Regarding the brushwork of bamboo slips, we just want to point out the fact that calligraphy ink developed from the bronze inscriptions in the Western Zhou Dynasty and even the pure seal script in the Qin Dynasty, and became the forerunner of the calligraphy style of official script and cursive script in later generations. With regard to brushwork, more people pay attention to the superficial form, which is not wrong, but to grasp the brushwork fundamentally, we must further explore the internal reasons of different forms. The following is a comparison between seal script strokes and bamboo slips ink strokes.
Through the above comparison, we can know that the brushwork of bamboo slips ink is developed from the brushwork of seal script, and it has become the same origin of the brushwork of official script, regular script, running script and cursive script in later generations. The brushwork of "Kai", "Xing" and "cursive script" came into being after the disintegration of Lishu in the late Han Dynasty, which is the natural development of calligraphy brushwork and ink brushwork.
Let's talk about Chu bamboo slips calligraphy in detail.
From 195 1 up to now, a large number of Chu bamboo slips have been unearthed in Chu tombs of the Warring States in Hunan, Hubei and Henan provinces. The specific locations are Changsha Wulipai, Yangtianhu, Yangjiawan, Xinyang Changtaiguan, Jiangling Wangshan, Tengdian, Tianxingguan, Jiudian, Jingmen Baoshan, Guodian, Linli Jiuli, Changde and Cili shi ban cun. There are also 240 bamboo slips unearthed from the tomb of Zeng Houyi in Sui County, Hubei Province, which belong to Chu system.
Among Chu bamboo slips, the bamboo slips of Zeng Houyi's tomb are the earliest. According to the gift given to Ceng Houyi by the King of Chu, it is generally believed that the time is fifty years (433 years before) of King Hui of Chu. Bamboo slips are a kind of relic, which records the funerary objects such as horses and chariots, armor and soldiers. Jane is generally 70 cm long and 1 cm wide. The writing structure is similar to that of Chu bamboo slips, and the brushwork obviously has the characteristics of tadpole brushwork in China ancient Jin Dynasty, that is, the pen is heavy and light, with a thick head and a thin tail, which is tadpole-shaped. Zeng Guo's geographical position is close to the Central Plains, so it is possible that his calligraphy style and brushwork were influenced by the Jin Dynasty. Because words belong to the category of posting strategies and are buried behind books, they are careless, so they show a simple and naive style.
The official of Baoshan Chu Tomb lives in Zuoyin and has a high position, so its document files and records of divination prayers are naturally different from those of border guards, and should be made by good writers. For example, Jane numbered 1 19, 68.2 cm long and 0.8 cm wide, is a record of prison proceedings, with a line of 40 words. The brushwork is clever and hovering, and sometimes there are purple bands, such as the word "line" and "yang", from which we can see the clue of cursive script. In such rapid writing, the font is well controlled, such as the circular structure of "Yue", two strokes are completed, the pen body is round and the pen is tightly closed, from which we can see the writer's superb control skills of the brush. Another example is the Jane numbered 180, which is heavy and light, showing the tadpole brushwork; The number 206 Jane is thick with a pen, similar to the brushwork of Chu silk. The styles of Baoshan bamboo slips are diverse, which is a model of daily calligraphy and official document records. Among Guodian bamboo slips, Yu Cong San has the most elegant style and relatively peaceful and rigorous structure. Although the brushwork is ingenious and the stippling thickness changes, the layout of Shu Lang still has the ancient meaning of seal script as a whole. The styles of Cheng Zhi and Xing Fei are still mainly vertical, but the horizontal style is much wider than that of Yu Cong San. His brushwork is funny, and stippling often makes an S-shaped swing. For example, when he painted horizontally, the pen fell from the master's pen and then put it down at the pen-receiving place, making his works elegant and beautiful, which seems to be different from Yu Cong San. "Series 4" is obviously written by another author. Round and thick lines, writing can start, walk and stop, and the body is especially thick.
In addition to archaeological excavations, there are many unearthed bamboo slips. The Shanghai Museum has a large collection of such Chu bamboo slips, including ancient manuscripts such as Confucius' Poems, Drought in Lu, Zi Lamb (Figure 1.35), Fan Yi (Figure 4) and Parents' Man (Figure 1.36). Among them, Confucius on Poetry and Zi Lamb are similar in style, with thick lines and many dots when painting vertically. The pattern of "distribution" is broad and full of real power. The "parents" have a flying state, which can be used as a reference for the decoration fashion of Chu bronzes.
Chu bamboo books are rich and colorful, and the environment is vast. Because Qin Shihuang's "Shu Tong Wen" is inconsistent with Qin Wen except for the glyph structure, the glory of Chu calligraphy is unsustainable and almost becomes Guangling San.