Keywords: not superstitious about authority
Generally speaking, it has always been emphasized that "the wrist is flat and the palm is vertical", which seems to have become one of the key points in writing. "Wrist flat and palm vertical"
It originated from Kang Youwei's Twelve Writings of Guangyizhou: "If a scholar wants to write, he should first seek a flat palm and then a vertical palm." (1) He also elaborated on the writing method obtained from Zhu Jiujiang: Mr. Zhu Jiujiang's writing method. Yue, "empty fist" refers to real fist, flat wrist, hanging forward. "I learned from it that with a flat wrist, the pen can't be straight, and the wrist can't be flat. Because of Mr. Ripeep's pen technique, he saw that his index finger, middle finger and name finger were all tired, and his fingers were round and dense. If you use this method, your wrist is flat and your pen is straight. So the font is rich and even, but the strength is still not heavy. Mr. Wang said, "If your wrist is flat, you should put a glass of water on it instead of tilting it. Vertical front. When the big finger expenditure comes. Husband's job is also the author's wrist, and his post is also the author's finger. "If you follow the law, the more you hold your thumb, the straighter your palm, the lower your hand bone and eye bone, the muscles turn back, and your arms and legs shrink back. -If you want to use a person's strength, you must level your wrist, erect your front, twist your muscles, enter your arm from your wrist, and then use your strength properly. In other words, the method of dialing 2 is said to have begun in the Tang Dynasty, and anyone who has participated in the Six Dynasties can prove it with a pen and diagram.
This method is clearly described. The so-called "wrist level" means that the two joints connected between the arm and the palm are horizontal, and even if a glass of water is placed on the arm, it will not fall. At this time, if you have a brush in your hand, the nib will tilt to the right and the pipe will tilt to the left. If the tube is straight, the wrist will be uneven, and if the wrist is flat, it will be pointed: the wrist should be flat and straight, the palm should stand upright, and the tendons should be reversed (Figure 1). Kang Youwei called this method: "Or still called the dialing method, it began in the Tang Dynasty, and anyone who participated in fingering in the Six Dynasties can prove it with a pen-and-mortar diagram."
However, it remains to be verified whether the writing method of "wrist flat and palm vertical" advocated by Kang is an ancient law handed down from Tang Dynasty.
In ancient calligraphy theory, the earliest discussion about writing was Mrs. Wei's Pen-array Diagram, but there was only one sentence: "To learn calligraphy, learn to write first. If it is true, it should be written in two inches. Those who write cursive scripts should write three inches and one minute. " When you pick up the pen, you must do your best to send it. "(3) neither how to hold nor the posture of arms and wrists. It is a bit far-fetched to prove his theory of "wrist flat and palm vertical" and "tendon reverse" only from the point that "everyone must do his best" As for the ancient law handed down from the Tang dynasty, it often emphasizes how to hold the fingers and rarely talks about the state of the wrist. The earliest talk about "wrist flat" is the theory of giving pens by Han, which describes the five-finger writing method of "double support": Emperor Taizong also talked about the wrist posture when writing: "Generally, the wrist is straight, and the front is straight. "The second truth means that the force is uniform. If the fist is weak, it will be easy to use. " (7) The "hanging wrist" here is probably not the same as Kang's "flat wrist". "Wrist" refers to the joint between the palm and the arm. "Wrist drop" can only be understood as arm and wrist.
The cross-sectional planes of the two joints are perpendicular to the desktop (Figure 2), which is exactly 90 degrees different from what Kang Youwei called "wrist level". If we hold the pen naturally with two bracts and five fingers, if we want to flatten the wrist-the cross section of the two joints of the wrist arm is parallel to the desktop, and the pen is close to horizontal. Therefore, it is necessary to "reverse the tendon" to erect the palm of your hand and make the nib correct. This is Kang's method. Li Shimin's writing method is "wrist vertical"-the cross sections of the two joints of the wrist arm are perpendicular to the desktop. At this time, the palm of your hand also stands up with your wrist, and the pen is nearly vertical, so the pen tip must be vertical. If you expand your thinking, look at the outside of your arm, your wrist and the back of your hand are just in the same plane (Figure 3), just reaching "wrist level"; The palm of your hand, that is, the back of your hand, is also perpendicular to the desktop. I just did it. This is a new idea to explain "the wrist is flat and the palm is vertical" from another angle, which is probably the same as "keeping the wrist straight with empty fists" advocated by Ou Yangxun in Bagua Palm (6). Kang's "palm vertical"-that is, we generally understand that the four fingers of the wrist (except the big finger) are erect, which is close to the desktop (Figure1); And we infer that Li's "wrist is vertical"-that is, the section from the little finger to the index finger is basically perpendicular to the desktop (Figure 2). Kang has a vertical palm and Li has a horizontal palm. Although both can be interpreted as "flat wrist and vertical palm", Kang Youwei must "reverse tendon", which means that his wrist will die. On the other hand, Li Shimin advocated "wrist weakness" (8). One superiority and one inferiority are obvious. Moreover, many calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty advocated the use of "finger-shifting": Xu Gong was quoted in the Han Dynasty's "Theory of Giving Pen" as saying: "Nowadays, everyone sets pen as a festival, which hinders its rotation." (9) Lu Xie's "Linchi Tactics" is also called "Whenever you use a pen, you should use it outside your big knuckles, so that your movements will change from self-preservation" (10). Lin Yun advocated "pushing, dragging, twisting and dragging" (1 1) in the preface to stirrup, which seems to be the method of transferring fingers. He even advocated that wrist refers to the spirit and movement turns to itself. If Kang Youwei's "anti-Niu Qijin" writing method is
How can fingers "move freely" in the ancient "flat wrist and double bracts" method mentioned by Han? And Li Shimin's "wrist vertical" writing method means that the wrist can be completely voluntary movement. Therefore, it can be said that Li Shimin's "vertical wrist" method is the "flat wrist and double bracts" method in the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, he was earlier than Han, but his theory was too brief. Bao and Kang Zhi said that for a time, the writing methods of "opposing tendons" and "going all out" were popular. Although seal script flourished, cursive script declined (Kang Youwei also noticed this in his later years). In the Tang Dynasty, calligraphers such as Li Shimin advocated "weak wrist" and "moving fingers", so the model, line and cursive script prevailed, making the Tang Dynasty the heyday in the history of China calligraphy. The difference in writing methods is bound to have a certain relationship with the rise and fall of book style.
Li Shimin's writing style of "wrist vertical" is very similar to what later generations called "wrist back". Qing Zhou Xinglian said in "My Opinion on Linchi": "Back wrist method, palms inward, fingers raised horizontally, wrists vertical and straight, and strokes wrapped." (12) Kang Youwei's "flat wrist" writing method has the palm facing outward, while Li Shimin's "vertical wrist" writing method has the palm facing inward, which is basically similar to Zhou Xinglian's "wrist back method". It should be said that Li Shimin's "wrist vertical" writing method is the wrist back method in the Tang Dynasty.
Song and Huang Tingjian said in "On Books": "If you want to learn to use a pen first, use brushwork, hook your wrists with your hands, point your fingers with your fists, and lean on the pen with your ring finger, you will be powerful." (13) "Gai ancients responded with a pen" (On the Valley by Huang Tingjian). The Song Dynasty is not far from the Tang Dynasty, and what Huang Gu said is well-founded. (14) Dong Qichang's "On the Collection of Books in Rong Tai" in Ming Dynasty also said: "All books in Tang Dynasty belong to the wrist". (15) These can also prove from another side that "wrist-returning method" is an ancient method handed down from the Tang Dynasty. However, later generations are too rigid, which often makes the good back wrist method out of shape. Zhou Xinglian's "wrist back method" should be "five fingers flush", so it is unnecessary. What's more, Duan Yucai in Qing Dynasty advocated "two fingers are flat and safe". "(16) means that the thumb is flush with the index finger, the tiger's mouth is horizontal, and the glass can be placed on it. It's as rigid as putting a glass of water on Kang Youwei's arm. At the end of the epitaph of a black woman, there is a postscript: "Every time you write, hang your wrist high, and you can write a word." In less than half an hour, you are sweating like a pig. "(17) It's not advisable to return the wrist so hard. No wonder Mr. Shen, a close friend, objected to the wrist-returning method in calligraphy: "There is a saying that the wrist hangs high when the predecessors write, which is also problematic. If you return your wrist, it will be stiff and unable to move, that is, it will lose its function. " (18) In fact, "back wrist" can't be understood as the palm bending inward, making the palm parallel to the chest and making the wrist uneven and not straight, which is contrary to the principle of "straight wrist" and "flat wrist" of Han. The correct "back wrist method" is not as glued as the Qing dynasty said, but should be that the wrist is straight and "the wrist is weak." "Of course, straight is not absolute, and the palm of your hand doesn't have to be vertical, but you can relax naturally and move freely. When writing, the wrist is upright, and when waving, it can be put back and forth freely. As Yu Shinan said in "On the Essence of Pen", it's like "grasping the wrist and sweeping the hair", "its wrist turns inward and outward, and turns around to untie the knot". (19) "Grasp on the wrist" means that when the pen moves to the right or right, the wrist is flat; " "Sweep down" means that when the brush moves down or down to the left, the wrist will stand up. In this way, the wrist joint is constantly raised and covered, which is what we often call "wrist luck", that is, what Mr. Shen said is "only one of the two bone tips (the author presses: two prominent joints at the junction of the palm root and the arm) alternately clings to the case surface." (20) Therefore, the correct wrist return method is that the wrist is flexible and the ring rotates.
To sum up, we can infer that the writing method of "wrist flat and palm vertical" advocated by Kang Youwei is not a method handed down from the Tang Dynasty, but the real ancient method of the Tang Dynasty is precisely the writing method of "wrist vertical" advocated by Li Shimin, which is the correct writing method. Because Yu Shinan and are contemporaries and have teacher-student relationship, the method of "hanging the wrist" is different from Ouyang. The "virtual fist straight wrist" (7) mentioned in the inquiry should be the same thing, but the angle of standing is different. In Han's "Gift Notes", he claimed to have given Buddhism to Xu Gongshou in Donghai and Cuigong Temple in Qinghe. Lu Xie's Linchi Tactics also discusses in detail the relationship between Cui Miao and Zhang Xu, Zhang Xu and Lu Yanyuan, Yan Yuan and Lu Jianzhi, Cambodia and Yu Shinan (20). Therefore, whether it is written correctly or in Korean, it is derived from Heather, and it is the same writing style, except that Korean uses a "flat wrist", a "straight wrist" and a "vertical wrist", and the law enforcement is different. But it is essentially different from what Bao Chen Shi and Kang Youwei called "the wrist is flat and the palm is vertical". Bao and Kang misinterpreted the true meaning of "wrist flat" and took it for granted that the cross section of wrist joint was parallel to the desktop. In order to justify himself, he did not hesitate to violate the principles of physiology and nature, and made strange moves of "opposing his muscles" and "doing his best", which not only made mistakes, but also delayed calligraphy students for more than a century.
But the above has also been done, and it is only for the generosity of the family.