For hundreds of years, the Wei and Jin Dynasties completed an important evolution of China's calligraphy system. In addition to the unified seal script used in the Qin Dynasty and the official script evolved from the Han Dynasty, cursive script, running script and regular script have basically laid the foundation, and there are also many talented calligraphers. The development of calligraphy art is at its peak in the whole history of calligraphy art.
Then, it is such a turbulent and turbid era. Why did it become the peak period in China's calligraphy history?
First, the opportunity in the era of calligraphy: the impact of Four Treasures of the Study and Buddhist metaphysics and the promotion of the ruling class.
In the history of calligraphy in China, the regular script, running script and cursive script in Wei and Jin Dynasties have made great achievements in writing and creation, which is caused by many reasons:
First of all, the Wei and Jin Dynasties were in an eventful autumn, with stormy weather and constant wars, which awakened the passion and wisdom of calligraphy artists.
Secondly, social development promotes the development of working people's productivity, and the invention and technological progress of pen, ink, paper and inkstone provide more favorable creative conditions for calligraphy artists.
Furthermore, various literary theories have impacted people's thoughts in society, and the prosperity of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties has also given calligraphy theory a strong impetus. The spread of Buddhism praised the foundation role of calligraphy, and the integration of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism promoted the liberation of people's minds in Wei and Jin Dynasties. There are also calligraphy and calligraphers' basic theoretical works that promote the development of Wei and Jin cultural forms.
(1) The development of Four Treasures of the Study and the calligraphy in Wei and Jin Dynasties complemented each other.
Compared with the Han Dynasty, the brush-making in Wei and Jin Dynasties gradually increased the variety of brush in this era, including hard pen, soft pen and both soft and hard brush. According to Wang Xizhi's records, calligraphers choose their own length, hardness and size according to their own calligraphy style and artistic practical experience, which provides favorable conditions for their calligraphy works.
Moreover, the ink of that era has a long history and has been processed and refined. This kind of graphite can be used as both dye and writing. Later, when the fuel is processed, it can be used as ink. Wei Jin people used ancient pine branches to burn cigarettes to make ink. This ink-making technology has been extended to the mountainous areas south of the Yangtze River. Therefore, Lushan Mountain in Jiangxi became the center of ink making in Wei and Jin Dynasties.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the development of working people's productive forces, not only outstanding new achievements were made in the technology of making brush, but also excellent ink-making level was reached, which made pine tobacco ink-making spread nationwide for the first time. The production and popularization of paper was also very popular in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. At that time, it was thought that paper was very cheap, but since the Three Kingdoms period, paper has been used.
In the Jin Dynasty, paper soon became the material for people to write, and the quality and variety of paper were very many. Due to the wide variety, the amount of paper produced is also very considerable. Not only craftsmen actively make paper, but calligraphers are also good at making paper. The quality of calligraphy paper is even better than that of royal paper. The disappearance of bamboo and silk in the previous generation and the prevalence of paper created more favorable conditions for calligraphers in Wei and Jin Dynasties.
Inkstone is a unique writing tool in China. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the pottery inkstone of Han Dynasty began to develop into inkstone. Due to different textures, inkstones have produced various shapes. The most obvious change is the time when the inkstone was engraved on the side, because the handicraft industry was very developed at that time.
The appearance of inkstones in Liang and Chen dynasties is decorated with glass boxes, which are compact and considerable and can be carried around. Because of the great changes in the quality and quantity of writing tools, calligraphy artists in this era also have the greatest space to play their art. The perfection and finalization of pen, ink, paper and inkstone provide very favorable conditions for the development of calligraphy art.
(2) The prevalence of religious belief has promoted the revival of calligraphy.
The development of metaphysics and Buddhism in Wei and Jin Dynasties played a positive role in the overall development of calligraphy art, and the prevalence of religious beliefs made a large number of stone classics, epitaphs and statues highly respected at that time. It is the realistic need of Buddhism to commemorate Shinto, accumulate virtue for the dead, let the dead cross over and pray for the well-being of the living. In the history of the development of calligraphy art in China, these stone inscriptions, epitaphs and statues all have their artistic value of the times.
For example, the epitaph of the Northern Wei Dynasty and the fonts written on the stone scriptures all show the development track of reducing the meaning of official script and increasing the meaning of regular script. They are the first evolution of regular script in Tang dynasty, which laid the foundation for the emergence of regular script in Tang dynasty and played a leading role. These calligraphy have clearly shown the correct and generous font style, vigorous and simple momentum, and major changes in style. Calligraphy in the Northern Wei Dynasty flourished under the influence of Buddhist metaphysics, and later reached the late Qing Dynasty.
(3) The ruling class of literature, politics and society promoted the development of calligraphy art..
The favorable geographical conditions, the development of material conditions and the prevalence of religious beliefs have given the calligraphy art in Wei and Jin dynasties a favorable space to play.
The attention and advocacy of the rulers made the development of calligraphy art reach its peak and accelerated the artistic creation of China calligraphers.
At that time, the collection of books advocated the prevalence of social atmosphere, which made the book circle in Wei and Jin dynasties unprecedentedly active. Art and culture are the reflection of social consciousness. The development of culture and art can not be separated from the social, political and economic environment, and the development of calligraphy art in Wei and Jin dynasties can not be separated from the influence of related cultures and the background of the times.
The diversified and synchronous development of culture, economy, politics and many other factors in Wei and Jin Dynasties laid a solid material foundation for the regional differences of calligraphy art, a prosperous society and famous families laid a talent foundation for the development of calligraphy art, the development and prosperity of metaphysics brought theoretical innovation to the development of calligraphy art, the prosperity of Buddhism and Taoism promoted the substantive application field of calligraphy art circulation, and the development of commodity economy promoted the social atmosphere of evaluating and collecting calligraphy works in calligraphy art, and the whole society praised and recognized the talents of rulers, which greatly promoted calligraphy art.
Second, the source power of the calligraphy era: the special gate valve system pushed back the development of calligraphy art.
One of the greatest characteristics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was the division of local political power and frequent alternation of political power. The existence of these regimes often needs the support of aristocratic families. The talent selection system implemented in this period also inevitably tilted the best interests to aristocratic families. The implementation of the so-called "ninth grade Zheng Zhi system" is the best proof.
Under the Jiupin Zhengzhi system, aristocratic family members entered the ruling class one after another, and the right to choose officials was gradually in their hands. Thus, the gate valve system was formed.
The establishment of the gate system endowed these aristocratic families with legal political privileges. In order to keep these privileges in their family for a long time, they took a series of measures to stabilize them. Among them, they made a rule: "If a child has talent, don't worry about it."
In other words, as long as there are "talents" in the family, it can make the family last forever. Therefore, cultural education has become an important symbol that distinguished aristocratic families from other classes and an important weight for the game between aristocratic families.
In terms of culture and education, aristocratic families at that time paid attention to two aspects: First, "filial piety should be done in the industry." Second, "the cultivation of classics, literature and history." The first focuses on family style, and the second focuses on family studies.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, "calligraphy" was a compulsory course in family studies, and it was also one of the ways for aristocratic families to compete for strength and win. It is precisely because of this that calligraphy ushered in a stable and developing greenhouse environment, and countless calligraphy families were formed during this period.
Conclusion:
As a form of artistic creation, calligraphy should not only inherit the traditional cultural factors, but also need bold innovation and reform to adapt it to the general evolutionary law of artistic development, so as to adapt to the times and occupy a place in the long river of history. Wei-Jin period is an important period of calligraphy creation and innovation, which provided very favorable conditions for calligraphy art creation and created the first peak era of successful evolution of calligraphy art.