China's calligraphy developed to the Song Dynasty, which was contrary to the fluency and rigor of the Tang Dynasty. Instead, it highlights the beautiful and lyrical style of calligraphy, emphasizes the calmness of calligraphers and emphasizes the charm and grace of calligraphy. Calligraphy has become a formal art for literati to express their feelings, and the spiritual charm and cultural interest of calligraphers have been well expressed in it. The calligraphy style of "Su, Huang, Mi and Cai" was born in such an atmosphere of the times and became the representative of some aspects of the cultural spirit of the Song Dynasty.
Su Dongpo's calligraphy style is ups and downs, often creating his own new ideas, or naive and interesting, or concise and dignified, or uninhibited, or surging. Huang Tingjian's calligraphy style, with ups and downs, strives to be unique, hiding his talents as much as possible, sometimes magnificent, natural in interest and changeable in posture. Mi Fei's calligraphy style is bold and unconstrained, advocating innocence, and taking a leisurely and happy road. Sometimes, he is crazy and kind, or charming, but also clear and indifferent. Everyone's calligraphy style is unique and respected by people at that time and later generations. It was listed in Song Sijia, and no one objected.
Only Cai, who ranks at the bottom of the four schools, is controversial. Generally speaking, it should refer to Cai Xiang (10 12 ~ 1067), a native of Xianyou (now Fujian) of Xinghua Army. He was a natural scholar, studied in Fuzhou, Kaifeng, Hangzhou and other places, worked as an academician, worked as a secretary for three times, and was a loyal official. He can be called the leading calligrapher in the Song Dynasty after the Five Dynasties. He saved the day and changed the weak atmosphere in the early Song Dynasty. It can be said that he started the main trend of calligraphy schools in Song Dynasty. His pen is tactful and graceful, pays attention to the ancient meaning of Jin and Tang Dynasties, gains the spirit of statutes, is sharp and smooth, simple and subtle, and is free from vulgarity. Kai, Xing and Du occupy a place in the history of calligraphy, with dignified and steady regular script, simple and beautiful running script and changeable cursive script. In short, the foundation is profound, the skills are comprehensive, exquisite and decent, and it is unique.
Ouyang Xiu once praised his calligraphy, saying: "Cai Shu is eight points, scattered, block letters, fine lines, big grass, and all people are fine." "Cai is a learned gentleman, especially in books." "Mo Jun is alone, but he humbly refuses to lead the alliance" (Ouyang Wenzhong's Official Documents). Su Shi also believes that "Cai is the first in the dynasty, because of his high intelligence, profound knowledge, and endless changes" ("Dongpo Ming"). Deng Su once commented that "reading Cai Xiang's book is like reading Ouyang Xiu's article, which is strict but not engraved, soft and innocent, and the spirit of peace is found in thousands of miles" (Postscript Cai Zhonghui's book). Huang Tingjian also said: He Cai is a hero of calligraphy (Valley Collection). "The Biography of Cai Xiang in the History of Song Dynasty" said: "The first time I helped books, Renzong especially liked it." He once ordered inscriptions for nobles. It can be seen that his calligraphy has been valued by the society and appreciated by writers, and even ranked first at that time. Therefore, the inclusion of Cai Xiang in the "Song Sijia" should be well deserved.
However, since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, some scholars have suggested that Cai, the last of the four schools, originally meant Cai Jing. For example, Sun Kuang in the Ming Dynasty said in the Postscript of Calligraphy and Painting: "The talent of everyone in the Song Dynasty was Cai Jing. If it is easy to change today, the previous generation will be reversed with the later generations." The appraisers of calligraphy and painting in Qing Dynasty also said in Qinghe Calligraphy and Painting Boat: "The calligraphers in Song Dynasty were Su, Huang, Mi and Cai, also known as Jing. Later generations hated him for being a man, but they didn't think so, and it was introduced to Mo Jun. Before Su and Huang, they should not be listed later. It is undoubtedly Beijing. The Beijing School's brushwork is charming, and it is not comparable to Mo Jun. " There is indeed a problem of seniority. Su Shi is twenty-five years younger than Cai Xiang, Huang Tingjian is thirty-three years younger than Cai Xiang and Mi Fei is thirty-nine years younger than Cai Xiang. Cai Xiang is behind, which is really a generational inversion. What's more, Cai Xiang is a master of calligraphy in the Song Dynasty. Cai Jing is ten years younger than Su Shi, two years younger than Huang Tingjian and only four years older than Mi Fei, and Cai Jing ranks last. This problem should not be big. In Qing Dynasty, Hang Shijun took "Su Huangmi, Cai Fei and Cai Xiang" as an example to illustrate people's mistakes. It can be seen that "Cai Jing's Theory" was very marketable in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Cai Jing (1047 ~ 1 126), with a long word, is the first of the "six thieves" because he is a fellow of Cai Xiang, a scholar of Xining and Huizong Dynasties. But to be fair, Cai Jing's calligraphy still has some achievements. It is said that the main reason why Hui Zong took a fancy to Cai Jing was his calligraphy charm. Its pen is concise and ethereal, natural and smooth, without hesitation and carving marks. It is elegant, but it is also somewhat reserved. It is generally believed that calligraphy is the art of life. People are judged by books, or books are judged by people. Character and books often complement each other. However, in Cai Jing, we can see a scene in which his personality and books are extremely discordant: his personality is so dark, dirty, cunning and hateful, but his books are often delicate and vivid, and the realm is quite wonderful. It can be seen that calligraphy works are independent to some extent and cannot be confused with personality. However, China's historical tradition often refuses books because of people, or judges books by people. As a result, there is little information about Cai Jing's calligraphy activities in historical materials, and few works are left to future generations.
But we can still see some objective comments on Cai Jing's calligraphy. For example, Xuan He Shu Cai Jing commented on the Postscript of the Eighteenth Bachelor, which won the meaning of Xihe and named itself a family. Tao's Book History Society in Yuan Dynasty quoted the critics at that time: "His words are strict but informal, and it is easy to avoid rules. The official book is like a crown sword, and it is discussed in the temple; Running script is like a noble son, full of enthusiasm and brilliance; Chinese characters are the best in ancient and modern times, and there are few horses. " Cai Xiang's calligraphy, compared with its ancient method, Cai Jing's calligraphy is charming and vigorous, which seems to be more innovative and can better reflect the interest of the Song Dynasty. Therefore, An Shifeng's The Joy of Maureen thinks that Cai Jing is better than Cai Xiang. "I know that there is Cai, but I don't know it. Fortunately, I can become famous." "China and Cai Jing Calligraphy Art" also commented: "Tang Xuanzong's ode to magpie tungsten was very successful. To be fair, this work can catch up with Cai Xiang. Compared with other works, this postscript is more vivid, beautiful and charming ... It can be said that it has entered the calligraphy style of the Tang Dynasty, and the words are also moving closer to Liu Gongquan in the Tang Dynasty. Tight inside and loose outside, the main pen is clear and healthy, unique and natural. The whole work is not easy to express a casual romantic meaning in meaning. If there is a popular rain, it will be quiet, emotional, superb and leisurely, and won the charm of Jin and Tang Dynasties. "
In addition, although Cai Xiang's calligraphy was praised as "the first at that time" in the early stage, people gradually criticized Cai Xiang's calligraphy since the formation of a new look of calligraphy in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty. Su Shi mentioned in Dongpo's inscription that "there are quite different opinions on Mo Jun's calligraphy in recent years" and that "Mo Jun is the best in the world, and the critics are not right". Mainly Cai Xiang's works are sometimes too delicate and charming. For example, Mi Fei said, "Cai Xiang is like a young woman, with enchanting posture, slow steps and many famous flowers." Huang Tingjian also said: "Mo Jun's book is like Cai Yan's Eighteen Beats of Hu Yi. Although it is solemn and frustrated, it sometimes has a boudoir posture." (yu zhang's Legacy, Volume 10) The main reason is that while pursuing romantic interest, Cai Xiang failed to grasp the scale between femininity and masculinity, and was too feminine and lacked masculinity. It can be seen that in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, people's comments on Cai Xiang's calligraphy were not so consistent.
In this regard, people who insist on "Cai Xiang's theory" retort that although the theory of "Song Sijia" has not been seen in the literature of the Song Dynasty so far, the adherents of the Southern Song Dynasty and the king of the early Yuan Dynasty said that Cai Xiang's calligraphy was "sparse in brushwork, and there were four of its own." Take a sneak peek. Dongpo (Su Shi) has the strongest muddy cycle, Fucheng Weng (Huang Tingjian) is thin and hard, and Xiangyang (Mi Fei) is changing vertically and horizontally, so it is better to put pen to paper. If Mo Jun (Cai Xiang) succeeds, although he is also self-centered, he will treat the three schools fairly. " . Among them, "four schools" have made it clear that "Cai" is Cai Xiang. Regarding the arrangement order, Zhang Boju once pointed out in the article "The Book of Song Sijia": "In order, it should be Cai, Su, Huang and Mi, which are generally pronounced as Su, Huang, Mi and Cai. It is a habit to order Yin and Yang." It shows that this arrangement is formed because of fluent pronunciation, and has nothing to do with the age of the four masters.
In addition, in the history of calligraphy, Cai Xiang's calligraphy works are famous for their comprehensiveness, and all his calligraphy works can achieve something, but many of his non-calligraphy and non-calligraphy works are more attractive. At the same time, he was also the founder of the wind of attaching importance to books in the Song Dynasty, which revived the weak calligraphy circle in the early Song Dynasty. Therefore, on the whole, his calligraphy performance is obviously superior to that of Cai Jing. Compared with other schools, Cai Jing's works are inevitably thin, and their brushwork is not very thoughtful and heavy, especially the brushwork is not rich, which makes them unskilled and not great. So Mi Fei said that "Cai Jing should not write" ("Hai Yue Ming Sentence"). Cai Jing takes the retro as the new, with a weak sense of innovation and limited artistic taste. The style of Jin and Tang dynasties he inherited has been "distorted" in essence, and his works are only elegant "desk sketches" without charm. Therefore, Cai Jing is slightly inferior to Cai Xiang, and it is difficult to compare with Su Shi, Huang Tingjian and Mi Fei. In the arrangement of the four great masters in Song Dynasty, Cai Xiang should have a stronger position.
It seems that "Cai Xiang said" is quite reasonable, and "Cai Jing said" is not nonsense. Judging from the history that Cai Jing was a big traitor and did so many things that ruined the country and people, people naturally tend to Cai Xiang's theory emotionally. However, from the point of view of pure art, the dispute between Cai and Er seems to be difficult to reach a conclusion.