The reasons for interest in calligraphy in the Song Dynasty are as follows:
1. Economic factors of the times: After experiencing the chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, many people came out of poverty. While vigorously developing the economy, people began to pay attention to culture. The number of literati increased, and they also pursued the aesthetics of calligraphy;
2. The emperor’s factor The Song Dynasty was a period in Chinese history when emperors paid most attention to the development of culture and art. Almost all emperors of the Song Dynasty had a very good appreciation of art, so they had more and more precise requirements for calligraphy than those emperors with poor self-cultivation. This is recorded in many historical materials;
3. The influence of the imperial examination system. The Song Dynasty was the most prosperous and most objective era of imperial examination in Chinese history. During the imperial examinations in the Tang Dynasty, the familiarity between the examiner and the candidates could influence the examination, and candidates' names could also be seen directly during admission; in the Song Dynasty, in order to avoid nepotism, many people were specifically required to practice "Guange style", the predecessor of modern Song style characters. , after the exam, let these students whose writings are consistent, copy all the candidates' test papers, and then paste the papers. After the transcribed papers are admitted, they check that the original papers are correct, then the seal is opened and the candidates are admitted to the Jinshi. This kind of writing requires that the training of standard pavilion style must start at an early age, and most people start training from a young age. Moreover, the status of literati in the Song Dynasty was higher than that of military generals and ordinary people. People competed to enter the examination room. Moreover, because there were no more status restrictions in the Han and Tang Dynasties that were not allowed to take exams (for example, the descendants of businessmen and low-class residents must be converted into ordinary residents for more than three generations. Requirements such as examinations) stimulated people's enthusiasm for learning, and the great development of calligraphy also emerged;
4. People's appreciation ability was the highest. Due to the unprecedented development of economy and culture in the Song Dynasty, it was a historical In the most elegant era in the world, the influence of literature and artworks enabled more literati and people to participate in appreciation, and together with the emperor, promoted the progress and prosperity of Chinese calligraphy. Therefore, the number of people involved in calligraphy accounted for the highest proportion in the Song Dynasty. In my hometown, there used to be legends about cowherd boys and peasant women who would not let go of their scrolls, which illustrates the cultural level of people in that era;
5. The status of civil servants was particularly high, which led to an increase in the pursuit of calligraphy. Since the Song Dynasty was ruled by scholars, In the era, civil servants had a special status and would not be killed by the emperor for raising opinions. Therefore, literati had a spiritual advantage and preferred to gather together to write poems and communicate with each other. At the same time, there were more literati in the court, and their respective calligraphy skills It is inevitable to have a comparative mentality, which leads to frequent exchanges and evaluations between each other. In the end, we all praise some particularly outstanding people. For example, Su Shi was highly praised by students and became famous far and wide. Later, the "Pingshan Hall" built by Ouyang Xiu in Yangzhou had his ink marks. A considerable part of the reason was because Su Shi's calligraphy was already famous for a while, and later became the most famous calligraphy in history. Calligrapher;
6. Writing tools have reached the best level. As we all know, the four high-level tools for Chinese calligraphy and painting are rice paper, Hu brush, Hui ink, and Duan inkstone (the next one is She inkstone). They were all born in the Song Dynasty. The four types carefully created by Li Yu, the late emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty (the land he owned was She inkstone, and the later Emperor Song found that Guangdong Duan inkstone was better) became one of the driving forces for the advancement of calligraphy. To this day, the skill of making this thing in the Song Dynasty is still passed down. . Only with a good pen and good paper can you produce good works, which will last for thousands of years and become precious cultural relics.
To sum up, the development of calligraphy is in line with the economic development and social conditions of the times. The Song Dynasty had a relaxed environment for literati, a unique appreciation of art, and the support of the emperor, so it was able to produce the best works and the best calligraphers.