Wang Yangming has not only made great achievements in the fields of philosophy, military affairs and politics, but also made commendable explorations and practices in poetry, calligraphy, music and painting.
Wang Yangming has a soft spot for piano, chess, calligraphy and painting since childhood. According to the record that the Chu people in the Qing Dynasty won the first volume of Sword Selection, Falling in the Water Chess, Yangming Chenghua was eight years old in the fifteenth year (1479), and shocked the adults around him with a chess poem. Liu once commented on Yang Ming's future performance: "After Mr. Yang Ming made up his mind, he came back to play in the group. Mr. Yang said,' I am a saint, how can I swim from my children?' Since then, the group has retired, and the gentleman has begun to excel. This just reveals the life experience of Yang Ming, a teenager who likes to "sing", from "acting" to "setting". The "theatrical tour" mentioned here includes "singing operas and performing operas". In singing opera, Yang Ming's favorite is Yu Yaoqiang, which belongs to a kind of folk zaju and is a kind of local "local accent" that is "not tied to strings" or "official accent". Although Yangming's ambition has changed since he became an adult, he is determined to seek enlightenment, but the imprint left by his early life environment is difficult to clean. What's more, around Yangming, a group of people with good musical literacy have been active. For example, Meng Qian, Qian Dehong's father, is very talented in music. Zou Shouyi said that he "plays the drum and the piano well, presses the nine emblems vertically and horizontally, tunes in the music, and tastes the self-made stick and flute. The stick is seven feet long, and the flute is accepted. When it is popular, it blows and vibrates the forest valley."
On the other hand, Wang Yangming's lectures are characterized by the unity of content and form, and he advocates that learning is fun and teaching is swimming. For example, when he was in Chuyang, "there were hundreds of people sitting around Longtan in the moonlight, and the music vibrated the valley." Students from all over the world please be correct and dance enthusiastically "; After that, "Building an Innocent House in the Sunshine of Longshan (Hangzhou)" is also "every shape is singing"; As for Shaoxing, which gave the most lectures at that time, it was "still talking about reciting, learning etiquette and music, and the sound of string songs was endless". It can be seen that singing and dancing is indeed the main way that Yang Ming uses to adjust his mood and relieve depression.
Usually, if you want to sing, you must have music accompaniment, and music accompaniment cannot be separated from musical instruments. Therefore, Yang Ming thinks: "Scholars are indispensable for piano scores; There is an industry to live in, and my heart is not letting go. " Perhaps because of his obsession with music, Yang couldn't put it down, such as Qin, Qin and other musical instruments, so that Yang Ming would give them as gifts to outstanding students studying in Vietnam.
But after all, Wang Yangming is a spiritual thinker, not a professional musician, so his music theory should also serve his spiritual system, and this service changed his attitude towards folk music and opera in his early years to some extent.
Therefore, in the process of seeking Tao through music, Yang Ming did not exclude music, but used music to serve his teaching content.
Among the famous thinkers in modern times, Wang Yangming's calligraphy is probably the most handed down from generation to generation, which is recorded in the history of China's calligraphy with the characteristics of "comeliness, elegance and good manners". According to preliminary statistics, there are more than 80 pieces of handwriting, ink marks and inscriptions about Yangming at home and abroad, most of which were included in Wang Yangming's Calligraphy Collection edited by Ji, China's Calligraphy Collection edited by Ji and Bailudong Academy in Lushan, Jiangxi Province in 2002. In addition, Wang Yangming's handwriting remains can be found in Yangming Studies magazine published from Meiji to Dazheng, Wang Yangming's Exile in Guizhou published by Guizhou People's Publishing House 1999, and the rubbings of Yangming Cave Inscription in Yangming Temple in Guiyang published in 2002, as well as in the books of individual Ming people and genealogy of Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, some important inscriptions have not been published, the most famous of which is the millstone tablet "Chaliao Monument" in Tonggang Village, Sishun Township, Chongyi County, Jiangxi Province.
Although Wang Yangming has outstanding calligraphy practice, he seldom makes a direct exposition of calligraphy theory himself. Because in Yangming's view, mind learning is the "avenue" and calligraphy is just the "Tao", so it is not worth mentioning.
When Yang Ming is frustrated politically or faced with major setbacks, he often turns his interest to the collection and appreciation of celebrity inscriptions in order to absorb the nutrition of traditional calligraphy.
As far as the origin of calligraphy is concerned, Yangming inherited the family style of Wang Xizhi and Zen Master Zhiyong, who are related to their ancestors. He especially likes to copy the Notes on the True Cursive Script of Zhiyong written by Qian Wen according to the difference of 1000 words in Wang Xizhi's suicide note written by Zhou Liangxing.
Besides family heirlooms, Yangming's calligraphy was also influenced by some calligraphers at that time, such as Li Dongyang and Shen Lu. Yangming had close contacts with Li Dongyang, Shen Lu and others in his early years, and it is reasonable to be influenced by them.
Yu Ye, a contemporary art theorist, explained on the basis of official records: "Wang Yangming's calligraphy is undoubtedly based on Wang Xizhi, and the most effective one is the Preface to the Holy Teaching, but he also absorbed the brushwork of calligraphers from the Song Dynasty to Li Dongyang, and even penetrated his spiritual realm between the lines. He is noble, free, elegant and relaxed. The understanding of life and the liberation of thoughts have all turned into pen and ink demeanor. I think it should be particularly accurate and kind to look for Wang Yangming's life signal in calligraphy. "
Among the ancient literati in China, calligraphy and painting were integrated. As the saying goes, "a good book can produce a good picture, and a good picture can produce a good book. In fact, this is the way it is." . So is Wang Yangming. He is not only good at calligraphy, but also likes painting, especially at landscapes.
However, Yang Ming's paintings are rare in the world. The National Palace Museum in Taiwan has a landscape painting by Zheng Deyuan Nian Yangming for Mr. Apollo Nian. The content of the painting is quite similar to the artistic conception of Yangming's poem "Painting the King", that is, "the mountain spring is covered with grass everywhere, and the bottom must be covered with bamboo." At the bottom right of the painting is a passage inscribed by Yang Ming:
Settle down between Su and He, build a thatched cottage and return to your hometown. People who don't care about Tian Ge are not far away. Learning methods are everywhere, but it is advisable to read first. On the seventh day of the first month, Bing Yin was Mr. Yu Nian, and he kept his promise.
Under the influence of Wang Yangming, there are also many students who are good at painting after class, such as the real husband Wang Xixiu, who is good at painting and keeping in good health. In the eighth year of Zheng De (15 13), when Yang Ming was in Chuyang, he worshipped his students, and Yang Ming loved his paintings and wrote poems for him.
Yangming was not only good at painting, but also had close ties with some famous painters at that time. His Poem on the West Lake was written in the 18th year of Hongzhi (1505), and it was inscribed for Wen Hui Tu by Zhejiang painter Wu Wei.
Wang Yangming's early scholarship and art are not completely mutually exclusive. As a master of psychology, Wang Yangming also likes painting, and Chen Xianzhang, a master of psychology in Ming Dynasty, is also a painter. It is said that Chen Xianzhang "can be good at poetry, good at books and good at plum blossoms, and many people who ask for it don't touch the pen". Therefore, it is not surprising that Yangming interacted with the masters and celebrities in the painting world at that time.