The Artistic Features of Ji Taishan's Ming Calligraphy

The official script of Ji Taishan Ming and Tang Dynasty has an important position in the history of calligraphy development. Its main significance lies in inheriting the unique calligraphy style of Li Shu in Qin and Han Dynasties. Lishu went from no wave to wave, and even reached its peak, in the era of Huan Ling (the first year of the founding of Emperor Huan, that is, 147 to the sixth year of Emperor Han, that is, 189). During this period, a large number of immortal works with different styles were produced. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the official script paid too much attention to the rules of stippling: the decorative features of being neat and eight points stretched, and the stiff knot, which indicated that the development of official script had come to an end. This phenomenon is very obvious in the inscriptions such as Xiping Shijing and Baishi Shen Jun Monument. At this point, the orthodox position of official script was impacted by a new and simpler style-regular script, which was gradually replaced by regular script. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, new regular script, running script and cursive script were the main representatives, while official script was only a fad at the end of Han Dynasty. From the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty, the development of regular script, running script and cursive script reached its peak. Official script sometimes exists as a temple document of the ruling class, and sometimes it is praised by people who are retro, but it has lost its former style. In the history of official script development, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, comparatively speaking, it was the official script of the Tang Dynasty that really carried it forward, which not only inherited the ancient style of Han Li, but also had the style of the times. Although it is difficult to compare with Han Li, and it has not become the strongest sound of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty like regular script, running script and cursive script, it occupies an important position in the history of calligraphy.

Li Longji, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, was a representative of official script in the Tang Dynasty. His eight-part script occupies an important position in the history of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty. His official script works include the inscription of Mount Ji engraved on Mount Tai and the Shitai Xiaojing symbolizing Xi 'an Forest of Steles. The biggest difference between Li Shu in Tang Dynasty and Li Shu in Qin and Han Dynasties lies in the differences in methods and trends. The official script of Qin and Han dynasties was developed on the basis of the simple and rough seal script of pre-Qin dynasty, and its font, style, pen, structure and composition are all close to seal script. The official script of the Tang Dynasty is composed of neat arrangement, quiet and beautiful, and the stippling is straight and rigorous. It is written in the style, structure and composition of regular script, so it is straighter and more regular than the official script in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The official script of Xuanzong in Tang Dynasty has the most regular script characteristics. Its pen knot is strict and neat, straight and generous, and the pen for stippling mostly uses the method of opening letters, but the method of sealing letters is used when tying characters, as shown in figure 1, the writing of the word "Xu" and the writing of the first half of the word "past". The brushwork of the word "four" is seal script and official script. In Mingshan, Ji Tai, stippling has a typical standardization trend. This is directly related to the importance attached to statutes and the completeness of the opening method in the Tang Dynasty, especially the opening method is mostly used in the front and hook of the right oblique pen. As shown in Figure 2, the strokes of the word "Zhi", the vertical hooks of the word "Ye" and the vertical folds of the word "Shan" are all block letters. The Tang Dynasty was at the peak of feudal society in China, and social fashion and rulers' attention to calligraphy contributed to the prosperity of calligraphy in this period. Since the Tang Dynasty, there have been different views on the official script of the Tang Dynasty. Some people think that the stylization of official script in Tang Dynasty is outstanding.

Dialectically, calligraphy works produced in any era always have their historical value; Both are official languages, and their styles will be varied. From the Monument to Mount Ji, to the Anshitai Sutra after 19 years, and then to the newly unearthed official scripts of the same period in Chang 'an, such as the epitaph of Liu in Pengcheng and the epitaph of Zhu Yuanhao, we can see the beauty of official scripts in the Tang Dynasty: the style is neat and the rank is orderly; The brushwork is rigorous and balanced; Dense structure, broad climate-can be compared with Tang Kai. Mount Ji is famous for its charm, wealth and gracefulness in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, which contains the spirit of the Six Dynasties, and is a combination of solemnity, stubbornness and aura. Water ripple is a typical official script stroke. If the ripple in Qin Li and Han Li is not perfect to some extent, then Tang Li is extremely exaggerated, as shown in Figure 3. There are also exaggerated vertical pens, such as the word "er". The word "number" is elongated and narrowed, which is particularly eye-catching. "Ji Tai Shan Ming" uses a pen to hide a round pen, which is subtle and heavy, and it is balanced. Boutique, dangerous in the middle, sharp-edged, lively and angry everywhere. Their strokes are born out of Han Li, which is natural and contains the meaning of seal script. Most waves tend to exaggerate and use official laws; The left-right symmetrical border is narrow on the top and wide on the bottom, and spreads to both sides, depending on the seal character. Its knot is flat, and the flow is seen in the middle of the flat. It is worth pointing out that in the process of pursuing formal beauty, many words adopt the method of deformation and substitution, and some words adopt the method of adding or deleting strokes. To some extent, the use of variants also increases the interest of the whole work.

Simplicity is relative, maybe not today. In order to be beautiful and elegant, some characters in Cliff adopted the method of adding or deleting strokes. As shown in Figure 4, the word "first" is added to the seal script, and the word "altar" is reduced, and the word "leaf" is abbreviated.

The radical of seal script often shifts, and it often appears in Ji Tai Shan Ming, as shown in the word "Yue" in Figure 5. Some of them have undergone structural variations, such as the word "Sheng" has changed from upper and lower structure to left and right structure, the word "Cun" has changed from semi-closed structure to upper and lower structure, and the word "Fu" has changed from left and right structure to semi-closed.

"Ji Tai Mingshan" embodies the vivid charm of the prosperous Tang Dynasty through clever insertion, word deformation and exaggerated changes in the thickness of strokes. Compared with Han Li, the concept of "stylization" was preconceived in the Tang Dynasty. However, a careful analysis of the words "Wei", "Jiang", "You" and "Guan" in Figure 6 shows its unique charm.