The explanation of the term "Liangjin in technique and Dao" is as follows
Liangjin in technique and Dao - refers to the fact that calligraphy must have both its own skills and its own Dao skills, which can be continuously improved through diligent study and hard practice. , Tao requires constant understanding and following. Being able to integrate technique and Tao and pour it into the pen requires wisdom.
The relationship between "technique" and "Tao" in calligraphy is not only a philosophical relationship of "unity of opposites", but also a practical issue of the unity of knowledge and action. Techniques are techniques, techniques, and skills, the so-called metaphysical methods; Tao is principles and theories, that is, metaphysical abstract thinking.
Su Shi once said in "Book of Postscript to Qin Shaoyou": "If you do not advance in technique and Tao, you will not be able to do it. Shaoyou is about advancing both technique and Tao." "Two advancements in technique and Tao" means that calligraphy must have both technique and Tao. If you only have technique but lack Tao, or only Tao but lack technique, you will not be able to become an outstanding calligrapher. Technique and Tao are an integral existence and embodiment in calligraphy, so classic works have metaphysical implications and physical charm.
All the classics handed down in history have metaphysical connotations at the level of "Tao" and at the same time possess metaphysical skills at the level of "technique". Just like Huai Su's "Autobiography", in the free and unpredictable metaphysical techniques, the splendid and colorful metaphysical "Tao" is reflected in conveying emotions and meanings.
For calligraphy, the relationship between technique and Tao should be said to be the relationship between form and use. "Tao" is the form, and "technique" is the use. The two are to understand the form and to guide the use. The two cannot be completely opposed. In fact, "technique" and "Tao" are exactly the dialectical and unified relationship of interdependence between body and function. Therefore, when discussing pen and ink, the ancients emphasized "not to dazzle the ears and eyes with skills", but to "use skills to discover the spirit of Tao", which is called "writing spirit with form".
The well-known story of "Pao Ding undressing the ox" gives the most popular explanation of the relationship between "skills" and "Tao". After the cook Ding unloaded the ox, there was an incisive exposition: "Your Majesty. What he likes is Tao, which is better than skill. "Obviously, what Cook Ding likes is not "skill", but "Tao". Putting the truth into the skills and savoring the "Tao" in the skills, Chef Ding pursues the "Tao" as the ultimate value of his cattle-solving.
The relationship between skills and Tao is an interdependent physical and functional relationship. If a calligrapher does not have a lofty understanding of "Tao", it is impossible to have the exquisite skills of "techniques"; on the contrary, without the pursuit of excellence in "techniques" , and its art cannot reach the realm of "Tao". "Technique" and "Tao" are dual categories of calligraphy. Only by solving these two points can the artistic essence of calligraphy and its cultural connotation be clarified, and only then can we truly write good calligraphy.