Steleology includes Han and Wei dynasty tablets, epitaph statues and cliff inscriptions. The characteristics of the Stele School calligraphy are simplicity, thickness, grandeur and clumsiness. The formation of the Monument School calligraphy was the return of calligraphy to the writing techniques of official script and seal script. It triggered a change in the entire modern calligraphy style. Steleology is an innovative movement that draws lessons from the Han and Wei dynasties in terms of calligraphy structure and composition.
The official script is also called the eight-point script, and Zheng Banqiao’s regular script is jokingly called the “six-cent script” with the official meaning, which also shows the origin of his own calligraphy style. The official script is solemn and stretched, and has always been used as a calligraphy style to establish monuments and bricks. As the Tang Dynasty progressed, fewer and fewer people were good at writing official script. Moreover, under the influence of regular script, official script in the Tang Dynasty became smooth and smooth, with no aesthetic value. The majestic style of official script in the Han Dynasty gradually disappeared. It was not until the revitalization of calligraphy in the late Qing Dynasty that Han steles regained their vitality. The surviving cultural relics of Han steles became models for calligraphers to study.
In contrast, Wang Xizhi realized the evolution of Wei and Jin calligraphy from Li to regular script. His handwriting was extremely beautiful and well-proportioned and was widely recognized. During the Taizong period of the Tang Dynasty, the calligraphy of the two kings was vigorously promoted, accelerating the unification of calligraphy. Since then, the style of calligraphy has no longer been as diverse as before the Tang Dynasty, nor has it been as interesting as the Wei and Jin Dynasties. From the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, people in the world regarded the two kings as Dharma Tie, and later generations called it "Tie Xue". The practice of calligraphy in calligraphy extended to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and everyone wrote as if they were carved out of the same mold. It was called Guange style, and the culture of calligraphy was very bad. Guange style calligraphy was ridiculed by knowledgeable people at that time as "pretending to be like an abacus (as neat as abacus beads)". The creation of calligraphers was greatly restricted, and Tie style calligraphy also came to an end. If the vision is still limited to the calligraphy of the two kings, which is no better than Dong Qichang and worse than engraving and printing, calligraphy will not be considered a kind of knowledge. This situation must be changed.
The epigraphy that emerged in the Song Dynasty reached its peak during the Qianlong and Jiaqing dynasties of the Qing Dynasty. The research on the unearthed Zhongdingjijin seal characters and the study of handed down tablets has found a way out for calligraphy. Two great scholars, Weng Fanggang and Guifu, conducted in-depth research on the epigraphy and stone official script of the Han Dynasty and Miao Zhuan, and wrote books and theories. They also practiced integrating ancient characters into calligraphy works, which had a great influence on the literati at that time. People began to try and learn the fonts and styles of important inscriptions in the Han Dynasty. Weng Fanggang copied the "Shichen Stele"; Guifu was good at the calligraphy of "The Ritual Vessel Stele" and "Yiying Stele"; Sun Xingyan copied the seal script from Qin Lisi, and Wang Shu, etc. Scholars started with ancient tablets and formed a distinctive calligraphy style. Among the famous painters and seal carvers, there are also famous calligraphers. For example, Shi Tao's writing of official script was praised as "unparalleled in the south of the Yangtze River" by Qin Zuyong's "Tongyin Theory"; Jin Nong studied "Huashan Stele" and created " "lacquer calligraphy" advocated "same ability is worse than individual skill" and believed that calligraphy should have individuality; Zheng Banqiao created six points of calligraphy, "different people are angry"; Wang Shishen and Gao Fenghan and other famous writers who are good at writing seal script and divided calligraphy have made great achievements in the composition and deformation of calligraphy. They all made breakthroughs and formed a unique style and interest, which played an important role in inspiring the subsequent development of stele studies.
The prosperity of seal cutting art also promoted the development of stele calligraphy. Starting from Cheng Sui, a famous seal cutting master, to Ding Jing who founded the Zhejiang School, famous masters emerged in large numbers, including Deng Shiru, Huang Yi, Xi Gang, etc. As representatives, they are all proficient in various styles of calligraphy. To carve a good seal, you must write good calligraphy. Therefore, seal carvers admire the Qin and Han Dynasties, which also makes their calligraphy tend to the Qin and Han stele styles. In particular, Deng Shiru "is good at "Shiguwen", "Taishan Carved Stones", "Dunhuang Governor's Stele" and "Tianfa Shen Bei". The seal script was completed in five years. "The book was divided into three parts in three years...the parts of the book are beautiful and pure, and the changes are immeasurable." On this basis, Deng Shiru created a new method of using the pen. The seal carving technique, using a brush to press the paper, produced the inscription effect of cliff stone carvings, breaking Zhao Mengfu's statement that calligraphy was "not easy for thousands of years", and inherited and opened up the stele calligraphy style that had disappeared after the two kings. It can be called epoch-making. breakthrough. Therefore, Deng Shiru's calligraphy caused a sensation as soon as it appeared. People exclaimed: "This has not been done for thousands of years."
In the Tang, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, calligraphers of all dynasties used the calligraphy method to write seal script and official script, which was very slippery and obviously unworkable. With the rise of tablet learning, the writing method was reformed. Deng Shiru used a pen with "double hooks hanging on the wrist". ", the tube turns with the finger", Liu Shi'an "makes the pen like a dancing rolling dragon, coiling left and right, the tube turns with the finger", He Shaoji "hangs the wrist high, and uses all the strength of the body". Their calligraphy is very different from the current trends and is unique. . Bao Shichen's book "Yizhou Shuangji" provides an in-depth study and discussion of the Bei School calligraphy. In the late Qianlong period, stele studies gradually matured and developed into diversification. Famous calligraphers were all committed to research in this area. Zhao Zhichen, He Shaoji, Yi Bingshou, and Chen Hongshou were all national masters of the time. The calligraphy of this period emphasized "Don't forget." "Clumsy", replace clever charm with raw clumsiness, and eliminate the habit of artificiality. This inspired future generations. Once famous artists become dogma and force future generations to surrender, art becomes numb and cold-blooded, and becomes a rigid practice.
The calligraphy of the stele school was already very prosperous by the time of Kang Youwei. "By the time of Xian and Tong, the stele school had become popular. The three-foot-long boy, the ten-room society, all wrote in the Wei style." (Kang Youwei's "Guangyi Zhou Shuangji"). Kang Youwei's "Guang Yi Zhou Shuang Ji" provides a more complete discussion of the theory of stele studies. This book has had a great influence on the modern and contemporary calligraphy circles. The calligraphy of the Monument School developed from Kang Youwei to Xu Shengweng and Yu Youren, and gradually reached the realm of "great skill but clumsiness".
Contemporary calligraphy is divided into two schools. One school inherits Shen Yinmo’s calligraphy style that promotes the spirit of the two kings and is slightly conservative; the other school inherits the calligraphy spirit of Youren and advocates simplicity and simplicity. Nowadays, the two schools have a tendency to converge, that is, they respect both the stele and the two kings, learn from each other's strengths, and reach a unified understanding of the essence of calligraphy. From entering the law to leaving the law, eliminating carvings and maintaining naturalness is a popular calligraphy style in the calligraphy world nowadays.