the doubts, through the Ming practice, the voice overflows and reaches the imperial court. From his political ambitions and resignation behavior, we can glimpse Zhao Mengfu's ambivalent mentality and the mental pain caused by it. In the end, he was still out. In his prime, he was not willing to be a funeral for the Song Dynasty, and he disappeared into the world, so he carried the insult of changing Shi Yuan and followed Cheng Jufu to Dadu.
There is a key issue that we should pay attention to, that is, the time when Zhao Mengfu came out. It was not immediately after the fall of the Song Dynasty that he entered the dynasty as an official, but ten years later, when the Yuan Dynasty presented the image of ruling the world, he agreed to be an official. This also explains the failure of the previous rejections, not only the hostility to foreign races and the unabated pain of national subjugation, but also the estimation of the situation that the time has not yet arrived. This decade is not only a period of "keeping the spirit" of the old dynasty, but also a period of observation of the new dynasty. This precisely embodies the Confucian concept of "serving the Emperor with the Tao" - "seeking to be used for the world for the subjects, and seeking the king of the Tao for the wise.".
In the eyes of later generations of literati, Confucian morality and ethics were not the way of Confucius and Mencius, but the "so-called Confucianism" that had been tampered with by Song Ming Theory. The patriotic ideology of loyalty to the monarch advocated by Song Mingli is in line with the needs of the rulers to maintain political power, and skillfully links political ethics with moral criticism. Infidelity and filial piety means that the character is low, and the martyrdom of a dynasty with one surname is a noble character, and posterity believes that this is the duty of a human subject, thus causing the prevalence of the concept of "foolish loyalty". This is very different from the pre-Qin Confucian advocacy of "the people are precious, the society is secondary, and the king is light". It is really a misreading of the Confucian classics, and it also roughly understands the concept of character.
Zhao Mengfu's emergence from the Yuan Dynasty cannot be simply summarized as active or passive, but the fate of history.
Yuanmeng entered the Central Plains as a foreign race, although it won the world by force, but the weakness of cultural rule was like a "sword of Damolis" hanging over its head, and there was a danger of being subverted at any time, so it was necessary to absorb and inherit Han culture to unify the national spirit. And Zhao Mengfu's academic ability and special identity are exactly what the Yuan rulers need.
When Zhao Mengfu first entered the Yuan court, he showed outstanding political ability. He exerted his economic talents in managing the chaos of toll collection in the country, and played a key role in the suppression of the Sango group, so he was deeply appreciated by the ancestors of the Yuan Dynasty. However, Zhao Mengfu was the "fourth class" after all, always suffering from the exclusion of his colleagues of different nationalities, and the road to promotion was often blocked, although he was honored by the Five Dynasties, he never got reused. He understood that his Han identity had always been a disharmonious existence in the Yuan court, let alone entering the center of power and becoming the target of public criticism. Therefore, on the way to the eunuch, he repeatedly "asked for external supplements", lived a half-official and half-hidden "official" life, and pinned his bitterness and regret about politics and powerlessness in landscape paintings and calligraphy. When Emperor Yuanrenzong was in a high position, he retreated bravely and resolutely resigned his official post and returned to his hometown. Such as Shiyun: "The four phases are metabolized, and the glory is fully held." The melon field leads to new vines, and there are no peaches and plums. The wise man understands his meeting and returns when he encounters obstacles. "Enjoying the landscape in seclusion, leisurely traveling poetry, and wanton calligraphy and painting have contributed to the revitalization of the yuan dynasty book world and promoted the prosperity of culture."
From another point of view, it is also Zhao Mengfu's political status that has made his retro transformation method practical, which has had a wide and profound impact and continued the inheritance of Chinese calligraphy culture. Otherwise, a corner of the South of the Anjiang River, just a cultural celebrity, may not be able to make such a big contribution. Perhaps such a result was exactly what Yuan Shizu had foreseen when he first summoned him to the palace, and it was the times that created Zhao Mengfu.
Re-explore Zhao Mengfu, whose books are of high quality. Embracing the pragmatic concept of Confucianism and the State of The World, he entered the Yuan Court, benefited the people by seeking learning and usefulness, and realized the true original Confucian ideal. The frustration of his political career has created his innovative initiative in art, and the indifference and super-mai at that time have been transformed into the agility and elegance of the pen, and the luxurious and graceful font has the elegant Wei and Jin style bones of Qingyuan and elegance, which is a model of the unity of character and calligraphy.
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(Originally published in Cultural Industry, No. 8, 2020)