The relationship and rules between black and white
(1) The relationship between black and white
Black and white are a pair of categories in ancient Chinese philosophy, representing mutual opposition The relative attributes of things and phenomena that are related to each other. According to the philosophical point of view of yin and yang, black is yin and white is yang. Black and white constitute a dialectical unity. Therefore, it can be said that a calligraphy work is full of dialectics. The more successful the work, the more dialectical relationships there are. The contradictory unity of black and white creates form and has a visual image. Black and white are opposite colors, and both are indispensable. The "implications between words and images beyond words" in literature, "silence is better than sound at this time", and "Tao is ruthless but sentimental" may all affect the theory and practice of calligraphy. Once Chinese characters became the art of calligraphy, blank space became an essential aesthetic object in the work. Awareness of blank space is one of the important signs of calligraphy as a tool, and it is also a major feature of the maturity and perfection of Chinese literati paintings. Black is fully revealed because of white, and white leaves white spaces of varying sizes along with black. Blank spaces are mostly abstract, and only abstraction can accommodate infinite extension. But as an organic part of calligraphy and painting works, blank space is also "imagery" because it plays a role in supplementing, setting off, and continuing the artistic conception of the picture. Only when the blank and the ink line "intersect" can art be "made out of nothing". In plain paper calligraphy works, white is the basic color, and black is just the embellishment of the white tone. Reflected in the inscriptions and stone rubbings, black is the basic color and white is the embellishment of the black tone.
Although the sense of black and white is important, the application of mid-tones in calligraphy creation should not be excluded. The middle color between black and white is gray. When gray and black are compared, "grey" becomes "white", and when gray and white are compared, "grey" becomes "black". Therefore, no matter how many levels black is divided into, there is still a contrast between black and white in calligraphy works. The sharp and strong contrast between black and white does not hinder the harmonious effect of gray tones. The relationship between them is both antagonistic and unified. Calligraphy is perfectly fine with rich mid-tones, but they should blend into the overall relationship between black and white. Here, midtones obey rather than contradict black and white. Only by using mid-tones according to this principle can you not lose the bright, strong, and unified sense of black and white.
The black ones are words, and the white ones are also "words". This shows that "book" is where there is pen and ink, and the fun of "book" is where there is no pen and ink. Somewhere there are only signs, but nowhere are the charms conveyed. Stipples and blanks are interdependent and restrict each other. Although black and white are only two simple colors, it is not easy to handle them skillfully and appropriately so that they can produce a special sense of beauty on the picture and play their due role. Therefore, it is even more necessary for calligraphers to understand and apply the basic laws of black and white. Otherwise, it will be difficult to develop a vision that is good at discovering the sense of black and white, and it will be difficult to play the beautiful melody of moving black and white chords on the screen.
(2) The basic laws of black and white
The theory of yin and yang, as the core of ancient Chinese philosophy, has long pervaded all fields of consciousness. Without understanding yin and yang, it is almost impossible to understand the Chinese cultural system. Calligraphy, as an integral part of Chinese culture, is also dominated by this philosophical core. The basic rules of correspondence between groups of "black and white" in calligraphy are also embedded in the basic rules of "yin and yang".
1. The opposition between black and white.
The oppositeness refers to the opposite attributes of a group of corresponding associations represented by "black and white". Such as movement and stillness, curved and straight, thick and light, inside and outside, left and right, up and down, dry and wet, yin and yang, big and small, thick and thin, empty and real, toward and behind, hidden and exposed, middle and side, square and round, complex and simple, avoiding and staying, sparse and dense, straight and strange, closed and released, etc. This attribute is somewhat universal in calligraphy, but it is not exactly the same thing as the word "contradiction" in dialectics. This opposition is only used between things with similar and related attributes. Horses and trees, people and flowers, and other things with different attributes that are not related to each other, cannot be opposed. This opposition is relative. For example, the curve in the curve is yin, and the straightness is yang. The curve in the curve is yin, the straightness in the curve is yang, the curve in the straightness is yin, and the straightness in the straightness is yang. Another example is that the left is yin, the right is yang, and the middle left is yin. The left is yin, the right in the middle of the left is yang, the left in the middle of the right is yin, and the right in the middle of the right is yang. It can be seen from this that a set of opposing attributes such as black and white are relative, not absolute.
2. The restrictive nature of black and white
The restrictive nature means that groups of opposing relationships such as black and white are not isolated, but restrain and constrain each other.
If "positive" is partial to victory, "lean" can control it, "square" is partial to victory, "round" can control it, "real" is partial to victory, then "virtual" can control it, and "big" is partial to victory, then "small" can control it. To control it, if "coarse" is preferred, "fine" can control it, if "dry and thirsty" is used, "moist" can control it, and vice versa.
3. The mutual roots of black and white
Black and white not only restrict each other, but also root and use each other in a unity. If there is no left, there is no right; if there is no outside, there will be no inside; if there is no collection, there will be no release; if there is no concentration, there will be no light... In a word, black and white cannot exist in isolation from either side.
4. The complementarity of black and white
The complementarity of black and white is the unity of opposites of black and white. Chinese aesthetics has always had different emphasis on the two forms of masculine beauty and feminine beauty, but it can only "win" and not abandon it. This is an important point of view of traditional Chinese aesthetics. This view is the harmony of yin and yang. Calligraphy aesthetics also emphasizes "the combination of strength and gracefulness, and the strength of movement and gracefulness", and opposes pure rigidity, pure softness, and paranoia. It advocates "the symbiosis of flesh and blood", "the harmony of hardness and softness", and emphasizes that "yin and yang, hardness and softness cannot be skewed". Violation of this criterion will cause disadvantages and reduce the aesthetic value. "Heaven and earth unite and all things come into being, and Yin and Yang connect and change occurs." "Head" and "connection" refer to the interaction of Yin and Yang. When applied in calligraphy creation, it is necessary to achieve the perfect unity of black and white, bone, strength, momentum and rhyme, taste and interest.