The famous contemporary painter Wu Guanzhong wrote an article titled "Brush and Ink Equals Zero". The first sentence of the article is "The value of isolated brush and ink that is separated from the specific picture is zero." He said in the article that "as far as colors in painting are concerned, isolated colors, such as red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, indigo, and purple, do not matter whether they are good or bad. Often an isolated color looks dirty, but in a specific It has an irreplaceable effect in the picture. Isolated color does not matter, so it is meaningless to criticize isolated brush and ink." When the reporter asked about this issue, he further explained: "Brush and ink. It is just a slave, it is absolutely enslaved to the expression of the author's thoughts and emotions. As the emotions develop, the brush and ink technique as a slave will always change its form. Therefore, the value of the isolated brush and ink that is separated from the specific picture is zero, just like the mud that has not shaped the image. The value is equal to zero.”
There are several key points mentioned here. First, isolated artistic elements are neither good nor bad; second, any artistic element can only be displayed in connection and in the art as a whole. own value; third, all artistic elements serve the purpose of expressing the author's thoughts and emotions.
From the first point of view, for example, an isolated word "chui" does not matter whether it is good or bad, but in "the stars hang down on the plains and the fields are vast, the moon surges on the river", it is full of poetic flavor and evokes people's imagination. The imagination of the plains contains endless aesthetic charm. Another example is the word "thriving", which cannot be said to be good or bad by itself, but in Qian Zhongshu's "The Besieged City", Wang Chuhou, the director of the Chinese Department of Sanlu University, said this: "Who knows that people without gun barrels have beards?" Not decent, thin and soft, hanging on both sides of the mouth, like the commas in new punctuation. His thick black eyebrows can compete with the eyebrows of a birthday boy. It was as if he accidentally shaved off his eyebrows and beard when he first shaved his face, and then hurriedly put them on, causing the beard and eyebrows to change places; the eyebrows on his mouth would not grow at all, while the beard on his forehead would be prosperous. "The use of praise and disparagement here is very artistic. Another example is the eighteen strokes in traditional Chinese painting. Looking at them in isolation, they are neither good nor bad, including piano string strokes, iron line strokes, willow leaf strokes, etc. So the art of calligraphy is naturally the same. Looking at it in isolation, we cannot say whether a square or round pen is better, a straight line or a curve, whether dense or sparse is better. In a word, pen and ink are equal to zero.
From the second point of view, the quality of artistic elements must be viewed in conjunction. This connection may be multi-faceted, multi-level, and multi-angle. Mr. Lu Xun has this passage in "Diary of a Madman": "It is best to take off your belt, hang it on the beam, and strangle yourself tightly. They are not guilty of cannibalism, and they have fulfilled their wish, so naturally they all burst into joy. A kind of whimpering laughter. "Looking at the word "whimpering" here alone, it cannot be said to be good or bad, but in this context, it is connected with "joyfully", forming an oxymoron; and It is related to the psychology of cannibals, showing their hypocrisy of wanting to eat people while pretending to be compassionate; it is also related to the theme, and we can see the vicious nature of cannibal society under the tenderness. The same is true for calligraphy. For example, the thickness and squareness of strokes are not good or bad individually, but in a certain brush context, they show their own value due to various connections. For example, I saw a calligraphy work by Chiang Ching-kuo on the Internet today to celebrate the 80th birthday of a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Naturally, the big character "longevity" and the thick strokes are eye-catching. The connection between thick and straight makes people feel strong and powerful; the connection between thick and the three longest strokes makes people feel more energetic; the connection between thick and square strokes also makes people feel strong. From the perspective of the person being blessed, we seem to see a vigorous and energetic old man with these thick strokes; from the perspective of the person wishing, they are sincerely wishing the old man a strong body and a long life. From the viewer's point of view, this painting contains full confidence, and we feel that longevity is certain. The thick strokes here go from zero to one hundred.
From the third point of view, any calligraphy element serves the purpose of calligraphy.
I remember that when Mr. Chen Wangdao talked about rhetoric, he measured the quality of rhetoric based on the situation, theme, and purpose. He proposed in "Rhetoric Revealed" that "the first meaning of rhetoric is to adapt to the theme and situation." We have a calligraphy When looking at the various elements of calligraphy in a work, these four characters should also be used as the standard to measure the quality. When we create a work, we can express our thoughts, express our emotions, show our character, and express our interests. It can be seen that the themes are diverse.
Then, calligraphy elements that can express the theme of calligraphy are good, which are equal to eighty, ninety or even one hundred. Calligraphy is not my strong point in expressing thoughts, but when we look at the word "Shou" above, it still relies on the element of thick strokes to implicitly express the author's own blessings. I looked at a friend's work, and it was a couplet by Lu Xun, "Can't bear to watch my friends become new ghosts, angrily searching for small poems among the swords". The contrast between the big and small words, the rough edges of the strokes, the twists and turns. The strokes of the pen made me feel the anger of Mr. Lu Xun's departure. Sometimes when we create, we write freely according to our own temperament. There is a passage in the anonymous article "Five-Level Dialectics of Handwriting Analysis" on the Internet that makes sense: "The words are like the person, and the chapters are loose, which means that the author is generous, free and open-minded. Tongda, etc. Or from the perspective of mind-hand correspondence, the conclusion is similar: an open-minded and unrestrained character leads to long strokes, large fonts, and wide spacing; a careless, free and easy mentality leads to loose connections between strokes; an informal and easy-going attitude The psychology leads to less writing; the relaxed, carefree and romantic psychology leads to shallow and elegant lines.
"We express different personalities and sometimes choose different calligraphy styles to express solemnity, depth, elegance and tranquility. , it is better to use seal script; to express rigor, conscientiousness, restraint and rules, it is better to use regular script; to express calmness, ease and stability, it is suitable to use official script; to express liveliness, cheerfulness, agility and unrestrained, it is suitable to use running script; to express unruly, bold and open-minded, it is suitable to use cursive script. The element of calligraphy is in line with our theme, so it is naturally perfect. We sometimes create, and it is an expression of our aesthetic taste. Different aesthetic tastes often show a preference for a certain calligraphy style. Yan Zhenqing likes the majestic and vigorous style, Zhang Xu likes the galloping and wild style, and Ouyang Xun likes the steady, disciplined and law-abiding style. If you like different styles, you will choose different calligraphy elements. Then these calligraphy elements that express your own aesthetic taste are naturally beautiful.
Of course, we must not forget the context in which calligraphy elements are applied. As long as it is appropriate in a certain situation, it is worthy of our praise. This situation includes calligraphy situation and purpose situation. When Mr. Cui Dianlong, a calligrapher, discussed this issue with me, he said while writing, because the upper strokes are placed, one should pay attention to the lower strokes; because the upper strokes are heavy, one should pay attention to the lower strokes. This is like the creation of metrical poems. After the flat, you should pay attention to the oblique, and after the oblique, you should pay attention to the flat. The first couplet and the second couplet should also pay attention to the relative opposition of oblique and oblique.