Zhang Hai: The times call for masters of Chinese calligraphy classics
Editor's note of "Calligraphy Herald": On July 11, 2008, "Guangming Daily" published an article signed by Zhang Hai, Chairman of the Chinese Calligraphy Association "The Times Calls for Masters of Chinese Calligraphy Classics".
The article is divided into three parts: "Issues in the New Era", "Understanding of Classics and Everyone", and "Responsibilities of Calligraphers". It discusses the development status of calligraphy in the new era and classics from a high level. character, everyone’s conditions, and the missions and tasks faced by contemporary calligraphers. The article believes that "the current era should be an era of emergence of classics and masters", and "the calligraphy world in the new era calls for classics and masters, and strives to use classics and masters to promote the development and prosperity of contemporary Chinese calligraphy art. This is the goal of each of our calligraphy work the sacred duty of the person”.
The editor believes that calling for classics and everyone is also in line with the "development direction of advanced culture", the inheritance and innovation of traditional culture, and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
It is true that classics and everyone cannot be summoned and come out, but contemporary calligraphy organizations and calligraphy workers have the responsibility and obligation to encourage and call for the emergence of classics and everyone. The unprecedented prosperity of economy and culture, the repeated great discoveries of calligraphy materials, the establishment and improvement of the education system, the mass foundation of social calligraphy craze, the consciousness of root-seeking of traditional culture, and the maturity of calligraphy organizational functions unprecedented in history. The role of calligraphy indeed heralds the coming of the golden age of calligraphy, and the golden age of calligraphy is marked by the intersection of classic works and famous artists.
For this reason, this newspaper hereby forwards this article and warmly welcomes all-round discussions on the issues raised in this article. This newspaper will open up channels of expression, brainstorm ideas, and publish them one after another with sufficient space.
The 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stood at a new historical height, highlighted the extreme importance of strengthening cultural construction and improving the country's cultural soft power, and proposed to raise a new upsurge in socialist cultural construction and promote socialist culture The historical mission of achieving great development and prosperity. As an important part of advanced socialist culture, contemporary calligraphy art must actively shoulder this historical responsibility, strive to create calligraphy art classics, promote calligraphy masters, and promote the great development and prosperity of socialist culture with its own great development and prosperity. This is the need of today's era and also the sacred duty of calligraphy workers.
Issues in the New Era
The art of calligraphy includes many aspects such as creation, theory, education, and activities, among which calligraphers are undoubtedly the core factors. A history of calligraphy is the history of calligraphers, and calligraphers are undoubtedly the soul of the history of calligraphy. Whether there are calligraphy masters and classic works that influence later generations in an era is an important symbol of the prosperity and development of calligraphy art in that era. Looking back at the development history of contemporary Chinese calligraphy and studying the new changes faced by calligraphy art, it is not difficult to see that creating classics, promoting everyone, and striving to promote the development and prosperity of contemporary Chinese calligraphy art are issues in the new era.
Chinese contemporary calligraphy art has gone through an extraordinary development path. In the past 30 years since the "First National Calligraphy and Seal Engraving Exhibition" opened in Shenyang, Liaoning Province in May 1980, we have held 9 national exhibitions. Looking at the 9 national exhibitions, the development of contemporary Chinese calligraphy can be roughly divided into three stages. The first to second national exhibitions were the first stage. At this time, calligraphy had just entered the revival period, calligraphy creation was still at a low ebb, and the number of calligraphy groups was small, but it played an important role in promoting the development of calligraphy art. The third to sixth national exhibitions are the second stage. The calligraphy craze develops in depth, the number of calligraphy practitioners increases significantly, the calligraphy style gradually becomes diversified, and various calligraphy phenomena appear widely. In this stage, calligraphy has achieved rich results and developed rapidly. It is not only the enlightenment period of the revival of contemporary calligraphy, but also the fermentation and promotion period. It deeply arouses people's awareness of calligraphy creation, improves people's calligraphy aesthetic ability, and provides calligraphy with talents, concepts, theory and practice. The revival laid the foundation and accumulated experience. Source Calligraphy House. The seventh to ninth national exhibitions are the third stage. In this stage, the calligraphy craze develops rapidly and the competition becomes increasingly fierce. The artistic style is richer and more diverse, and the exploration of tradition is more profound and extensive. Returning to tradition, Prudent innovation is the main line of this period.
The calligraphy creation in the past 30 years generally shows the following characteristics: first, it develops rapidly but inevitably has some blindness; second, although it has continued to deepen in inheriting tradition, it still remains at a shallow level; third, It has achieved certain results in exploring and innovating, but it often becomes fashionable and forms a phenomenon of following the trend; fourth, calligraphy has extended its breadth in the popularization, resulting in unprecedented diversity characteristics. However, compared with the profound and broad connotation of calligraphy, , the contemporary calligraphy world seems to have achieved great achievements and is full of vitality in the overall atmosphere. However, there is still a long way to go with the true blooming of a hundred flowers and towering peaks that we expect. The kind of classics that carry forward the past and open up the future, and that shock the past and the present, are still put into practice by everyone. Net as.
On the one hand, vigorously developing advanced socialist culture including calligraphy art has been highly valued by the party and the country, and has become common knowledge in all walks of life. The art of calligraphy faces a broad space for development. On the other hand, after nearly 30 years of development, people's demand for calligraphy has become increasingly strong, the calligraphy team has continued to grow, and the art of calligraphy has a solid foundation for development. At the same time, the new changes faced by calligraphy art also put forward new requirements for its development and prosperity. First of all, the current era is undergoing great changes and rapid development, and the endless emergence of new things, new patterns, and new ideas are unprecedented in any previous era. In its thousands of years of development history, the art of calligraphy has reflected the main spirit of each era in its unique form, often bearing a deep imprint of the times. As the times change, social fashions and people's aesthetic appeals will also change. When reflected in literature, there will be changes in "Tang poetry", "Song poetry" and "Yuan opera"; when reflected in calligraphy, there will be "Shangfa" The difference between ", "Shangyi" and "Shangtai". As Liu Wu said in "Wen Xin Diao Long": "Fate has changed, the quality of writing has changed from generation to generation, and the emotions of ancient and modern times are as good as words!" Today's calligraphy should use its unique artistic language to accurately reflect today's times. The changes of the times and the subjective spirit. Secondly, the discovery of new materials, the improvement of tools, and the evolution of craft forms will become important opportunities to promote the change of calligraphy art concepts. Today, the wealth of calligraphy materials exceeds that of any other period in history. The "four major academic discoveries" at the beginning of the century (oracle bone inscriptions, Juyan Han bamboo slips, Dunhuang documents, and palace archives) were all related to calligraphy. Later, a large number of ancient bamboo slips, inscriptions and other folk calligraphy materials were gradually discovered. Even Qin Li, who has a confusing history of calligraphy, can see physical materials today. The evolution of forms is unprecedented, such as large-scale exhibitions. On the one hand, calligraphy has moved from the desks of literati to large exhibition halls. On the other hand, it also greatly increases the exchange of calligraphy. These unprecedented new things are bound to have an important impact on the changes in calligraphy concepts and calligraphy styles. Thirdly, today's society is an open society, and the East and the West are inextricably linked. The mutual influence and mutual penetration of ideas is inevitable. The Chinese nation is no longer in the closed state of the past, but has gradually integrated into the world's national family through globalization and informatization, which has always been a relatively new art. What changes will happen to the self-sustaining evolution of art in a closed cultural environment once it is placed in an increasingly open cultural context and faced with the torture of Western aesthetics with a complete system and abstract character? This is something that cannot be achieved in the contemporary calligraphy world. The problem of neglect. The art of calligraphy in the new era is facing more changes. Another example is that the brush gradually withdraws from the practical field, which has a huge impact on calligraphy. On the one hand, the number of users is greatly reduced, and the inheritance of basic techniques will inevitably face severe difficulties. challenges; on the other hand, it is not a bad thing that the writing brush has withdrawn from practical use, allowing calligraphy to roam freely in the world of art. To sum up, the art of calligraphy in the 21st century is in the spirit of the times, creative concepts, aesthetic patterns and expressions. There must be new breakthroughs in techniques, and classics and calligraphy masters of this era must appear, so as to realize the great development and prosperity of Chinese calligraphy art.
Classics and masters are important for the development of calligraphy art. The formation of calligraphy classics fully reflects the high degree of national cultural identity. It is not determined by one person or a few people, but the cultural consciousness of a nation. Classics are inseparable from everyone. Classics make everyone, and everyone creates classics. . A correct understanding of classics and everyone is of great significance to creating classics, promoting everyone, and realizing the great development and prosperity of calligraphy art.
The reason why a classic becomes a classic must have the following qualities:
First, classics must be groundbreaking and epoch-making.
It opens up a new aesthetic realm with a creative calligraphy art practice, and carries an unprecedented humanistic spirit and connotation of the times. It has found an appropriate and perfect form of expression for calligraphy to interpret the spirit of the times, and has used its own rich practice to find a new pen and ink language for this expression and interpretation. In this regard, Wang Xizhi is a typical example. He replaced the "ancient style" calligraphy style with "Jinyan" calligraphy style, and successfully interpreted the spirit of the times characterized by the style of Wei and Jin Dynasties with his unique pen and ink language. And because the spiritual temperament of the scholars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties had an extremely wide impact on later generations of literati and officials, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy has naturally become a century-old classic of calligraphy art.
Second, classics must be changes based on inheritance of tradition, and this change is in line with the laws of historical and artistic development. A calligrapher happens to be at the juncture of historical turning point and artistic evolution. The times call for the spirit of change and innovative practice, and he happens to have the qualifications and potential for innovation, and seizes the opportunities of the times, has the courage to practice, and boldly innovates. Then he If he can become a master in the calligraphy world, his works will become classics. In other words, the emergence of everyone and classics is the result of the combination and interaction of time and individuals. As the saying goes, "Heroes create the situation, and the situation creates the hero", there is actually a certain truth to it. What plays a key role here is the law of historical development.
Third, classics must be creative artistic practices that open up a new technical system and style model, thus filling the gaps in the history of calligraphy. The Chinese nation is a multi-ethnic fusion with an extremely broad geographical span. It tolerates different concepts and styles from different regions and different ethnic groups. As an art form unique to the Chinese nation, calligraphy will inevitably reflect different regional styles. We cannot simply think that only certain styles are classics, while other styles cannot be called classics. In fact, no matter which style, as long as its form and content, technical language and artistic style can achieve a high degree of unity and have epoch-making and pioneering significance, it is a classic.
Fourth, classics must be original and highly valuable for exploration. What we mean by originality is not to abandon our predecessors and start anew, but to boldly reform and ingeniously innovate based on our predecessors and inheritance of tradition. No classic in history appears out of thin air, but has a long-standing relationship between master and disciple, but this does not in any way undermine the author's originality in this style. Just as important as originality is its excavation value. Because the two are not the same concept, many original styles have little exploration value and development space due to reasons such as too distinctive personality characteristics, so it is difficult to become classics for future generations. As an original style, the wider the space it explores, the higher its value as a classic.
How can calligraphers in today's era become masters of calligraphy that can withstand the test of time?
First, they must assess the situation, correctly understand history and the times, and grasp the times and society. Follow the development rules of calligraphy art and clarify your own artistic direction. Contemporary calligraphers have advantages that the ancients could not possess. The development of discipline construction and the advancement of research methods have made it easier for us to understand and grasp the development laws of art from a high level, so as to use it to serve the times. History has proven a truth time and time again: Only when a calligrapher keeps abreast of the pulse of the times, can his artistic practice not only meet the needs of the times and the laws of artistic development, but also have a distinctive individual style, can he become a trendsetter in art. Everyone who leads the trend in the book world.
Second, we must seriously study the traditional classics and be the inheritors of calligraphy classics in a down-to-earth manner. Thousands of years of calligraphy tradition have produced countless classics, which are like an artistic garden. They provide us with inexhaustible artistic nutrition. The works of masters from generation to generation are The road to success has also left us with rich inspiration and broad space for artistic creation. Theoretically speaking, if you focus on any classic that has development value, persevere in digging deeper, and rely on your own wisdom and perseverance, it is possible to become a master in the book world.
Third, we should stand at the height of the times, build high, broaden our horizons, break the sectarian prejudices that bind us, establish a "big calligraphy" concept, and integrate all the ancient excellent calligraphy heritage and the expressive techniques of the times. within one's own artistic vision.
Regardless of the stele style, the style of calligraphy, cursive script or seal script, oracle bone, bamboo slips and silk, whether it is traditional calligraphy or modern calligraphy, as long as it conforms to the basic characteristics of calligraphy art and is within the "bottom line" of calligraphy art, it should be the object of our attention . If you only think that a certain school or style is a classic, you will "take the wrong approach" and be malnourished, which will greatly limit the development of calligraphy art. Calligraphy establishes "images" through character shapes, and its method is based on the "principles" of heaven and earth. His way of thinking is that "books originate from nature" (Cai a}, "the changes in things in the world, both gratifying and shocking, are all contained in books" (Han Yu (Preface to Master Gao Xian)). This kind of swallowing up all kinds of wastes, galloping around the world, The spirit of admiring all things has made the art of Chinese calligraphy profound and profound, and has also made generations of calligraphy masters
Fourth, one must have the qualifications for innovation and master the methods of innovation. It does not depend on personal wishes, but on whether various conditions for innovation are met, including the conditions of the times and personal conditions. We are in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the development of calligraphy. Whether we can achieve innovation and breakthroughs depends on whether the individual has the conditions. Qualifications for innovation and whether to master and correctly apply innovative methods. The so-called qualifications mainly refer to the calligrapher’s insight, pen skills and comprehensive qualities in all aspects. Accumulation is the law of artistic innovation, especially in the study of ancient classics. If you don't put enough effort into it, you can't control the data and texts as you like. Trying to create an innovative path out of thin air is impossible. There are many ways to innovate, and what methods are suitable vary from person to person. , vary greatly. For example, the vision of selecting classic texts, the perspective of touching people, the form and direction of innovation, how to "graft" and "transform" different texts, etc., all of which are severe challenges to a calligrapher's innovative ability. Test. It can be said that the key to a calligrapher's success is whether he can find a correct innovative approach that conforms to the laws of artistic development and his own actual situation.
Fifth, you must dare to express your personality. . Art is the product of personality and passion. Only by perfectly expressing the artistic personality of a calligrapher can it have classic value. Only such artists can be called great. Let's look at Wang Xizhi and his "Lanting Preface" and Yan Zhenqing and his "Memorial to Nephew". Manuscripts", Su Dongpo and his "Huangzhou Cold Food Poems", it can be said that this is the case for most calligraphers. They use art to express their personality and perform art with personality and sincerity. Even if they cannot become great people, they still contribute to the development of art. If you deliberately try to be a master but destroy your own natural personality, you are putting the cart before the horse.
Sixth, the real masters of the book world should stay away from the mundane world and transcend practical utility. People who can endure loneliness, keep their spiritual home, and have a spirit of free exploration that is beyond ordinary people. Calligraphy, like other arts and sciences, is the product of the spirit of free exploration and creation. Once the heart is tired of worldly utility, It is difficult to maintain this spirit of free exploration. Everyone knows that art is natural, and the same is true for calligraphy. The so-called naturalness refers to the naturalness of spirit and mentality, without being contaminated by secular thoughts, artificiality, or seeking. Qingyanjueci. A true master of calligraphy must have this kind of mentality.
The current era should be an era of classics and masters. On the one hand, we are living in a prosperous age, and the Chinese tradition on which calligraphy grows and develops. Culture is also facing a great opportunity for a comprehensive renaissance today. Today's cultural atmosphere is extremely beneficial to the development of calligraphy; on the other hand, with the development of calligraphy art in modern times, the emergence of a large number of calligraphy materials, the introduction of new aesthetic concepts, and the increasingly rich means of expression , etc., all point to the art of calligraphy, and the continuous craze of calligraphy in the past thirty years has strongly proved the deep foundation and huge energy of calligraphy art in Chinese culture. The calligraphy world in the new era calls for classics and everyone, and strives to use classics and everyone to promote the development and prosperity of contemporary Chinese calligraphy art. This is the sacred duty of each of our calligraphy workers. As the organizer of contemporary calligraphy, the Chinese Calligraphy Association and calligraphy associations at all levels should take some practical measures to promote the realization of this goal.
First, we must vigorously advocate reading and learning among calligraphers and continuously improve their cultural literacy. The majority of calligraphers must conscientiously study and understand the spirit of the 17th National Congress of the Party, consciously shoulder the historical mission of raising a new upsurge in socialist cultural construction and promoting the development and prosperity of socialist culture, and truly use the spirit of the 17th National Congress of the Party to arm their minds and guide them. creation.
We must conscientiously study traditional calligraphy classics and professional knowledge, constantly enrich theoretical literacy and creative skills, improve creative levels, and strive to move towards the goal of calligraphy classics and calligraphy masters. We must learn from the times, the people, and the masters, go deep into reality, life, and the masses, combine the promotion of the great development and prosperity of calligraphy art with the promotion of the spirit of the times, and the promotion of the excellent culture of the Chinese nation, and constantly Enhance the ability to use the art of calligraphy to serve the people and socialism.
Second, strive to create a harmonious environment and rich soil that produces classics and everyone. We cannot "create" classics and everyone, but we can create more and better convenient conditions for the emergence of classics and everyone.
-------Leverage the rise of Chinese culture and the revitalization of traditional culture to further enhance the social status of calligraphy and increase the social awareness of calligraphy. For example, we strive to apply for calligraphy to be declared a world intangible cultural heritage, establish a calligraphy series in professional title evaluation, and incorporate calligraphy into the basic education sequence, etc.
------Further attention should be paid to calligraphy education. We should pay close attention to cultivating calligraphy teachers, open as many calligraphy majors as possible in major higher education institutions, improve the quality of teaching, and cultivate students' dual abilities in theory and practice. At the same time, we will assist relevant parties in their efforts to solve the employment problem of calligraphy majors. Calligraphy education is a reliable guarantee for producing talents and everyone, and we should have full confidence in this.
----- Give full play to the role of professional media and form a good atmosphere of public opinion. Pay full attention to the role of calligraphy theorists and encourage calligraphy theorists to conduct in-depth research on calligraphy artists, calligraphy phenomena, and calligraphy schools, including long-term and systematic follow-up research on some key and promising calligraphy artists. Theoretical research should fully reflect the characteristics of foundation, forward-looking, and guidance, and strengthen the exploration and organization of calligraphy traditions, especially the research and interpretation of classics. The further combination of theory and practice will definitely be conducive to the development of calligraphy, thereby creating favorable conditions for everyone's growth.
-----Gradually reform and improve the exhibition competition system and establish a diverse social evaluation system. Further improve the selection of national exhibitions to make it more fair and authoritative. At the same time, various professional exhibitions, individual exhibitions, invitational exhibitions, nomination exhibitions, regional exhibitions, colleague exhibitions, media exhibitions, etc. will be held to form a comprehensive social evaluation system that is cross-dimensional and complementary to each other.
-----Encourage bold innovation based on inheritance. An accomplished calligrapher must make great efforts to inherit the achievements of his predecessors and strive to inherit the excellent tradition of calligraphy art. In accordance with the requirements of facing modernization, facing the world, and facing the future, taking conceptual innovation as the guide, we must vigorously promote innovation in the content and form, institutional mechanisms, and communication methods of calligraphy art, so that the majority of calligraphy art workers will continue to radiate creative passion, enhance their innovation capabilities, and make the calligraphy art more innovative. The art of calligraphy in my country has always maintained its vitality and vitality.
------Expand calligraphy exchanges with countries around the world. Implementing the "invite in" and "go out" strategies, on the one hand, invite foreign famous artists and works to come to our country to participate in conferences and exhibitions; on the other hand, organize Chinese calligraphy exhibitions abroad to further expand calligraphy art exchanges with countries around the world, especially to actively Actively cooperate with the national foreign exchange strategy, work hard in welcoming the Olympics, working with Taiwan, protecting national cultural heritage (calligraphy application), and promoting traditional Chinese culture, so as to promote Chinese calligraphy to the world.
------Further improve the working mechanism for producing quality products and talents. It is necessary to carefully organize and implement quality calligraphy projects, increase rewards for outstanding works, encourage calligraphy art workers to firmly establish a sense of quality, and approach the creation of calligraphy art with the spirit and perseverance of "sharpening a sword for ten years". It is necessary to actively create a good environment for talent growth and calligraphy creation, improve new measures, new channels, and new mechanisms for cultivating and supporting talents, formulate new strategies to promote talents to stand out, and gradually establish a large, professional and A "Chinese calligraphy team" that combines amateurism and various talents.
Third, we must combine long-term goals with short-term goals and effectively implement various tasks. Achieving great development and prosperity of contemporary Chinese calligraphy art is not achieved in one fell swoop, but is a long-term and gradual process of accumulation. We must aim at this goal, implement it in stages and step by step, and transform the long-term goals into specific and operable work measures and into a strong motivation to do our job well. We must take a long-term view and contribute to the great development of Chinese calligraphy art. Contribute to great prosperity.
Zhang Hai is capable of all four styles of calligraphy, with official script and cursive script being his most famous. The seal script is attributed to Yang Yisun, the running script is from the "Two Kings", the cursive script has the charm of Zhang Xu and Huai Su, and the regular script is based on "Zhang Menglong Stele". In the early years, I sought to make the official works exquisite, taking the flesh and bones of "Yi Ying Stele" to be balanced, the "Fenglong Mountain" to be broad and elegant, and the "Liturgical Stele" to change like a dragon, reflecting my own style. Later, he devoted himself to studying the simplified scripts of the Han Dynasty. He used cursive and round strokes to write solemn and mellow style, forming a unique cursive script, which was recognized by the calligraphy circle. His works have been exhibited many times in West Germany, Finland, Singapore, Japan, Canada, France, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other countries and regions, and participated in the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh national calligraphy and seal cutting exhibitions. , Exhibition of Works of Representative Calligraphers from Japan and China, China-Singapore Calligraphy Exchange Exhibition, World Peace Year Book Exhibition, China-Japan Calligraphy Exchange Exhibition, Exhibition of 100 Famous Japanese and Chinese Calligraphers, Exhibition of Modern Calligraphy Masterpieces of the Republic of China, etc. . His works have been included in more than 100 collections such as "Chinese New Literature and Art Series", "Selected Modern Calligraphy", "Selected Ancient and Modern Calligraphy", and Japan's "Series of Linshu". They are collected and engraved on stones in many domestic museums and forests of steles. There are special articles introducing "Calligraphy", "Chinese Calligraphy" and Japanese "Calligraphy Art". His publications include "Two Types of Zhang Hai's Official Script", "Zhang Hai's Calligraphy", "Zhang Hai's New Selections", "Zhang Hai's Book Zengguang Han Li Script Differentiating Songs", etc. He has won the first prize at the Henan Provincial Book Exhibition, the first Longmen Gold Award, and the National Award at the Fifth National Calligraphy and Seal Engraving Exhibition.