Characteristics of inscriptions on bronze inscriptions
Bronze inscriptions, also known as inscriptions on Zhong Dingwen and bronzes, are words cast (or engraved) on bronzes in ancient times (bronzes were called auspicious gold in ancient times). There are many concave inscriptions and some convex inscriptions. The lettering on bronze Ding Yi wares began in Shang Dynasty and prevailed for two weeks. The font of inscriptions on bronze in Shang Dynasty is similar to that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, with fewer words in each inscription. At first, the bronze inscriptions in Zhou Dynasty followed those in Shang Dynasty. Later, the number of words in bronze inscriptions increased and the font changed greatly, which gradually evolved into a unique new book style and became a representative of the calligraphy style of an era. Compared with Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty, the inscriptions in Zhou Jin's inscriptions are more standardized, more stable and more symbolic (that is, pictographic and iconicity are reduced). However, compared with Biography, the structure of inscriptions on bronze inscriptions in Zhou Dynasty is still not fully finalized, and the radicals often overlap and are replaced, which is more heterogeneous than Biography. The inscriptions on bronze in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, especially those so-called family emblem characters, even retained a more primitive and patterned form than Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty.
On the whole, the structure of bronze inscriptions is more square and tidy than that of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, and the distribution of strokes pays more attention to balance and symmetry. However, compared with Xiao Zhuan, there are not so strict rules and it is not allowed to cross the line. To a greater extent, it also allows practices such as uneven length, oblique miscellaneous, uneven density and different sizes. In other words, the structure of bronze inscriptions in the Zhou Dynasty has certain norms and great freedom, showing a relatively free and lively style. . Therefore, the configuration of the same word in different inscriptions often has its own heroic and interesting nature. Let's look at several structures of the words "yellow" and "right" (see Figure 42). There are similarities and differences, each with its own style. Examples like this are endless. As long as you turn to Mr. Rong Geng's Jin Wen Bian, you can see them everywhere. Although the pen for bronze inscriptions in the Zhou Dynasty is dominated by lines, it is not a "jade work" with absolutely equal thickness and hidden head and tail, but the thickness can be slightly changed, and the two ends are sharp (exposed, not often exposed). Besides lines, round beads or other natural points are often used. In addition, silk was popular in bronze inscriptions at the end of Shang Dynasty and the beginning of Zhou Dynasty, and its shape was a bit like oblique silk in later regular script, such as "You" and "Shou" in Great Yu Ding (see Figure 3). It may be due to the disharmony between individual stippling patterns and the overall line structure, and this wave suppression decreased or even disappeared in the late Western Zhou Dynasty. Individual strokes that are particularly heavy because of filling in the blanks (such as "Cai", "Tian" and "Zi" in Da Mengding). ) also disappeared, and the whole pen gradually approached Xiao Zhuan. As for the composition of bronze inscriptions, there are many styles, mainly vertical, but also vertical and horizontal. For the arrangement of word groups, the most common is that there are vertical lines without horizontal lines, the size and length of words are patchy, the head and tail are balanced, and the rhyme and tone are consistent, which is quite similar to the composition commonly used in running scripts later, and there are also two-way lines, even before writing, and the size differences of words are not too much, which makes them look neat. The patterns of bronze inscriptions are also varied, such as long, square, round or irregular, which generally adapt to the shape of the surface wall of the attached objects.
The Zhou Dynasty (especially the Western Zhou Dynasty) is an era of calligraphy art progress, and the physical style of bronze inscriptions presents an unprecedented scene of flowers blooming. As far as the inscriptions on bronze wares in the Zhou Dynasty are concerned, some are elegant, such as large and large, some are round and neat, soft and healthy, such as siding (see Figure 6), and some are simple and dignified, vigorous and powerful, such as large and Mao Ding. The diversity of styles reflected the intellectuals' pursuit and attainments of calligraphy art at that time.
The characteristics and style of bronze inscriptions;
According to the research of experts and scholars, the characteristics and style of bronze inscriptions can be roughly divided into four periods:
One is Yin Shang. Bronze inscriptions in Shang dynasty are generally very short, with only one or two or a dozen words. For example, "Father B" and "Father D" are mainly people's names, mostly clan names, people's names, names of ancestors who were sacrificed, vessel names, manufacturers' names, family emblems and so on. There are many hieroglyphs in Shang inscriptions, most of which are animals, such as horses, tigers, birds, fish, elephants, pigs and dogs, as well as images of weapons, families, ships, sons, mountains and descendants. This is a unique phenomenon of bronze inscriptions in Shang Dynasty. These hieroglyphs are more primitive and lifelike than Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which can be said to be the older fonts in the inscriptions on bronze. The inscriptions in this period are rigorous and meticulous, and the strokes are fierce and magnificent. Representative works include: Wu Ding, Yiziting, Ding Xin, etc. Although there are few words, they are unique in style, some are simple and dignified, and some are smooth and thin, which opened the precedent of bronze inscriptions in the Western Zhou Dynasty.
The second is the Western Zhou Dynasty. During this period, Jin Wen made great progress. Due to the rich ritual vessels in the Western Zhou Dynasty, a considerable number of bronze inscriptions were left in the world. Stylistically, the inscriptions on bronze in the early Western Zhou Dynasty have the characteristics of simplicity, solemnity, grandeur and boldness. As a whole, they embody the formal beauty of the combination of lines and blocks. By the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the style of bronze inscriptions had changed from simple and dignified to elegant and peaceful, and the brush was soft and smooth, but the decorative meaning was weakened, the brushwork was enhanced and the line layout was relaxed and comfortable. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, the inscriptions on bronze tended to be mature, the strokes tended to be unified from the initial fat and thin disparity, the glyphs were more free, and the styles were diversified, showing the mature style characteristics of Dazhuan. The famous heavyweights in this period are Da, Pan, Mao and Xiao. Generally speaking, the inscriptions on bronze inscriptions in this period have generally balanced fonts, rounded and even strokes and neat and dignified strokes.
The third is the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is also the decline period of Jinwen. During this period, there were more seal cutting and thinner strokes. Therefore, the bronze inscriptions at this time are very beautiful, slightly shorter and more varied than those in the Western Zhou Dynasty. It is worth noting that there are bird books in the bronze inscriptions, which are mainly used for the decoration of weapons. At the same time, the inscription at this time was not only registered, but also accompanied by a message of "Children and grandchildren cherish forever".
Fourth, after the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was also the end of bronze inscriptions. The style of inscriptions on bronze has gradually changed, which is different from previous inscriptions. Qin Shihuang unified the world and abolished the feudal regime. The court Yi wares gradually disappeared, and the manufacture of bronze Yi wares also stopped. The inscriptions on gold wares in Qin Dynasty are mainly about weights and measures, and the main inscriptions are mostly about the standardization of weights and measures. As for the inscriptions in the Han dynasty, most of them are the names, years, sizes and auspicious languages of the objects themselves.
The development and evolution of bronze inscriptions
The inscriptions on bronzes in Shang, Zhou and Pre-Qin Dynasties are called "Ji Jinwen", also called "Zhong Dingwen" or "Zhong Ding Kuanzhi", which are named after their carrier materials and are the main characters in the Bronze Age. The bronze age in China has a history of about 1500 years, from the Shang Dynasty, through the Western and Eastern Zhou Dynasties, to the unification of China by Qin Shihuang. During this period, the fonts and styles of bronze inscriptions have changed greatly.
Broadly speaking, inscriptions on bronzes refer to all the characters engraved on bronzes, including tadpole inscriptions in the middle of Shang Dynasty, inscriptions on early Oracle Bone Inscriptions in the late Shang Dynasty, and inscriptions on bronzes in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period and Qin Jin Period. The inscriptions on calligraphy are mainly manifested in the calligraphy characteristics of inscriptions on bronze in Zhou Dynasty.
The glyphs of inscriptions on bronze are varied, some are complex and some are concise; There are many styles of fonts, some are sleek and some are sharp. This is not only due to the historical and cultural conditions, but also directly related to the method of making bronze inscriptions. There are generally three ways to create characters on bronzes.
The first is the carving of sub-modules. Make a clay tire in advance, carve characters on it, then turn over the mold, burn it into a ceramic mold and cast it. It is characterized by convenient writing and easy revision, without losing the original appearance of the text.
The second type is master mold carving. Carve the words on the unfired master mold in reverse, so that the cast words are convex. Write the reverse book first, and then cast the convex book, which is consistent with the pattern on the vessel. The font is heavy and decorative.
The third is to cast a tire chisel. Chisel with a knife. Inscriptions were carved on the cast bronzes. It is characterized by slender lines and straight lines, so the folding angle is obvious.
In Shang and Zhou Dynasties, bronze inscriptions and Oracle Bone Inscriptions were parallel, with Oracle Bone Inscriptions as the main body in Shang Dynasty and bronze inscriptions as the representative in Zhou Dynasty. The early inscriptions on bronze inscriptions clearly have the characteristics of Oracle Bone Inscriptions. However, due to the differences in material carrier, classification method, historical region and human conditions, the font and calligraphy style of bronze inscriptions are obviously different from those of Oracle Bone Inscriptions. Using a pen to change the square carved by Oracle Bone Inscriptions into a circle is more vigorous and simple and naive. The strokes are hidden or exposed, thick or thin, square or round, curved or straight, and the morphological changes are very rich. In terms of structure, some are dignified, some are Gu Zhuo, some are bold and unrestrained, and some are elegant, which can be described as different styles and graceful. Composition, or neat and simple, or elegant and elegant, the lines are patchy and varied.
After Ganjia in Qing Dynasty, textual research school prevailed, and the wind of epigraphy textual research prevailed. Therefore, the wind of bronze inscriptions in the Qing Dynasty also developed, and many inscriptions of Zhong Dingwen appeared in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. Li Ruiqing's Collection of Characters in the Qing Dynasty, Shu Duan, divided the inscriptions on bronze into several schools. The following excerpts are made to refer to the evolution track of his calligraphy style.
First, Yin school: Wang Ba version of Niu Gu "Fat".
Second, the style of Zhou Temple: Mao, Song Dun, Song Hu,,.
Third, the "Qi" faction: the "Qi" faction.
Fourth, Zhong School: Gong Chuzhong. Meng Ding is divided into three schools: one is Zhang Menglong and the other is Europe.
Yang asked; 2. Jing Jun Monument and Song Gaoling Temple Monument; Three books, Zhang Qianbei and Xianbaozi, were written by Europeans in the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Toarey Yang
Five, the school of "Ding Ke": "Ding Ke" and "Bai Pan".
Sixth, the "Youbiding" school: "Youbiding" and "Xi Jia Pan".
Seven, "high school" school: "high school", "Juyi" and "Purple He Zi Pot".
Eight, "Dading" school: "Dading" and "Shisongdun"
Nine, "Lu Gong cutting Ding" school: "Lu Gong cutting Ding" and "Yan" school.
Famous examples of inscriptions on bronze are: Dafengdun, Dabaodun, Lingdun and Damengding in the early years of Western Zhou Dynasty. The strokes obviously have the style of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which is straight, sharp at the end and fat in the middle. Influenced by tadpoles, the whole strokes become more and more round. Ding Fu, Dun Fu, Class Rules, siding, etc. in the middle of Western Zhou Dynasty. The strokes become more rounded, the structure becomes more uniform, and the composition is patchy and natural. In the late Western Zhou Dynasty, Mao, Pan and Pan are the most mature and artistic representative works in bronze calligraphy. In addition, during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Qi and Qi Taizai killed Pan, Zhong and rebellion, Qin Gongdun and Qin, all inherited from the Western Zhou Dynasty, each with its own merits, but they were no longer strong. Wu Dazhi and Li Ruiqing are the famous modern calligraphers of inscriptions on bronze.
There are also many monographs on the collation and research of bronze inscriptions in past dynasties, such as Lu Zhai Lu by Wu Daji, Zhou Jin Wen Cun by Zou An, Jin Wen Xu Biao by Wang Guowei, Jin Wen Xu Bu by Bao Ding, Three Generations of Ji Jin Wen Cun by Luo Zhenyu, and Two-week Catalogue of Bronze Inscriptions by Guo Moruo.