Except for Oracle Bone Inscriptions, most of the ancient characters handed down from the pre-Qin period in China were carved on bronzes. Because bronzes are metal objects, they are called "bronzes" and "auspicious words". Among the bronzes, Zhong Ding is the heaviest and most important one in China, so it is also called "Zhong Dingwen". There are many kinds of bronzes, and there are hundreds of them, most of which are ritual vessels or sacrifices in ancestral temples. Archaeologists of epigraphy, such as Luo Zhenyu, Su, have different classifications. Among them, Hui's article "Bronzes Exhibited in China in Recent 50 Years" is explained according to the classification of Rong, which is well organized and classified as follows:
The types of utensils are: Ding (round belly with two ears, three feet and four feet), Gui, Dun, Fan, Dou and Lu (the main cooked utensils are Ding, Ding and Dun. The main containers are reeds and beans.
Wine containers include: Jue, Jiao, Zun, Fan, Fan, Fang Yi, Hu, birds and animals, Fan (the above are wine containers and drinking containers) and spoon.
Musical instruments are: cymbals, cymbals, cymbals, cymbals. ) Bells (all hung and beaten) Bells and priests (all with tongues, mouths down and vibrating). Yu, drum, etc.
Weapons include: ge, spear, halberd, sword, knife, arrow, etc.
Common utensils are: plate, display, bowl, basin, home, basin (above water container), area, plate, ingot and stirrup (above miscellaneous). In Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the main common utensils were plates and warders, both of which were used to wash hands, but plates were also used to hold food, and warders could take care of their faces, and if enough, they could also be used as heaters.
The inscriptions on bronze in the Yin Dynasty are extremely simple, with one word or one number for each device, many pictographs, even only one figure, and no words at all. The others are neither words nor pictures, so we have to say that they are pictures and texts. These inscriptions are used to represent animals, war and economy, military affairs, vessels, princes and ministers, life and Asian characters. Lu Dalin, a famous epigraph writer in the Song Dynasty, said that the picture characters in this kind of inscriptions are the original fonts of Chinese characters. The inscriptions on the bronze wares of the Yin Dynasty are: Shangfang 30, Shangtai Temple, Bigan Copper Plate, etc. Among them, Shangtaisi is the most famous and has dense rules. If there is no special tripod in Zhou, it must be imitated. In short, the bronze inscriptions in the Yin Dynasty were concise and vivid, and calligraphy was also very mobile.
In the early Western Zhou Dynasty, the inscriptions on bronze inscriptions of many clans in the Yin Dynasty still retained the characteristics of elegant writing style, including Zhou Gongyin's sharp and consistent brushwork, some of which were fat and thick, and the inscriptions on bronze inscriptions in the Yin Dynasty were full of vitality and strong brushwork. The font is neat and the structure is harmonious, revealing a unique trend. From becoming a king to entering the era of Kang Wang, although the glyph is still neat, the boldness of vision has been lost. And formalize it. The only one of them, Yu Ding (pictured below), played a unique and vigorous brushwork. It is a famous bronze ware in the Western Zhou Dynasty, with an inscription on the inner wall, which is as long as 29 1 word, and it is rare in the Western Zhou bronzes. Its contents are as follows: warn Yu that Yin died of alcoholism, and the Zhou Dynasty prospered by abstaining from drinking. Yu must try his best to help him and respect the moral policies of King Wen and Wang. His calligraphy style is rigorous, the shape and layout are simple, and Fiona Fang has both skills of using a pen, which has a rigorous and dignified artistic effect. It is a masterpiece of bronze calligraphy in the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
The bronze inscriptions in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty are small and neat in shape, thin in strokes, generally slender and lacking in change.
Among the late Western Zhou bronzes, Mao and other bronze inscriptions are the most famous, which were made in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. The inner wall has a 498-word inscription. Its content is that the king of Zhou is the Zhou government of ZTE. In order to get rid of the long-standing abuses, he ordered Mao Gongzhong, an important official, to help him avoid the disaster of national subjugation and gave him a lot of property. Mao Gong thanked Zhou Wang and made a tripod to commemorate him. His calligraphy is a mature style of bronze inscriptions in the Western Zhou Dynasty, with well-proportioned and accurate structure, clear organization, orderly style, vigorous and steady lines, proper layout and full of rational colors, which shows that bronze inscriptions have developed to an extremely mature position. It should be the masterpiece of this period, which has slightly formed the embryonic form of Da Zhuan. As for the inscriptions in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, most of them are long and detailed, forming the style of Xiao Zhuan. There is also a great work in this period, which can't be ignored-"Shi San Pan"-this is a bronze ware in the late Western Zhou Dynasty in the period of Li Wang. Its inscription structure is simple, its lines are round and concise, and its center of gravity is low because of its horizontal position, which is more simple and heavy. It has a strong sense of "casting" and shows a strong "golden taste", so it occupies an important position in the system of stele study. Hu Xiaoshi, a famous modern calligrapher, commented: "The seal script was well prepared in the Zhou Dynasty. Its great tools are, Mao, ... The characters are vertical and only Pan is horizontal."
Since the Han Dynasty, it is generally believed that Da Zhuan was written by Zhou Xuanwang Taishi Zhuan (827 BC). For example, Hanshu has 15 historical books, and Ban Gu notes: "Zhou Xuanwang wrote 15 Da Zhuan." Xu Shen also said: "Wang Xuan wrote fifteen pieces of Da Zhuan, which is different from ancient Chinese." Ancient Chinese or others, that is, Taishi increased and lost ancient Chinese, so Dazhuan is also called "Zhu Wen". Therefore, later generations all think that Da Zhuan is a form after ancient prose.
Shi Guwen (left) is the most representative seal script among the stone carvings handed down from ancient times. This kind of stone tool is undoubtedly the oldest and most reliable stone cultural relic in China. It is now in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Shi Guwen has an important position in the history of calligraphy.
There are ten stone drums * * *, which were originally about three feet high, and the drums are engraved with words, which are commonly known as drums. Actually, it should be Jay. Moreover, the content of stone drums is mostly related to hunting, and some scholars call it hunting. Both Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty and Su Shi in the Song Dynasty have works of "Shigu Song" singing about Shigu, so they generally use the common name "Shigu".
Shi Guwen's article, in order to describe safari, has more than 700 words, which belong to four fonts. It is extremely abstruse and difficult to understand, and there are many indelible words. Scholars like Han Yuzhi also lament that "the words are strict and dense, and it is difficult to read." Since Pandi wrote Shi Guwen Yin Xun in Yuan Dynasty, it has been widely understood, and it is a rhyme of hunting. Originally, the order of the ten stone drums was determined, but there were also different opinions among the families, which was extremely cumbersome.
The oldest rubbings known in the world are Song rubbings collected by Fan Tianyi Pavilion in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. In the second year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (1798), Ruan Yuan stone carving was preserved in Hangzhou for eleven years (1873), and it was also carved in Yangzhou. Only Tianyi Pavilion was burned in the tenth year of Xianfeng (1862). The existing Song rubbings "An Guo Jiu Cang in Ming Dynasty" (word, Guipo, Xishan, Jiangsu) unfortunately flowed into Japan. Ann has a soft spot for love, and has collected ten kinds of ancient rubbings since she was named "Ten Drum Zhai". Among them, there are three kinds of extensions in the Northern Song Dynasty, namely, forward extension, middle extension and stamina. Now spread to Japan, it is the book of stamina, with Anguo's handwritten seal script and postscript at the end. Among the existing rubbings in Shi Guwen, it is a crown, and it has been photocopied by the Japanese Second Choice Society for a long time.
The font is roughly between Zhou and Qin Xiao Zhuan. It is known to belong to the calligraphy system before Qin Shihuang. Compared with Xiao Zhuan, it can be called Da Zhuan, which is a masterpiece of Da Zhuan. Its font is small and complicated, like a ritual vessel in Zongzhou period, which is relatively complete and can be called neat. Kang Youwei called Shi Guwen in "One Boat and Two Cans in Guangyi": "When gold falls to the ground, what's wrong with the grass? Cut it all without bothering. The body is slightly square and flat, and the insect is similar to qi. The stone drum is not only the first antique in China, but also the first rule of calligraphers. " It can be said that it is appreciation. Shi Guwen was cherished by Yilin, but after the Northern Song Dynasty, calligraphy research flourished and few people set foot in it. Until the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the wind of archaeological respect for monuments revived, and the stone drum characters were especially valued by calligraphers. Wu Da, you can get strict rhymes. Wu Changshuo, on the other hand, was angry that he was a man in ancient times. Both of them regard contemporary calligraphy as the most important thing for future generations.
What is Xiao Zhuan? According to Xu Shen's "Preface to the Explanations of the Early Han Dynasty", "Fifteen biographies of historical books are different from ancient Chinese, and the biographies of Cang Xie of Qin Lisi, Zhao Gaozhi and Hu Wujing are all based on the biography of Shu Da or the province, which is called biographies". It can be seen that the small seal script is taken from the big seal script in the Book of Poetry, and the writing method is simplified and neat.
Small seal script and various styles of calligraphy: In the past, there was a saying that "if you don't learn seal script, you can make a plum", because it originated from seal script and learning seal script is also learning Li. The font of official script and regular script emphasizes horizontal and vertical at first, which conforms to the basic brushwork of official script. The structure of official script is expensive and even, and official script and regular script also pay attention to uniformity. If you write official script accurately and skillfully, then writing official script and regular script will naturally be even. Writing cursive script should be lively and lively, and you need to be good at drawing circles. There are many semi-circular or circular strokes in seal script. Speaking of perfect temperature, cursive writing is particularly lively and the music is wonderful. It is to know the brushwork of seal script, which is the basis of every style of calligraphy. For example, the brushwork of Xia Chengbei is between Zhuan Xu and Li, and it is still full of twists and turns, which proves that Zhuan Xu is related to Li. The combination of Yan Kai and seal script theory has won the highest beauty in calligraphy. Book horse bone fairy Tan Ji, bones and muscles stopped evenly, balanced brushwork. Some people say that Yan comes from seal script, which can prove that seal script is related to Kai script. Huanggu's running script has a long stroke, which is no different from seal script. Kang Youwei has the phrase "Gu Xing Shu is connected with seal script", which can prove that seal script is connected with line. Huai Su's "Weeds", with a pen in the middle, is thin and vigorous, and it turns wonderfully in flight. The package contains the saying that "the virgin method of drunken monks, the source of which is sealed and brushed, is muddy and healthy, and is a grass seal", which can prove that the seal is related to grass. To learn all kinds of calligraphy, you don't have to write seal script first, but if you can write seal script first and then write regular script cursive script, it will be easier to understand the brushwork. Master Hongyi taught the writing method: "You must start with seal script, write at least 500 words a day, and then learn official script and enter the script;" Learning grass ",the order also started from Xiao Zhuan. After the seal script is finished, you can come to Zhong Ding, write about Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and copy all the ancient seal scripts, so that you can have brushwork and brushwork with charm and charm.
Xiao Zhuan, composed of calligraphy, has a rounded curve, even and symmetrical strokes, rigorous structure, vigor and solemnity, and both (the picture on the right shows Qin's "Carving Stones on Mount Tai"). It had a great influence on China's writing and calligraphy art, and Xu Shen compiled fifteen volumes of Shuowen Jiezi based on Biography. Therefore, it can be seen that seal script is the right way for all seal scripts, and people who study calligraphy should not take it lightly.