In a sense, the voluminous China ancient calligraphy theory articles are a kind of calligraphy research. However, the main thread running through it is its aesthetic research, and calligraphy theorists pay attention to the expression of calligraphy aesthetics. His achievements in calligraphy and personality are just one branch of his many studies.
Some ideas put forward by ancient calligraphy theorists based on intuition are the basic principles and methods of graphology research. These are very worthy of reference and full use by Chinese graphology researchers.
Many expositions in China's ancient calligraphy theory articles are closely related to graphology. "Books are scattered in words, and so are their meanings." They think that calligraphy is a form for calligraphers to express their feelings by "expressing their feelings and forming sorrows and joys". Only rich emotional activities, "anger, embarrassment, sadness, theft, resentment, yearning ... will be published", "abnormally poor, an armchair strategist". Calligraphers' creation is their world outlook, personality, temperament, cultivation and state of mind. With the movement of pen and ink, "trace" is a word with rich lines.
The discussion on graphology in these theoretical articles occupies a great space. "Calligraphy is also a world, and beautiful people are also people." They regard handwriting as a standard and tool to identify individuals. Even "adopted" the research results of modern psychology, effectively discussed the relationship between handwriting and personality, temperament, mood and even age, and summed up many representative principles and viewpoints. Although they didn't put forward the concept of graphology of Chinese characters, many discussions were sporadic, single, and even mechanical, which contained many guesses and fragile elements, and the terms used were too vague. Although their achievements in calligraphy are only an intuition and experience, they failed to establish a systematic calligraphy research theory and develop it into an independent graphology in China, but we are still moved by the foresight shown by ancient calligraphy theorists. The valuable experience left by these ancient philosophers in China will undoubtedly play an inestimable role in enriching and developing the emerging graphology in China.
In the mid-1980s, western calligraphers began to notice China's square Chinese characters. They are attracted by the complex structure, special writing and rich lines of Chinese characters. From the discussion of China ancient calligraphy theory, they marveled at the efforts and achievements of China ancient calligraphy theorists. And got the inspiration to study China's calligraphy.
The purpose of this paper is to make a detailed and systematic analysis of the relevant viewpoints in ancient calligraphy theory's articles to prove their applicability to the study of graphology. Explore the analysis and application of handwriting in ancient calligraphy theory. I hope to reveal the important role played by China ancient calligraphy theorists in the study of China's graphology, and try to establish the corresponding relationship between shape (handwriting) and temperament (writing) for reference.
two
What are the aspects of graphology research in ancient China?
First of all, the word "painting is the heart" is the most important viewpoint in China's ancient calligraphy theory. It is believed that writing behavior is closely related to the human brain, and handwriting is a comprehensive reflection of the writer's brain activity. This is the most fundamental problem that graphology needs to solve, that is, whether handwriting can reflect the writer's personality, become the carrier of human thinking activities, and become the object of studying the writer's psychological personality.
Zhou Xinglian put forward the view that "words are the paintings of the heart". He believes that writing means that "my heart" and "glyph" are input at the same time. The original text is like this: "Writing has two meanings. Shuowen: "What is written and preserved". Rhyme book:' Write and lose'. The shape of things: the loser loses my heart, and the two meanings are not inconsistent, so the word is a heart painting. "
What should be the meaning of "heart" in "Painting Words as Heart"? What exactly does it include? Huangdi Neijing, China's earliest medical masterpiece, adopted hundreds of theories and put forward the theory that "the heart governs the gods". "On the Secret Code of Suo Wen Ling Lan" points out: "The heart is the monarch and the god is outside." Both Wen Jing Tiao Qi Lun and Xuan Wu Ming Qi Pian hold that "the heart is rich". "Spirit Pivot Evil Guest" also pointed out: "The heart is the master of the internal organs, and God is also the meeting." In other words, the heart is not only the commander-in-chief and core of all human life activities, but also the commander-in-chief and core of all human psychological activities. "Heart" not only refers to the heart and its function, but also includes various psychological activities such as people's thinking, thoughts, emotions, will and imagination. People's writing activity is a conscious behavior under the command of the brain. When people write with a pen, the posture of holding the pen, the speed of lifting the pen, the density of fonts, and even the activities of the hand are all indicated by the hand. "Heart" should be "hand", and handwriting is a sign of brain activity. In fact, all the strokes and paintings left in writing are the reflection of the author's psychological activities, personality and behavioral characteristics.
According to the book, Wang, a calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty, was blind in his later years. He can not only write weeds and stereotyped writing, but also draw plum blossoms. The written words look better than when they are not blind. Jin Dongxin, a calligrapher in Qing Dynasty, commented that he was "not blind". These just show that writing behavior is dominated by brain activity. Although their eyes are blind, there is nothing wrong with their brains. Writing and drawing are completely done under the guidance of the brain. If there is something wrong with their brains and they lack normal thinking activities, I am afraid that no matter how dexterous their hands are, it is difficult to cook without rice.
"The potential is deep and unstoppable" is another important viewpoint in ancient calligraphy theory. It comes from Yan Zhuding and Liu Youding. The original text is as follows: "The book comes from nature, stands naturally, yin and yang are born, and the situation stands ...". Regarding the meaning of "potential", Modern Chinese Dictionary interprets it as the potential of all things. As far as writing is concerned, importance, urgency, density, convergence and divergence, linearity and so on. In the process of writing, their changes have always followed a constant pattern and maintained a certain consistency, and will not be changed casually because of other factors. It is precisely because of this feature of handwriting that "book" can be truly "human-like" and become the expression of the writer's temperament, personality and emotion.
Calligraphy theory in ancient China also put forward the view that "books are like people". If "the book is the heart painting" solves the problem of "the handwriting is the brain trace", that is, the psychological and physiological basis of the existence of handwriting, then "the book is like a person" reveals the objective and inevitable relationship between handwriting and the writer.
In the ancient book theory, there were many discussions about "books are like people", and Liu Zhaozai in Qing Dynasty was the most direct. He said: "Books are like people, like learning, like talent, like ambition, in short, like people." In his eyes, handwriting is like a portrait of a person, which not only reflects a person's temperament and character, but also shows his knowledge, talent and ambition at a glance.
With the passage of time and the continuous improvement of cognitive level, calligraphy theorists have a deeper understanding of "books are like people". They not only observed the inevitable relationship between writers and temperament, but also devoted a lot of pen and ink to writers' personality characteristics. When answering why different writers have different handwriting, most people agree that personality and personal qualities play an important role. For example, "the love of a lady is both rigid and soft, and the hands are harmonious." After Liu Xizai made the conclusion that "characters are like people", he immediately established a corresponding relationship between people and handwriting characteristics. He said: "Tessa's books are warm and mellow, Xiong Jun's books are emotional, abnormal people's books are degenerate, and talented people's books are beautiful."
And Liu Youding also said in Yan Zhu: "The husband's book is more important than human nature, the sick can't be allowed, and the sick can't leave." Su Dongpo, a famous calligrapher in the Song Dynasty, talked about the calligraphy characteristics of gentlemen and villains in his calligraphy monograph "On Books": "Although the face is ugly, gentlemen and villains can't hide it; Words are eloquent, and gentlemen and villains cannot be bullied; Books are clumsy, and gentlemen and villains should not be chaotic. " He thinks that a gentleman is not only good-looking, good at rhetoric, but also beautifully written. Coincidentally, Zhu Hezhen of the Qing Dynasty also said something similar: "People with high quality have their own spirit of being honest and clean;" Those who feel inferior, although frustrated with passion, are serious and impressive, but they are violent and expressionless. "Ancient calligraphy theorists associated gentlemen and villains, high quality and low quality with calligraphy. This classification method was very common in the period when the influence of Confucianism was dominant.
They also established a correspondence between temperament and handwriting characteristics. Confucius, the originator of Confucianism, once divided people into three kinds: crazy, moderate and clumsy, to show the difference of personal temperament: "If you can't get to the middle way, you are crazy." Crazy people make progress, stubborn people do wrong things. "After careful study, Xiang Mu found that crazy, stubborn and BOC have the same characteristics in handwriting:" People are different in nature and temperament, but BOC is crazy and stubborn. "So, people are comfortable with books, but they are neutral, fat and thin." The correspondence between his temperament and handwriting is shown in the table below:
Temperament type
Handwriting characteristics
nuts
obese
Bank of China
invalidate
Impatient
filmy
The research shows that there is a very scientific correspondence between the above divisions. Although this correlation is simple, it points out a general direction and path for us to study the relationship between physiological characteristics and handwriting characteristics.
On the issue of factors affecting handwriting, most people think that "different resources are worth the money" and "people have different opinions". Zhao Deng of Rudong said in "Non-cursive script": "Every mortal has different qi and blood, different bones and muscles, dense heart, skillful hand, ugly book and strong heart and hand." In other words, people's personality differences will inevitably lead to different handwriting, and the key to the quality of words lies in their own factors, which cannot be forced. Xiang Mu also has the same argument: "People's hearts are different, just like their nature, so books are what they are. Therefore, although they are the same as Legalists, when they bloom, they also become physique." People who practice calligraphy, because of their own differences, even if they write posts, the words they write have their own characteristics. He also said: "Gade's heart, color selection, handy, the book is also cloud." Different personalities, different temperaments, writing skills and evil self-form. Liu Xizai also came to the conclusion that "love and ink are based on human nature". On this issue, the study of Xiang Mu, a calligrapher in Ming Dynasty, is rational, sensitive and meticulous. (See table below)
serial number
Handwriting characteristics
Personality characteristics
1
keep
Suppress one's feelings
2
Zong Yi
Rules that bypass code
three
Speed and strength
Fear and anxiety
four
cautious
Afraid of flying
five
Simple set
Dig up fresh crops
six
strict
Nervous and carefree
seven
mild
Yanmei Shao Jie
eight
Subject matter insurance
There are too many carvings and paintings.
nine
Magnificent
Be ashamed and tolerant of foreigners.
10
Wanchang
Thick-ended shame
1 1
great aspiration
Gai Kan Lu pu
12
Mei Liu
Return to glitz
13
drive
Seems to lack essence
14
Curculigo orchioides
Shangduo sanhuan
15
Healthy and strong
She is brave and fearless.
16
Stable maturity
Lack of novelty
He also summed up people's personality characteristics from the selection of copybooks, the characteristics of writing strokes, and the writing fonts of the practitioners (see the table below).
Different types of book practitioners
character trait
Muddy ancients
Jianchun's pedantry and Confucianism
Family use
Vulgar officials
Any pen
Reckless and beyond the law
Lin Chi hesitated.
Reserved and depressed
A person who is committed to staying pure and energetic.
Dry, steep, awkward.
A person who works alone and is rich.
Thick and fresh, but lacking bones.
Temperament, personality and other personality characteristics are important factors that form different writing styles. A temporary mood, that is, a change in mood, will make the handwriting look different. As an important aspect of psychological activities, emotion was also valued by ancient calligraphers. Cai Yi put it this way: "When the book makers are dispersed, let them do whatever they want, and then read them. If they are forced to do so, although Zhongshan Rabbit will not be good at all. " In a bad mood, even the best pen can't write good words. Yu Shinan also said: "Although Chinese characters are qualitative and have nothing to do with traces, they move with yin and yang, and everything changes in shape, so they often don't return to the Lord, so they know that they will meet God when they debut." In fact, this kind of "meeting with God" is the creative inspiration brought by a good psychological state. He also commented as follows: "Words have attitudes and hearts are lost; The heart is not the heart, but also wonderful. " Sun also feels the same way about this: "Write for a while, and it will be easy to combine. When it is good, it will be flattering. When it is good, it will be sparse." Chen Yi has made a thorough study of emotional problems. He thinks that different emotional states such as joy, anger, sadness and joy are also different in handwriting. "The joys and sorrows have their own scores. Happy words are comfortable, angry words are rough and dangerous, sad words are gloomy, beautiful words, happy words are smooth and dangerous, shallow and deep, and endless changes. "
In different emotional states, people's facial expressions, body movements and the degree of nerve relaxation are all in words. Take Yan Zhenqing as an example. He is honest and clean, and his calligraphy presents a profound and vigorous momentum. And different moods prompted his writing style to change. The handwriting of "Many Pagodas" and "Yan Jia Temple Monument" is solemn. "Xi Bei" and "Sacrifice Draft" show an exciting mood.
Duobaota
Sacrifice manuscript of nephew
Yanjiamiao film
China ancient calligraphy theorists also made some judgments on the relationship between handwriting and age. Xiang Mu said in "Elegant Words in Books": "Books are young and old, and they are shallow and deep respectively. Although the situation is different, the reason is the same. The so-called old people, with precise structure, simple style, rocky ends and towering peaks, are also standard arrays. The so-called few people, full of gas, beautiful and elegant, all kinds of tastes, thousands of romantic feelings are also. Gu Zhuo is ancient and numerous. Although majestic, it is rich and beautiful. Young but not old, although graceful and elegant, but lack of classical meaning. Try to compare with character. If you are knowledgeable and knowledgeable, you can be called Huang Fazhi. The pronunciation is clear and round, the action is convenient, and the number of handsome and proud English is constant. " "It is always the beauty of books, and youth is the beauty of books". Li Yu also said: "Shu Qiang is eighteen, and Yao joined the army at eighteen." At the beginning, he was riding a horde, leaning against the desert and having no enemies. Spring books are also old, such as Zhuge Dong Rong and Zhu Rui, who took over the enemy and held the board. They used white jade to command the army, but they didn't see their strength, but they were suitable without a pen. " These two paragraphs basically reflect the relationship between handwriting and age. That is to say, writers of different times have great differences in the strength of brushwork, the precision of structure, the exquisiteness of brushwork, the calmness of brushwork and the neatness of layout.
three
Let's discuss the handwriting analysis and application of ancient calligraphy theorists in China.
There are many expositions about calligraphy appreciation in China's ancient theory, and the most representative handwriting analysis is Wang Xizhi.