1. Panorama of Mifei's calligraphy.
Mi Fei is an extremely important calligrapher in history, and the imitation and spread of his calligraphy in ancient times never stopped. Since modern times, a large number of his works have been published and printed. However, it is the first time to show Mi Fei's calligraphy art in such a complete, comprehensive and panoramic way as the Complete Works. From the type of works, there are calligraphy ink, single engraved posts and cluster engraved posts, as well as inscriptions and epitaphs. From the font, the real cursive script is complete, with the most running scripts and the highest artistic level; Formally, there are letters, inscriptions, calligraphy, long scrolls, fights, banners and so on. Among them, inscriptions run through all ancient times from Song Dynasty to Ming and Qing Dynasties. From the content, it includes copying predecessors' articles, poems, inscriptions, biographies, poems and songs, letters, notes and so on. It can be said that it involves many literary forms in history, and it is extremely rare in calligraphers' personal works, which is of great historical literature value to the study of Mi Fei.
2. It provides first-hand information for the comparative study of Mi Fei's calligraphy.
As we all know, modern printing technology is only 100 years old. In the long history of calligraphy, calligraphy is mainly spread through traditional forms such as copying, temporary writing, seal cutting and inscription. The first two are the main means to face the original work. Few people can face the ink of famous calligraphers, especially calligraphers like Mi Fei, whose original works are even rarer for ordinary literati. Therefore, the reproduction and extension of engraved posts and inscriptions is an important way for ancient scholars in China to acquire models. The Complete Works contains a large number of calligraphy works of rubbings and stone carvings, and provides Mi Fei's calligraphy works with different carriers, forms, ages and styles in a very comprehensive way. Different categories show great differences in aesthetic feeling. In addition to the original appearance of Mi Fei's calligraphy, the ink of the teacher's calligraphy, whether engraved on wood and stone, cliff and epitaph, has a certain gap with the original, objectively resulting in the unexpected enrichment of Mi Fei's works and literati, which is more "human" than modern printing and belongs to China. Mi Fei's calligraphy in different periods, different carriers and different forms displayed in The Complete Works provides us with first-hand materials for comparative study.
3. The unique artistic value of rubbings.
As mentioned above, copying and rubbings were the main methods to obtain calligraphy templates in ancient China. It is different from the "reproduction" of modern printing. It is a "re-creation" of the original. Although trying to express the objective truth of the original, it must have changed the form and spirit of the original, so it is a kind of "second creation" of the original. The complete works contain a large number of Mi Fei's seal engravings and inscriptions, most of which are carefully selected by famous seal engravers, obviously from the hands of first-class seal engravers. This "second creation" not only presents a unique aesthetic effect, but also changes the "anger" generated by Mi Fei's "brush calligraphy" in the process of engraving, chiseling and copying. Therefore, there is a great difference between Mi Fei's copying works and ink painting, and its "calmness" component is greater. Some works give people a gentle, elegant and profound aesthetic feeling, which fundamentally changed Mi Fei's calligraphy.
4. Imitation and extension are the practice of "white is black" aesthetic thought.
As the study, appreciation and collection of calligraphy art, rubbings produced by ancient carving are unique to China culture and play an important role in the spread, study and collection of calligraphy and the formation of calligraphy thoughts. The complete works show the whole picture of Mi Fei's ink, inscriptions and inscriptions as early as the Song Dynasty, especially the inscriptions and epitaphs. Compared with normal writing, "black characters on white background" is the practical application of China's philosophical thought of "counting white as black", and it is an inscription and epitaph to study "black characters" and ink.