It is best to know her history and the history of regular script. Is regular script the most complete Tang script from the beginning? Obviously not. Now we divide regular script into Wei Bei and Tang Kai, and calligraphy into official script and folk calligraphy, which together constitute our most popular "famous calligraphy" today, but in fact they are separated by human history for various reasons, so "all history is contemporary history"
In other words, most of our calligraphy lovers have only a few discrete "points" when talking about calligraphy. These are all "star calligraphers" at the extreme point in the history of calligraphy. For example, when it comes to Wang Xizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Yan Liu in the Tang Dynasty, Dong Qichang and Zhu Yunming in the Song Dynasty, many textbooks on the history of calligraphy today are compiled in this way.
But we need to know that they are all discrete stars. What sustains them? What makes their names so obvious? This is only their personal achievement. Only they, the hundreds or even thousands of calligraphers who can name them, can string together the history and form a history of calligraphy in China? I think this can only be called "History of China Calligraphy Masters", and its information coverage is far from enough to distinguish and find out the reasons, and it is impossible to do so.
Why are there "ugly books"? I think those words that we think are ugly are also "ugly books" in the eyes of the ancients in most dynasties. Therefore, in the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties, few people wrote "ugly books", and some people who wrote ugly books were not appreciated. By the Qing dynasty, the "not ugly book" had reached the kind of cabinet style as a practical "dark and round". Since calligraphy is regarded as art by us (of course, there are different views on this issue from different angles), we will operate according to the laws of art.
So everyone began to learn the "ugly book", which was not a patent of modern people, but was initiated by a group of epigraphists in the late Qing Dynasty. None of the "ugly books" that people talk about are created by us now. We spent a lot of time not writing the words well. How can you have time to write the word "ugly"? Besides, there are too many people. Why don't we vilify and spend at the same time? You can't swear to your face. When you curse, your purpose is self-evident. You don't pay much attention to calligraphy, do you? But in the name of calligraphy to vent their unhappiness or incomprehension. Since you don't understand, think, verify and solve. If you don't understand and don't want to understand, then you can write well, write words that you think are good, and others write words that others think are good, which is irrelevant.
I think the so-called "ugly books" mostly come from something left by ancient "folk calligraphers", whose status is not decent. These things have existed since the pre-Qin period. Any dynasty that wrote with a brush had its "orthography" and "folk custom characters". For example, Oracle Bone Inscriptions is the official calligraphy, so there are some "Oracle Bone Inscriptions" among the people, and the big seal script is the official character engraved on the bronze ware. The official script of the Qin Dynasty was a special official script of the Qin Dynasty, while the other six countries used "ancient prose", that is, tadpole script. By the Qin Dynasty, Xiao Zhuan had become a regular script, but due to many restrictions, it was not used much. Most of the engravings used the scattered seal in Zhao Liangming, which was regarded as the vulgar style of Xiao Zhuan. In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it was even more complicated. The title of calligraphy was constantly changing, but the "eight points" we now call official script occupied the official position, and there were too many fonts coexisting with it, such as Han bamboo slips, Han seal, official script (the embryonic form of regular script), Cao Zhang, Jin Cao and Xingya calligraphy. ...
What we know today, which most calligraphy lovers contact and think is good, is the "famous calligraphy" formed on the basis of the regular calligraphy style, and it is mostly after the Tang Dynasty and less before the Jin Dynasty, so everyone only touches the "style transformation stage" in the late history of calligraphy, but does not understand the "evolution and development stage of calligraphy style" in the early history of calligraphy. These two stages are bounded by Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
Let's put it this way: Shen Peng's regular script is a transitional font based on the "new official script" in Wei and Jin Dynasties, that is, the stage of Weibei not Weibei and official script not official script. Everyone thought it was ugly, but the ancients didn't think it was beautiful, because at that time, who cared so much and who regarded it as art? I suggest you have a look at General Guangwu Monument and Siqiu Cliff to see if there are any similar shapes.
Write these, just to trace the source, because now some people think that the name of "ugly calligrapher":
In a word, 1 "ugly book" was not invented by them, but existed since ancient times, and there are many more.
Those who think ugly books are good, regard ugly books as art, and vilify not ugly books are not contemporary people, but in Yixian, such as Kang Youwei.
As for whether "ugly books" are art or not, it's up to you to decide whether they look good or not. I don't want to talk about the so-called art, let alone say that "your artistic level is not high enough to appreciate". I just want to say that some tangible historical materials are all true, and the words of artistic accomplishment and realm are so empty ~ ~ ~