Category: Culture/Art gt; gt; Literature gt; gt; Novels
Analysis:
Master Hongyi
Master Hongyi ( 1880-1942), commonly known as Li Shutong, was born in Pingping, Zhejiang, and in Tianjin. He is not only a talented art educator, but also a generation of eminent monks.
?The master whose "twenty articles shocked the world" integrated poetry, lyrics, calligraphy and painting, seal cutting, music, drama, and literature into one body. He pioneered the splendid culture and art of China in many fields. He pushed the ancient Chinese calligraphy art to its extreme, "simple and perfect, as natural as nature". Modern cultural celebrities such as Lu Xun and Guo Moruo regarded it as a supreme honor to receive a calligraphy from the master. He was the first pioneer to spread Western music to China. His "Farewell Song" has been sung for decades and has become a classic. At the same time, he was also the first teacher in China to pioneer nude sketching. With outstanding artistic attainments, it has successively cultivated some cultural celebrities such as the famous painter Feng Zikai and the musician Liu Zhiping. He dedicated himself to the Buddha, did not eat after noon, studied Vinaya diligently, promoted Buddhism, and saved all sentient beings from the sea of ??suffering. He was regarded as the eleventh generation ancestor of the Vinaya sect by Buddhist disciples. He has left endless spiritual wealth for the world. His life is full of legend. He is a typical figure in China who is extremely gorgeous but ends in mediocrity. Master Taixu once gave a verse: Seal the mind with teachings, tighten the body with discipline, and make the inside and outside pure, which is the cause of Bodhi. Mr. Zhao Puchu commented on the master's life as: "Endless treasures are offered to the world, and a full moon shines in the heart of the sky."
?What Feng Zikai called "the garden of literature and art, he has almost traveled all over it" Li Shutong, due to various reasons, embarked on a negative life path from the secular perspective. In 1918, he went to Hupao Dinghui Temple in Hangzhou, escaped into Buddhism, and became a monk named "Yanyin" and "Hongyi" . A once pure and excellent artist, after putting on the robe of Bai Nie, profound changes have taken place in his concepts and actions. He has cut off the worldly world and detached himself from the outside world. He has almost given up all his artistic expertise. He listens to the bells in the morning and drums in the evening, and practices the Zen philosophy of the Vinaya Buddhism in his heart. Li Shutong is an artist. Master Hongyi became a religious figure. All arts were sparse, but calligraphy was the only thing that Hong Yi could not give up, and he stayed with him until his death at Fujiji Temple in Quanzhou. In Hongyi’s life course of more than 60 years. There are at least 50 years of calligraphy activities. It can be seen from this that calligraphy occupies a position in his mind. Hong Yi started learning calligraphy when he was young. He first learned seal script. He learned calligraphy and seal cutting from Tang Jingyan, a famous scholar in Jinmen, and laid a solid foundation. Then he wrote official script, and then moved into regular script, running script, and cursive script. He especially carefully studied the tablets of the Six Dynasties and wrote carefully, forming his strong and thick calligraphy style. Some people divide the evolution of Hongyi's calligraphy style into three stages: initially derived from the study of stele, with a shorter body and more flesh; the back flesh gradually decreased, the Qi gradually contracted, and merged into the regular meaning; and later the characters became slender and thin. Hard and clear attitude. In fact, it seems more appropriate to examine Hongyi's calligraphy from the perspective of broad aesthetic style and divide it into two stages before becoming a monk and after becoming a monk, that is, two styles: vigorous and plain. Before he became a monk, Hongyi's calligraphy was brilliant. He escaped into Buddhism and became a monk. His calligraphy style suddenly changed. He abandoned the majestic corners of the calligraphy and used it to hide his sharpness and naivety. He turned to the elegance, tranquility, loneliness and purity of the Zen state. This great change comes from changes in concepts, that is, changes in people. Li Shutong is the secular person, and Master Hongyi is the secular one. The purpose of writing has undergone a qualitative change. Hongyi, who has cut off the worldly ties, no longer sees himself as an artist. As the art of "writing the heart", the concept of calligraphy is naturally different from the past; writing with a tube is first of all a religion that "generates good relationships and spreads Buddhism" activities and needs, and calligraphy as an art has been relegated to the second place. Calligraphy is no longer a conscious product of art, but a work of art in religion. Its artistic value is the unconscious expression of the author and can only be realized through the aesthetic acceptance of future generations. realized. Looking at Hongyi's ink, it is as quiet as water, calm and free, which is actually the result of meditation. "Publishing the sharp edge, blindly tranquility", the pure and elegant lines eliminate individuality, which is the trace of the Zen mind, the eternal state of looking forward to a religious "big self", and the ultimate creation of "plain beauty".
?As a senior calligrapher, Hongyi is different from some monks and artists in history, such as Zhiyong and Huaisu. Although they wear cassocks, it seems that their lives have not been based on firm religious beliefs and sincere practicality. For the purpose of religious practice, they are just artists who live in Zen monasteries. They "come crazy to despise the world and gain true knowledge while drunk." This is completely the temperament and romance of artists. The irony of Bada Shanren's image of the white-eyed starling is obvious. His paintings are really a kind of venting, and they are worldly, not transcendent. Compared with them, Hongyi escaped from Zen more thoroughly. He took refuge in his own heart, transcended the world, and devoted himself to the Vinaya sect, that is, cultivating to become a Buddha. He was a pure religious person.
?Calligraphy is the trace of the soul. The transformation of Hongyi's calligraphy from the splendidness of his secular life to the dullness of his refined life is the result of mind cultivation and the sublimation of the master's spiritual realm. Hong Yi once said in a letter to Xu Huilu: "It has been more than 20 years since I was shaved and dyed, and I no longer care about literature and art. The classics also say: 'A scholar first understands tools and then literature and art', which is more than a monk and a monk. The old man once warned others, "Literature and art should be passed down from person to person, not from person to person," which is what it means. Unifying life, art, and meditation organically and naturally, his calligraphy has been sublimated while spiritually sublimating. When talking about Hongyi's calligraphy in his later years, Ye Shengtao said: "Master Hongyi's calligraphy in recent years, some say, is close to that of Jin Dynasty." However, I really can’t tell you which one he imitated. I don’t know much about calligraphy, but I like his calligraphy very much. I can only answer intuitively, because it is full of meaning. Look, it’s like a gentle and courteous gentleman, neither arrogant nor humble, with a pleasant appearance, calmly talking about the truth...it’s the effort that goes beyond the pen and ink, so the more you look at it, the more interesting it becomes." It shows the aesthetic realm reached by Hongyi's calligraphy. This kind of appreciation goes beyond the details of calligraphy, and goes deep into the essence of calligraphy - the value of cultural concepts.