Calligraphy has a long history, which can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago. At that time, Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinwen were the oldest Chinese characters that can be seen today, and also the oldest calligraphy "works" in China. Bronze calligraphy tends to beautify and decorate, which embodies the standard beauty of purity and modesty. Later, the stone carvings of Xiao Zhuan in Qin Dynasty, the inscriptions on official script in Han Dynasty, the inscriptions on regular script in Tang Dynasty, as well as decorative tiles and artistic patterns, all continued this tradition of bronze calligraphy in Yin and Shang Dynasties. Oracle calligraphy was a daily writing style at that time, which showed the vividness of calligraphy at that time. Later Chu bamboo slips, Han bamboo slips and famous letters are all relics left by daily writing activities, full of casual writing interest. We also see a phenomenon that the most touching works in the history of calligraphy, such as Preface to Lanting, Wang Xizhi's running script in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, his running script letters, Yan Zhenqing's running script in the Tang Dynasty and Su Shi's Huangzhou cold food poems in the Song Dynasty, all come from daily writing activities. This kind of handmade book, like nature's creation, has a natural aesthetic feeling.
The remarkable characteristics of calligraphy are determined by "Chinese characters" and "writing". Chinese characters are the modeling basis of calligraphy art, while writing is the soul of calligraphy. The aesthetic feeling of calligraphy can also be observed from these two aspects.
The external formal beauty of calligraphy comes from the block structure of Chinese characters interspersed with stippling. After many times of evolution, five fonts have been formed, namely, seal, department, grass, line and kai, each of which has the characteristics of formal beauty. Seal script is a unified line organization, and its structure is similar to pattern. Li Shu's brushwork changed the softness of seal script into a horizontal and vertical square fold, and the structure seemed to be "worshipping Taiwan and emphasizing the universe". Regular script strokes are the most abundant, elegant and dignified. Running script is also a side posture, but the strokes are linked to the belt, which has a smooth charm. The cursive script has continuous lines and turns, especially the wild grass, which abandons all external decorations and has a simple structure, which is relaxed and strange.
The intrinsic beauty of calligraphy comes from the brushwork and gesture. Wang Xizhi's cursive script is vigorous and powerful, and it is even more powerful. Mi Fei writes running script, and his brushwork is exposed. Yu Shinan writes regular script with subtle and gentle brushwork. Yan Zhenqing's regular script is restrained, but it is powerful. Huai Su writes cursive script, full of life. The "strength" and "potential" of calligraphy show the vigorous vitality of writing, which is the "temperament" of calligraphers.
The ancients have long said that "the handwriting is also in the world, and the beauty is also in the world", "the word book has seen its heart." To appreciate the beauty of calligraphy, we must go beyond the external appearance of calligraphy and the "pen power" and "pen posture" of writing, and go deep into the inner world of calligraphers. This is the so-called "playing with traces and exploring feelings". Therefore, the highest level of appreciating the beauty of calligraphy is "only looking at the spirit, not the font", just like what Zhuangzi called "forgetting the fish". "Charm" is the spiritual demeanor of calligraphers in their books, because it is innate and can only be perceived by "deep scholars".
About the author: Tamia Liu is currently teaching at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Mainly engaged in the teaching and research of China's calligraphy history and techniques.