The beauty of calligraphy is manifested in many aspects such as stippling, structure, style and composition, and its core is stippling, that is, lines.
So, what kind of lines can be called beauty? Mainly in the following aspects:
① Three-dimensional sense of lines The three-dimensional sense of calligraphy lines is the life of calligraphy art. In this respect, the ancients made a lot of explorations on the basis of practice, and finally they found a recognized rule of using pens, the so-called "zhong". Mi Fei in the Song Dynasty said: "The pen (the pen effect of the center) is thin and round; I can't write, just as thick and flat as a rafter. " The "circle" mentioned in it refers to the three-dimensional sense of lines.
2 Force sense of lines Generally speaking, the force sense of lines has many factors, the most important of which are: first, the pen used in the center of perfect lines and thick lines; Second, the pen that is lifted up and pressed down; Third, rub a proper amount of vigorous and thirsty pens written on paper between the lines; Fourth, the sense of stability and realism formed by the precise combination of lines.
③ Emotion of lines The emotion of lines is one of the important foundations of writing emotion. Generally speaking, this is related to the author's mood when writing. When a person is happy, because he is in a good mood, what he writes is often beautiful. When a person is rebellious, his writing is often heavy because of his heavy heart. In addition, it goes without saying that impatient people put pen to paper in a hurry and indifferent people put pen to paper in vain.
4 The rhythm of lines Sun said in the score: "Between paintings, between peaks; In a little time, this is very frustrating. " Lines with uniform thickness and no sense of rhythm cannot arouse people's aesthetic feeling. The so-called cadence, ups and downs, although there is no sound, but there is a musical melody, which is one of the important reasons why calligraphy can be touching.
⑤ The echo glyph of lines is composed of lines, that is, it is composed of specific "stippling". The ancients attached great importance to the echo relationship between stippling. Start with a "shout", it should be a "should", or use a stroke, it should be up and down, looking forward to love. Only in this way can every word run through the blood and become an organic whole, thus giving people the feeling of life. Otherwise, every picture between the lines is fragmented and irrelevant, which will make the whole glyph chaotic. What art is there to talk about?
To sum up, five items are the key to the beauty of lines in calligraphy art, and there are others that can be quoted, such as "taking beauty from the side pen", so I won't say it here.
As for the specific ways of calligraphy appreciation, Chen Zhenlian said in the article "Specific Ways of Calligraphy Appreciation" that there are five specific ways: from stillness to movement, from abstraction to concreteness, from prototype to extension, from plane to three-dimensional, from clarity to obscurity.
① From stillness to movement, calligraphy provides the audience with an established stippling structure, which is static. An important task of the connoisseur is to restore the static stippling to a dynamic process, so as to explore the ups and downs of calligraphers' feelings, the changes of brushwork and even their psychological basis. Jiang Kui, a calligrapher in the Song Dynasty, said in "Continued Books": "I have tasted ancient famous books, and I don't lack paintings, just like seeing them." Static stippling becomes vibration, and the reasoning process of the previous generation of authors can be observed synchronously when watching, which fully embodies the important role of timeliness of calligraphy art in appreciation.
The abstract calligraphy structure, from concrete to abstract stippling, is inseparable from the association and supplement of the appreciator in the appreciation activities. Consciously analogizing some identical or similar things and images is also a method that viewers like to adopt. Although this metaphor is not fixed, it conforms to the characteristics of visual appreciation. This shows that the abstraction of calligraphy is by no means without image. On the contrary, it is precisely because the abstraction provided by calligraphy has a high degree of generality that it can provide viewers with a broad imagination space.
③ The sense of movement extending from prototype to line and the association of lines are actually inseparable from the extension of this "potential". "Corporate birds stand tall and aim to fly; The beast is scary, and its intention is galloping ",which is a powerful metaphor. "But the actual lines are not so expressive. Only through the association of the appreciator and the extension of the lines can we find the omen of wanting to fly and gallop, and further link this desire to fly and gallop with the vivid images such as "birds dominated by enterprises" and "beasts" to form the aesthetic feeling of art. It can be seen that the understanding of the extension of the line structure potential is actually an important aspect that we must have when appreciating calligraphy books, a unique art category with abstract and fixed structural rules.
(4) From the plane to the three-dimensional, from the calligrapher's pursuit, he also took the three-dimensional as the main goal and accumulated a set of experience in the rules of calligraphy techniques. We can imagine that if the three-dimensional effect of the structure is so emphasized in the strokes, the three-dimensional effect of the structure will not be ignored too much. It was once thought that the structure of calligraphy also has obvious three-dimensional effect, such as the interpenetration of dry and wet pens, the former is dry and the latter is wet. This dry pen is obviously far away from the audience visually, while the warm pen is very close, so can other thick, light, thick and thin interpenetrations, thus forming a three-dimensional spatial framework. As an appreciator, isn't it a pity to ignore the taste of beauty?
⑤ The aesthetic function of beautiful calligraphy from clear to hazy is enormous, which is related to the aesthetic characteristics of calligraphy art. When people appreciate abstract calligraphy, it is difficult to measure and compare it with concrete images, so they can only imagine and supplement it in abstract form and reach a psychological tacit understanding with the creators. This kind of imagination has a fairly free and broad world, and the hazy aesthetic feeling is a good medium for this kind of imagination to gallop. The so-called "big taste will be weak." The light is dim. Laozi called it the highest realm, so, as the highest realm of "big" in calligraphy art appreciation, we should also try our best to make a fuss about grasping this weak word (accurately speaking, empty). Otherwise, it will be difficult to realize the boundless boundary of turbidity in Yan Zhenqing's "Sacrificing a Nephew", Lu Ji's "Reply", Yang Ningshi's "Immortal Living Post" and Li Bai's "Shangjietie".
Line is the foundation and soul of calligraphy, an important medium for calligraphy to extend its life, and also a medium for calligraphers to express their feelings, spirit, temperament and knowledge. The appearance of Han Li is an epoch-making milestone in the art of calligraphy, and the expressive force of any calligraphy can't match it. Of course, what is more direct is Han Li's main contribution-liberating lines, which has a decisive influence on our study of the beauty of lines. When we appreciate a calligraphy work, the lines are first felt by the appreciator, so it is also a bridge between the appreciator and the calligrapher. Through lines, viewers can enjoy spiritual beauty, comfort, purification and shock in their hearts. The brush tool of China's calligraphy provides an ideal support for the advanced shaping of line beauty. Appreciators can regard lines as aesthetic objects and grasp the deep connotation of the works visually. Calligraphers also regard lines as symbols of life in their works. Kang Youwei once said in the 18th review of Guang Yi Zhou Shuang Monument: "If a book belongs to people, you must prepare your bones and muscles. Blood is thicker than bones, muscles are hidden in meat, and the posture is strange, which can be described as beautiful. " The "tendons", "bones", "blood" and "flesh" here are all aimed at calligraphy lines. Kang Youwei believes that the beauty of calligraphy lines, like the beauty of human life, embodies the highest principle of calligraphy beauty. In the field of calligraphy art in China, the aesthetic characteristics of calligraphy lines are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
A sense of strength
The sense of force mentioned here is an ingenious force in calligraphy. It is the natural movement of the palm, fingers, wrists and arms under the coordination and control of human consciousness, which combines the aesthetic concept and writing experience of the writer. China's calligraphy has always emphasized brushwork, and Mrs. Wei's "Pen Map" has a saying: "Write and point out. Waves and bends must go all out. " Cai Yong in the Eastern Han Dynasty pointed out in "Nine Potential": "When you write hard, your skin is beautiful". Skin is a formal sense of line beauty. Generally speaking, if you write powerfully, the lines will be beautiful and rich in skin connotation. There is still a contrast between brightness and darkness in the power of skills: the person who makes a sharp turn at the beginning and end of the line is called brightness, and the power to stop smooth movement in the line is called darkness. This passage tells the true beauty of the power of lines. The reason why vigorous and powerful calligraphy works are beautiful is that it allows the viewer to appreciate the elegance of life and the rhythm of the soul in this solidified and static glyph. If the brushwork is weak and thin, the beauty of calligraphy cannot be fully expressed and brought into play.
(2) stereoscopic impression
For calligraphy, a graphic art form, three-dimensional sense is a contradictory statement. Because the line itself is flat, it is impossible to meet the physical standards of three-dimensional space. However, if a calligraphy work lacks three-dimensional sense, the lines will appear thin and boring, which is unsightly. The real three-dimensional sense should be calm and vigorous, which can make people feel the rich information contained between the lines. In short, the three-dimensional sense emphasized by calligraphy is an abstract and refined space. In the creation of specific calligraphy works, it has its own form because of the different calligraphy styles and the different aesthetic tastes of writers. The emphasis on three-dimensional lines is, of course, closely related to the traditional spirit of China people. Any kind of aesthetic consciousness can not be separated from the restriction of social content, and calligraphy is no exception. For example, Mrs. Wei, a female calligrapher, pointed out in the "Pen Map": "The beauty of the husband's three ends lies in the pen first, and the skill of six arts lies in the silver hook." The reasoning formula of this passage is: calligraphy-pen first; Use a pen-the center is heavy; Lines-you have to have a three-dimensional sense to look good.
Judging from the aesthetic feeling of calligraphy, the central skill is absolute. The winger technique is relative and can't be used independently. It can only be supplemented alternately with the center. And not in the theme. The reason for this is that the purpose of calligraphy is to pursue the beauty of lines, and the most important thing for the beauty of lines is to have a strong three-dimensional sense and thickness. We can reform the method of using pen, but we can't go beyond the ultimate goal of calligraphy beauty. It is not a simple question of skill, but a question of beauty in essence.
(C) sense of rhythm
We can find a kind of vitality from the rhythm of calligraphy works, and then experience the value of life in the vitality. The principle of rhythm is the intersection of contrast. In the form of calligraphy, it is the ratio of blank to ink, the ratio of blank size, the ratio of blank shape, the ratio of ink dots to lines, and even the ratio of ink thickness, wet and dry, Fiona Fang and turning point. Generally speaking, a contrast contains elements of rhythm. "Yin and Yang are the Tao", and "Yin and Yang" are the basis of rhythm. The movement characteristics of the pen in the process of line formation-tightness, lightness and heaviness, and speed-are the specific contents of line rhythm. The nature and types of all kinds of sports are also different, and no matter what kind of rhythm, it exists in comparison. Brush calligraphy can express the personality of many calligraphers. The vitality of every calligrapher embodies the aesthetic value of line rhythm. Such as: space rhythm, writing rhythm, blank rhythm, direction rhythm, etc.
The principle of rhythm seems relatively simple compared with the principles of force and three-dimensional sense. Because of the strength and line thickness, we can describe it in depth from the appearance and form from the practical starting point. But for rhythm, visible forms abound, and the invisible deep content is not only the content of calligraphy, but also involves physical and psychological problems. Three-dimensional sense, sense of strength and sense of rhythm basically contain all the contents of line aesthetic consciousness. Not only that, but even in the skill of calligraphy, the existence of "three senses" has included all the spatial contents of the skill.
The composition of force sense depends on lifting, pressing, stopping, tripping, turning, folding, square and circle, emphasizing a kind of ups and downs with a pen; The composition of three-dimensional sense depends on the pen with the center as the main body, and the rule of pen use is implemented within the specific range of line beauty, which not only pursues drawing lines on flat paper, but also pursues shaping three-dimensional effect; The composition of rhythm is controlled by speed, which is intermittent and has a gradual process, so it has a time attribute. Three-dimensional sense and sense of strength, plane movement and up-and-down movement constitute a three-dimensional action space, plus a sense of rhythm, which constitutes the contrast between time and space. They intersect and penetrate each other, forming the broadest artistic world of calligraphy skills.