From ancient times to the present, most of calligraphy theory's works feel too mysterious, and the archaic words used often lead to some misunderstandings in future generations' research. Even some famous calligraphers in history often have different understandings of the same problem. For some cultured people, even if they can read, they don't know how to show it in practice, so that many people go through the motions, making some questions more and more mysterious, bringing many unnecessary troubles to those who study calligraphy and making them take many detours.
Mr. Qi Gong once said: "When I was young, I often listened to the fallacies that were misunderstood, and I tried to make a more reasonable explanation. I am not confident that everything I speculate is reasonable, at least I have sought reasonable exploration. " Many of Mr. Wang's expositions reflect this idea. Below, I only analyze Mr. Qi Gong's exposition on writing methods.
Writing is the first thing to master. There are many theories about writing in history. Although they are not the same, almost everyone agrees that writing should be "virtual". But many people understand that "pointing to reality" means that the fingers should hold the pen tightly, and the harder the better. In response to this phenomenon, Mr. Qi Gong said: "I don't know when and who spread a story. According to the Book of Jin, Wang Xianzhi practiced calligraphy when he was six or seven years old. His father drew a pen from behind, but he didn't. Of course, fathers with six or seven-year-old sons are in their prime. A mature man can't pull out a pen in a child's hand. This child must not be the son of Wang Xizhi, a' book saint', but a' genius Hercules'. This story that has been handed down to this day is not only a household name, but also the first lesson for many parents and teachers. Really toxic! "
It is based on this matter recorded in the Book of Jin that many people in history think that the tighter you write, the better. Wang Shu said: "I want to die when I write, and I want to live when I write." This sentence is difficult to understand and even more confusing to operate. Bao said in "Art Boat and Double Boat": "The pen stays depressed, while the middle finger hooks, and the little finger is easy to enter the palm, so it is difficult to use the empty palm, but the name refers to the sail, and the little finger is like the help of the mast, so the little finger must be strong, and the power of name refers to the true ear." Although he is sure that "there is no definite way to put pen to paper, it should be empty and wide", he sees the problem too rigid and mechanical. Mr. Qi Gong vividly called his writing method "trotter method".
As for this incident recorded in the Book of Jin, Su Shi looked at it this way: "If you give less, you will learn books. If you give less, you can't take a pen from behind, knowing that you will become famous when you grow up. Servants think that knowing the book is not in the pen prison, but listening to the pen without losing the statutes. And those who are too easy to escape, and therefore pay attention to their own undesirable people, just carefully hide their youngest son's intentions suddenly, but their intentions are not in the pen. Otherwise, it is impossible for people who are powerful in the world to write it. " Zhou Xinglian also said: "Wang Xianzhi studied when he was young, but the right army took his pen from behind, knowing that he would be famous when he grew up. Guy means that when he is a beginner, he is interested in writing, not that he should hold his pen tightly. "
Mr. Qi Gong agrees with this statement, saying that "Su Shi's views can be described as incisive". Wang Xianzhi's pen is not drawn because of children's cleverness and concentration, nor because it is tight, not to mention that the tighter the pen, the better.
Regarding the tightness of the pen, Su Shi said: "There is no fixed method for writing a pen, so it should be empty and wide." Mi Fei said: "Lightness of pen is born guilty, naive and accidental." . Zhou Xinglian said in My Opinion on Linchi: "In short, the pen must be shallow, and shallow is easy to turn." Please read Mr. Qi Gong's comments on writing as follows: "I think writing is the same as holding chopsticks. If chopsticks can pick up food like human will, that's right. If a pen can draw a path on paper like human will, that's right. "
"Write loosely, from the fingertips, wrists, elbows, shoulders, nowhere hard. Of course, you can't hold a pen or open it, but don't be too formal. Don't worry about hanging your wrists and elbows. Your hands are not stiff, you write well, and you forget whether your hands are hanging down. In ancient times, there was a man with a long beard. Someone asked him if his beard was in the quilt when he slept. He didn't notice. After this question, he paid attention to the answer and stayed up all night. The same is true with a pen. "
Since the Tang Dynasty, calligraphers have attached great importance to writing, and there are also some controversies, such as single hook, double hook, dzi bead and Cheng. Mr. Qi Gong did not delve into the details of writing, which is not his denial of these theories. It can be clearly seen from the video materials of Mr. Qi Gong before his death that his writing posture is a standard and traditional "five-character writing". So why didn't Mr. Qi Gong explain the specific writing method in detail?
First, all kinds of writing methods have been explained in detail by ancient and modern calligraphers, and Mr. Qi Gong has also encountered some arguments. Mr. Qi believes that these arguments "are understood by most experienced calligraphers, and needless to say, they all know that many misunderstandings have led to some unrealistic conclusions, which is self-evident." Secondly, Mr. Wang is specifically aimed at some people who are too preoccupied with how to write in practice, so that they are mechanically rigid and don't concentrate on more important links (pen, structure and composition). Mr. Wang once said: "In my personal opinion, writing with fingers is of course the first process when writing, but putting all your energy into law enforcement will inevitably affect other processes of writing." Therefore, Mr. Wang thinks that these problems "should be focused on according to everyone's physiological conditions and usage habits, but if they are too dead and too absolute, they will be unrealistic." It can be seen that Mr. Qi Gong's starting point is always practice, and his exposition fully embodies Mr. Qi Gong's natural and accessible calligraphy thought.
There have been many arguments about the level of writing, whether to raise your wrist and hang your elbow. Mr. Qi Gong thinks that it can be decided according to the size of the words written, and there is a scientific and practical method:
"Before writing, draw a circle in the air with a pen, and the words to be written are not beyond the scope of this circle, which means that it is natural for you to write at this time. Don't mention your wrist and don't hang your elbow, which meets the requirements. If you draw a small circle, you can even draw it on your wrist; If you draw a big circle, you can't draw it without lifting your wrist and elbow. Therefore, there is no fixed standard as to whether the wrist and elbow should be suspended when writing, and to what extent, it should be decided according to the needs. As long as you practice repeatedly, the correct method can be solved. "
Mr. Qi Gong's exposition is always based on the premise of convenient operation, which enables learners to achieve a relaxed state psychologically and practically. He didn't completely deny what the predecessors said. In contrast, his point of view is more scientific, reasonable and easy to operate, and he emphasizes to master the correct method through repeated practice, specifically how to write, what kind of fingers are and how to explain them. In short, it is good to be natural and flexible and easy to write.
Mr. Qi Gong made a scientific analysis and explanation of what the ancients said: "The theory of" referring to reality "and" referring to emptiness "is a parallel phrase, which means that the finger is opposite to the palm, so the finger is not real, so you can't afford to pick up the pen; Its antonym is' palm deficiency'. It can even be understood that in order to explain the necessity of' palm deficiency', it is given the dual word' pointing to reality'. " Reality "doesn't mean holding the pen hard ... Some people misunderstand" pointing to reality "as squeezing the pen tube hard, and say" palm deficiency "means that the palm should be able to hold an egg when writing. This kind of heresy, as a humorous joke, is fine, but never take it seriously! "
When talking about whether it is necessary to hang one's wrist when writing, Mr. Qi Gong said: "The ancients sat on the floor, holding a paper roll in their left hand and a pen tube in their right hand, and there was nowhere to elbow and wrist. So the pen is in the air and can be used on six sides. That is, front, back, left, right and lift. In the Song Dynasty, there were high tables and chairs with elbows and wrists attached to them, which were no longer ethereal, but there was a saying of hanging elbows and wrists. If your elbows and wrists droop, your shoulders and arms will be stiff. Knowing this truth, even if you post a case and point to your wrist, you can get a good book. "
Mr. Qi Gong believes that writing should not be too tight, it should be natural, it should not be artificial, and it should not be copied mechanically according to ancient methods. His understanding of writing on the wrist is very flexible and approachable. Focusing on the historical evolution of writing style, he believes that the essence of calligraphy originates from the essence of writing, and the analysis of problems is scientific, reasonable and convincing.
Although Mr. Qi Gong emphasized not to use force too hard and not to use a pen too hard, he never made this issue too absolute. He also said, "Of course, the pen should not be used too hard or dead, but people with strong wrist strength will not be weak when writing, and the strokes written and drawn will naturally be much more powerful."
"There is a saying in the pen motto that' the palm of your hand is empty'. If the ring finger curls up to the palm, it means that the palm is not empty enough. But this is just the general truth. In people with really strong wrist strength, the power of writing with a pen is built on the wrist, so it doesn't matter if the palm is not empty enough. " It can be seen that Mr. Wang's perspective on the problem is relatively approachable, natural and dialectical.
As we all know, Mr. Qi Gong advocates that learning books should be based on ink. "Learning a book is different from looking at a tablet, looking at the nib through a blade" and "replacing a knife with a pen" are Mr. Qi Gong's famous calligraphy views. According to this, some people think that Mr. Qi Gong completely denies the study of steles, but he also said: "If calligraphers can really refine the handwriting effect in ancient inscriptions on paper with a brush, it will be a new calligraphy style." It can be seen that Mr. Qi Gong's view of the problem is not biased, which still reveals Mr. Qi Gong's natural understanding of calligraphy.