Introduction to Calligraphy: How to Learn Calligraphy

Which font should I start learning calligraphy? Calligraphers have different views on this issue. Some say it is good to start with seal script; Some say it's good to start with official script; Some people say it's good to start with running script. These views all have some truth. But I think it's better to start with regular script. The reason why I don't agree to learn from seal script and official script is because learning seal script first encounters a difficult problem, which increases the difficulty of learning; Secondly, the era of the rise of seal script and GM is far away now. At present, most of the contestants don't know seal script. Nowadays, as a font, seal script still has its artistic appreciation value, but its practical value is not what it used to be. I think it is unnecessary for those who just want to learn calligraphy to write neat and beautiful regular script and running script to meet their study and work needs. Official script is easier to read and write than regular script, but stippling is more flexible, less rigid and easier to lay out. It is difficult to learn official script well before learning regular script, but it is easy to learn official script well after learning regular script. For beginners, it is not easy to learn any font well if they want to get a glimpse of its popularity and reach a profound artistic realm. Su Dongpo, a calligrapher in the Song Dynasty, said: "Truth is like standing, action is like walking, and grass is like walking." It means regular script, running script, cursive script. Models here refer to models and models. Regular script stippling is clear, symmetrical, square and well-behaved, which is suitable for beginners. Feng Fang, a calligraphy theorist in the Ming Dynasty, said: "To learn calligraphy, we must start with regular script ... regular script is a running script. The running script is established, but it is a cursive script. " For beginners, if they bypass regular script and learn running script or cursive script directly, because they ignore the basic stippling and structural training of regular script, they are prone to some disadvantages such as irregular stippling, inflexible brushwork, uneven density, unstable structure and inappropriate proportion. Therefore, Tang Sun Guoting said, "I really can't understand painting, and I will be fascinated by learning grass." In the Ming Dynasty, Wang Zhuyun also said: "Grass is still popular recently, so it's ridiculous to learn grass without learning it. If people want to leave without learning. " As for which font beginners should start with, different people have different opinions, so it is unnecessary and impossible to stick to the same principle. As long as the method is proper and you work hard, you can succeed from any font, which can be said that all roads lead to the same goal. But the time and energy spent and the distance traveled are probably very different. On this issue, I still stubbornly believe that it is appropriate to start with the model. I think since Tang Kai, there have been rules to follow. The strokes can be written in square, round and straight lines, with appropriate length, appropriate thickness and stable structure, thus laying a solid foundation. Some people think that the laws in Tang Kai are very strict, and it is easy to be bound by strict rules when studying. However, it is suggested that beginners should start from the Wei and Jin Dynasties, saying that they can write innocently and freely. I think it is necessary to write these words, handsome, solemn, elegant, gorgeous, chic, solemn, or flying. In short, it has certain style characteristics. For beginners, try to keep the structure clean and tidy. As Sun said: "Beginners learn distribution, but seek justice; Knowing that justice is right, we must pursue danger; It can save the day and return to justice. " Beginners will be skewed if they don't learn the correct body and don't go through the instrument; But if it is too fair, it will be dull and lifeless, so we should pursue danger; If the risk is too great, you will go crazy, so you will turn over a new leaf. This is the cycle of learning books and the process of continuous sublimation. To be fair, Tang Kai got what he deserved. In Qing Dynasty, Liang said: "Learning books must be close to the Tang Monument. When you are extremely strong and healthy, you will return to the golden man. Otherwise, it will be written as a weak word. " Study law strictly first or study freely and indulgently. Tang Xuhao's "On Books" says: "At the beginning of learning, it is advisable to start with the bones and muscles, and the bones and muscles are not standing, and the meat is attached." This is very insightful. I am in favor of starting with stippling a thin and hard Tang Kai. The regular script written by Ou Yangxun, a calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty, is clean with a pen and rigorous in structure, which has a great influence on later generations. The European book Huangfuyun Monument best represents the bold and unconstrained style of the European book, which is the clearest and most impressive among the published European books. The calligraphy of Jiuchenggong Liquan Ming is simple and heavy, vigorous and strong, and pursues rigor and steadiness. Liang praised the European writing. He said, "Write a thorough European book, which can be written on a tablet." Yang Shoujing in the Qing Dynasty said: "Ouyang Xin believed in the inscription of Li Quan, and Zhao Zigu advocated it as the ultimate rule of Kaifa. No one has any objection." Beginners can avoid the problem of loose structure by learning these two monuments. Yan Zhenqing, a calligrapher in the mid-Tang Dynasty, wrote "Duota Monument" at the age of 44, most of which was written by Fang Bi. The horizontal light and vertical weight are in sharp contrast, full of three-dimensional sense, neat and rigorous structure, suitable for beginners. Some of Yan Zhenqing's works in his later years are full of brushwork and rich in structure, and often pursue innocence and return to the original interest. Beginners tend to be bloated and ugly and should not be used as a way to get started. Liu Gongquan, a calligrapher in the late Tang Dynasty, wrote Xuanta Monument and Shence Army Monument with pen. The brushwork is clear and vigorous, just like clanking iron bones, and the heart is tight and the four sides are stretched. After learning, you can get fine and hard strokes and rigorous structure. As long as the professor is correct and the scholars persevere, it is not a problem to "join the job" within six months to one year. People point to their stomachs when they take things, and also use this part when they write. When writing, hold the pen tube with the abdomen of thumb, index finger and middle finger, hold the pen tube with the part where the nail of ring finger meets the flesh, and the little finger naturally sticks to the ring finger-this is the most common five-finger writing method. The essentials of writing can be summarized by "pointing to reality, palm deficiency, wrist flat, palm vertical, body straight and foot safe", which means that using a pen is important and appropriate. If it is too tight, it will be stiff, easy to get tired and shake. If it is too loose, stippling may be weak. Palm deficiency means that there should be a gap between fingers and palms, and between thumb and forefinger, so you can't hold it in large quantities. The need for a firm palm is like holding a bird in your hand. If you hold it too tightly, the bird will be killed. It's too loose, and the bird will fly away again. In other words, be flexible and moderate. Wrist level means that the plane between the two joints on the wrist is roughly parallel to the desktop, and the wrist should be lower than the palm, so that the palm will stand up. Writing is about wrist strength. If you sit and write with your elbows on the desk, if you don't keep your wrists flat and your palms upright, your stippling may be weak. The wrist is flat, which means that you should be close to flat when writing, but you don't have to be like this all the time when writing. Writing in the hand, writing in the wrist, writing is realistic, writing is alive. When lifting a pen, the left and right joints of the wrist are constantly moving up and down, otherwise, when writing, the arms will mechanically move in parallel. Another point about pen writing is that the structure and writing method of Chinese characters in China are suitable for right-handed pen writing. If you hold the pen with your left hand, it is often inconvenient to write. For example, if you write horizontally, you must push the pen from left to right, which is very awkward. The writing order of Chinese characters is from left to right, so beginners are encouraged to write with their right hands. Upright refers to sitting up straight when writing, with the chest standing naturally and one punch away from the desktop. When the right hand writes, the left hand presses on the paper to balance the strength. If you bend your head when writing, not only will your handwriting be bad, but your eyesight and spine will also be affected over time. At the end of Qing Dynasty, there was a calligrapher named Tang Tuo in Wujin County, Jiangsu Province. Tang Tuo studies very hard. He gets up before dawn every day and studies hard. After three years, his regular script has made great progress, but he has become hunched because of his sitting posture. This lesson is worth learning. Foot safety means that when writing, your feet are slightly open, shoulder width apart, and you lie flat on the ground to keep your body stable. Wrist stroke is held between fingers, fingers are connected to wrists, and wrists are connected to elbows. If you want to draw flexibly, you must click. The key to the cooperation between wrist and elbow lies in the movement of wrist. In calligraphy works presented to others, sometimes the title of the previous paragraph is "So-and-so is wrist", which means that the recipient is required to correct whether the wrist is flexible or powerful. Wrist movement is to manipulate the pen tip through the up-and-down fluctuation and back-and-forth fluctuation of the wrist, and write the required stippling. Because the distance between the wrist and the desktop is different, there are several different ways to write: holding the wrist: that is, the wrist is attached to the desktop to write. Touching the wrist prevents the pen from moving because the wrist is in contact with the desktop. You can use it when writing small fonts, but it is not suitable when writing large fonts. Occipital wrist; That is, write with your left hand pad under your right wrist. There is little difference between this method and the wrist grip method. The movement of the wrist is still greatly restricted, and once you get into the habit, you can't throw away the "crutch" of your left hand, and you feel powerless to write big characters. I once met an old gentleman who wrote all his life, and his left hand was still under his right wrist. He writes well in fine print and within an inch, but he lacks momentum when he writes about two inches. Wrist lifting: that is, putting your elbow on the table and lifting your wrist, which is the most common wrist method for sitting and writing Chinese characters. Wrist hanging: when writing, it is called wrist hanging if the wrist is not placed on the desktop. When writing Chinese characters, you must hang your wrist. Only by hanging your wrist can you reach the paper from your shoulder. And because your arm is not hindered by the desktop, you can pull the pen vertically and horizontally and lift it up and down at will, so it is the most free and flexible method. A beginner asked me: why don't you have to hang your wrist when writing fine print? Why don't wrists and elbows stick to the desktop when writing big characters? I replied: there is really no need to write small, it is necessary to write big. Short strokes and small characters are enough to handle with your fingers. Why do you want to hang your whole arm? Moreover, regular script is very strict in stippling and structure, and the whole arm suspension is neither stable nor durable, so it is difficult to write well. Why do you want to leave the desktop when writing big letters? The strokes of big characters are long, and the pen will not swing freely until the arm leaves the desktop. For example, writing a case with the elbow is like making a circle with the elbow as the center and the forearm as the radius, so the long cross will not be straight. How to write it well? In addition, in terms of fonts, seal script, official script and regular script are stricter in stippling and structure than cursive script, and the pen is more regular, so the distance between the wrist and the desktop is closer. Lines and cursive scripts are more unrestrained, and the distance between the wrist and the desktop is farther. So I think whether the wrist and elbow leave the desktop or not, and the distance from the desktop depends on the size and font of the text, so we can't generalize.