Four masters of regular script: Tang Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Ou Yangxun Yuan-Zhao Mengfu.
brief introduction
The four masters of regular script are the collective names of four calligraphers who are famous for regular script in the history of calligraphy, also known as the four masters of regular script. They are Ou Yangxun (European style), Yan Zhenqing (Yan style), Liu Gongquan (Liu style) and Zhao Mengfu (f incarnation) (Zhao Ti) in the Yuan Dynasty.
Basic introduction
Regular script is also called official script, or real book. Its characteristics are: square shape, straight strokes, can be used as a model, hence the name. Zhang Huaiguan first talked about this point in "Introduction". In the Han dynasty, it was also another name for "regular Chinese characters", which was still used by people in the Six Dynasties. For example, Yang Xin's Cai and Lun Shu all said in Biography of Wei Shengshou: "Birth characters are good at regular script." That's the abbreviation of "eight-block method", which didn't replace the name of the official book until the Northern Song Dynasty, and its content was obviously different from the ancient name. There is probably an example of the above. If these concepts are not clear, they will inevitably confuse other aspects forever, which is useless. Regular script is a common font in China's calligraphy. Its glyph is square, unlike the flat one written in official script. Regular script is still the reference standard of modern calligraphy in China, and another kind of calligraphy, pen-and-ink, has also developed. Began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Song Xuanhe's Book Score: "In the early Han Dynasty, Wang Cizhong began to use official script as regular script." People think that regular script evolved from official script. It is said: "On the tomb of Confucius, a regular script tree planted by Zi Gongzhi has straight and unyielding branches." The strokes of regular script are concise and refreshing, and must be like the branches of regular script trees. There were few early official scripts, with a slightly wider structure, long horizontal painting and short straight painting. Wei Jinzhong, handed down from generation to generation, such as Zhong You's Declaration Form (left), Ji Zhi Biao, Wang Xizhi's Theory of Music and Huang Tingjing, can be regarded as representative works. Look at its characteristics, as Weng Fanggang said: "Change the wave painting of official script, pick it up, and still keep the vertical of official script."
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the north and the south were divided, and calligraphy was also divided into two factions. The calligraphy style of the Northern School has inherited the legacy of Han Li. Its brushwork is simple and rigorous, but its style is simple and rigorous, so it is called "Weibei". Southern calligraphy is more sparse and beautiful than letters. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, because of regional differences, personal habits and book styles were very different. The books in the North are strong and the books in the South are rich, each of which is wonderful and inseparable, while Bao and Kang Youwei highly admire the books of the two dynasties, especially the epitaphs of the Northern Wei Dynasty. Kang cited ten beauties to emphasize the advantages of Weibei.
regular script
1~2 cm in small print, 5 cm above in large print, and the middle in Chinese characters. But this is just a general division. In fact, there have also been small characters of 10 cm and large characters of1.8m. ..
Small regular script
Small script, as its name implies, is the smallest type of regular script, which was founded in the Wei Dynasty of the Three Kingdoms. He used to be the most outstanding official script authority, and his regular script brushwork was also born in Han Li. His brushwork is as vivid as Hong Fei's frolicking in the sea. However, the structure is wide and flat, the horizontal painting is long and the vertical painting is short, and the legacy of official division still exists. However, the model method is ready, and it is actually the ancestor of the official book. When Wang Xizhi came to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he studied the lower case calligraphy more carefully and made it perfect, which also set a good appreciation standard for China's lower case calligraphy. Edit this European style
outline
Ou Yangxun was born in Linxiang, Tanzhou (now Changsha, Hunan) and a famous calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. He was once a prince with a high rate, so people called him "Ouyang with a high rate". Ou Yangxun's calligraphy enjoyed a high reputation in Sui Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.
Ou Yangxun, who is nearly 70 years old, still teaches calligraphy in Hong Wen Pavilion. Ou Yangxun studied Wang Xizhi's calligraphy style in his early years. It is said that he once bought the Map of Gui Zhi for Wang Xizhi's godson with a large sum of money, copied it day and night, and studied hard. On another occasion, when he went out with Yu Shinan and saw a stone tablet written by Suo Jing, a calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty, he sat on the floor. He carefully observed and described the tablet for three days, which shows that Ou Yangxun has a strong interest in calligraphy. Later, he extensively studied the inscriptions of the Northern Dynasties, absorbed the strengths of some local calligraphers, and then integrated them into the official script, forming an "European style" (also known as "multi-body style") of "vigorous and dangerous".
Style characteristic
Ou Yangxun's calligraphy is based on the characteristics of regular script in Han Li and Jin Dynasties, and also draws lessons from the inscriptions in the Six Dynasties, so it is widely used by various schools. The main features of Ou Yangxun's calligraphy style are rigor, neatness, honest and frank and vigor. Although the glyph is a little longer, it is white, neat and rigorous, the middle palace is tight, the main pen is elongated, it looks bold and unrestrained, dense and well-organized, surrounded on all sides, exquisite and vivid, just right. The combination of stippling and painting, the structural arrangement, is that the middle of the plane is steep and powerful, and the fonts extend to the right, but the center of gravity is still very stable, without the feeling of inclination, which is interesting and dangerous.
Most of the inscriptions in Ou Yangxun's regular script are Chinese characters, mainly including the inscription of Daming Master in Huadu Temple, the inscription of Yu Gong Wen Yanbo, the inscription of Huangfu's birthday, and the inscription of Jiuquan in Jiucheng Palace.
Characteristics of using a pen
Ou Yangxun's calligraphy is neat, literary, vigorous and meticulous. Bao Qing Chen Shi once said: "The European fingering is solid and powerful, all-round and true to external forces." In other words, the European word emphasizes the power, and the strokes written are strong, not too thin or too full. Each pen is too long plus one point, too short MINUS one point, the weight is appropriate and the length is appropriate. The use of European characters also pays attention to the strength of the middle part of strokes, and some horizontal paintings look full in the middle part and appear "neutral"; The main strokes of some characters extend outward, showing the compactness of the middle palace, especially the vertical paintings on the right side, which often exaggerate and extend upward, showing their superhuman courage. These are the unique features of European pens.
representative works
The Inscription of Liquan in Jiucheng Palace is one of Ou Yangxun's representative works. This is an inscription written by Wei Zhi, which records the discovery of Yongquan by Emperor Taizong during his summer vacation in Jiucheng Palace. Ou Yangxun sent a letter.
This tablet is dignified and dignified in calligraphy, rigorous in statutes, square in brushwork, rigorous in structural arrangement, connecting the preceding with the following, giving way to the left and right, with local dangers and overall dignity, without any disorder or collapse. Chen Ming Jiru once said: "This post is as deep as a mountain, thin and cold, but full of air, which can make the princes bend their knees beyond their power."
The original tablet has 24 lines, 1 108 characters. Due to years of weathering, the spine was excessively inflated and seriously damaged, and later generations excavated and repaired it, which made the strokes lose their sharpness. The best rubbings handed down from ancient times are the Song rubbings collected by Li Qi in Ming Dynasty, which are now in the Palace Museum in Beijing.