Every era has a calligraphy style that thrives with the development of the times. Seal script, official script, official script, official script and grass all have ups and downs, or they have flourished or declined, and they have all been coquettish in different times, such as: Han Xing official script and Cao Zhang, Jinxing official script and official script, Tang Xing official script and crazy official script, Song Xing official script, Yuan and Ming official script, Qing Xing official script and official script. After the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, why did it prosper and decline? It seems to be "independent of human will." It is independent of human will! Cursive writing should not be predestined. After the early years of the Republic of China, there appeared three great calligraphers who made great contributions to the cursive art in China. One is Ding Youren who standardizes cursive font. One is Lin Sanzhi, who refreshed the face of cursive script; One is Mao Zedong, who revived the cursive art and inherited the theory of "independence" because of his special political position, great personal talent and outstanding achievements in calligraphy practice.
It is inseparable from absorbing good nutrition from life. The poet Du Fu wrote in the preface of the poem "Watching Disciples Dance Sword": "Zhang Xu, a former Wu, was good at cursive writing and calligraphy. He often saw Gong Sundaniang dancing Xihe sword in Yexian County, and since then the cursive script has grown ... "
First, calligraphy is full of dialectics. He said: "The structure of characters has size and density, strokes have length, thickness, straightness and intersection, strokes have virtual reality and movement, and the layout has the relationship of lines and black and white. You see, these pairs of contradictions are unity of opposites! There are both contradictions and coordination. China's calligraphy is full of dialectics! "
Second, words should have bones and spirits. He pointed out: "People have looks and backbone, and words also have looks and backbone." Therefore, Lin Tie said, "Write like this at first, practice more later, imitate its shape and take its spirit." "Words and people, also have bones and muscles and soul. After practicing for a long time, you will find your bones and write your charm. " The so-called bones and muscles are the form, momentum and strength of words; The so-called soul is the essence and charm of words. Generally speaking, the ancients said that the north monument is still bone, and the south post is still god. Everyone advocates paying equal attention to backbone.
Third, it is both extensive and unique. To learn Chinese characters, you should have posts, and then play when you learn them well. Learning Chinese characters should have a style, but it is not necessarily limited to one style. It is attractive to combine learning with learning, study extensively and have your own innovation and style. "
From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Western Jin Dynasty, Cao Zhang flourished for a while. During this period, some famous calligraphers appeared, such as Du Cao, Cui Yuan, Cui Ai, Zhang Zhi, Luo Hui, Wei Ji, Huang Xiang and Suo Jing. They are all good at Cao Zhang. Zhang Zhi studied for Cui and Du at the beginning, and later reformed and created this grass, which was honored as "the sage of grass" by later generations. His cursive scripts, Today's Post, Top Scholar's Post, Year's Post, Today's Want to Return to Post, and February Eight Post, were later printed and engraved by Song people in Chunhua Pavilion Post and handed down. The birth of cursive script made calligraphy break away from utilitarianism for the first time, and made the writing of Chinese characters take a big step from writing to calligraphy art. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the history of calligraphy art developed unprecedentedly, marked by the appearance of cursive script and the appearance of great calligraphers such as Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi.
The biggest difficulty in calligraphy art creation is that people must disassemble and reconstruct the structure of Chinese characters on the premise of following the rules of Chinese character structure. Chinese characters must be used in calligraphy creation, and when strong personality is expressed by calligraphy, Chinese characters just become an obstacle! This is embarrassing. Some people compare some art forms to dancing in chains. In fact, calligraphy creation is not the case? This is like language, which must be used when expressing ideas, but when expressing ideas to a certain depth, it is precisely language that becomes an obstacle! No wonder Zen "says nothing" and says it is "vulgar when it is said". In the Tang Dynasty, China people found an art form to solve the biggest problem of calligraphy art, that is, wild grass! Mad grass is a calligraphy style that is not divorced from the form of Chinese characters, but also from the practicality of Chinese characters to the greatest extent. It subtracts all external decorative forms from other calligraphy styles, and provides the most abstract stippling for the creator as a material to create beauty. Creators can use these materials to liberate themselves from the structure of Chinese characters to the maximum extent, create an unprecedented calligraphy image and show a more authentic self-personality. Therefore, it has a strong expressive force and lyricism, including various natural images and human vitality. Borrowing a term from western literary criticism: it shows and publicizes the Dionysian spirit in China's calligraphy art! As Du Fu's "Song of Eight Immortals Drinking" praised: "Zhang Xu has three cups of grass saints, took off his hat and exposed himself to the top of the maharaja, waving paper like a cloud." The poet Guan Xiu also wrote a poem praising Huai Su, saying, "Being afraid of mountains grinding sea water into ink, heaven as a pen, and earth as a book can slightly show the meaning of crazy monks." Those who have such lofty sentiments have such lofty sentiments! Those who have such lofty sentiments have such lofty sentiments! The greatest contribution of Tang Dynasty cursive writers, represented by Zhang Xu and Huai Su, to the history of calligraphy art is to find a way to liberate calligraphy from the structure of Chinese characters to the greatest extent, so that calligraphy art has an artistic creation form that can best meet people's expressive and lyrical needs.
Zhao Huan of Song Taizong wrote down the books and mails in the palace and published them as Chunhua Pavilion mail. The first five volumes of "Chunhua Pavilion Post" collect the calligraphy ink of emperors and generals, and the last five volumes collect the works handed down from generation to generation by Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. There seems to be such a rule in the development of art that art forms always have a peak, that is to say, once an art form is produced, it is already its peak. Transcending this peak is nothing more than using the same form but creating higher artistic achievements than it, or exploring other forms of expression.