In line with the development and prosperity of China's calligraphy art, calligraphy theory in ancient China also gradually developed and prospered. Relatively speaking, the appearance of ancient calligraphy theory was later than the formation of calligraphy art. Judging from the information available at present, ancient books on calligraphy first appeared in the Han Dynasty. Yang Xiong, a scholar and writer in the Western Han Dynasty, put forward a famous conclusion in Fa Yan Wen God: "Books are also painted with heart." Although the word "calligraphy" here does not specifically refer to calligraphy, it first discusses the fundamental proposition of China and calligraphy theory-the relationship between calligraphy and calligraphers' thoughts and feelings, as well as the performance characteristics of calligraphy art, which has had a far-reaching impact on later calligraphy creation and calligraphy theory, and has become the source of China's book theory history.
The development, prosperity and prosperity of ancient calligraphy theory in China can be roughly divided into the following periods.
The Han Dynasty was the initial period of ancient calligraphy theory in China. With the maturity and prosperity of calligraphy art, theoretical works devoted to calligraphy have appeared. The earliest calligraphy article was a cursive script written by Cui Yuan, a calligrapher in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cui Shi believes that the emergence of cursive script is a reflection of social needs from complexity to simplicity, and describes and praises the formal beauty and dynamic beauty of calligraphy. It fully affirmed the artistic aesthetic function and value of calligraphy. Since then, several important calligraphy works have appeared, such as Zhao Yi's non-cursive calligraphy, Cai Yong's Shi Zhuan, Fu Bi, Babylon and Old Events. In particular, the great calligrapher Cai Yong's "On Pen" and "Nine Potential" occupy an important position in the history of China's calligraphy theory.
Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is the mature period of ancient calligraphy theory in China. During this period, the art of calligraphy flourished and a large number of famous calligraphers appeared. The development of calligraphy also promoted the study of calligraphy theory. During the Western Jin Dynasty, there appeared a number of theoretical works describing and comparing the art of calligraphy with various objects and trends, such as Li Shuti written by Cheng Gongxiang, Si Shutu written by Wei Heng, Cao Shu written by Suo Jing, Fei Bai Ti written by Liu Shao and Cao Shu Fu written by Yang Quan, which showed a kind of "objectification". In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, calligraphers were not satisfied with the description of the external forms of calligraphy, but began to explore the rules of using pens, the structure of structures and the composition skills, and paid attention to the relationship between people's subjective will and calligraphy. For example, Mrs. Wei's brushwork diagram, Wang Xizhi's "After the Title of Mrs. Wei's brushwork diagram", book theory, brushwork theory, pen fu, and Mr. Bai Yun's "Calligraphy Note" are all important book theories in this respect. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people began to pay attention to the comments on various calligraphers due to the influence of the times. The influential works in this field include Yang Xin's Ancient Books Abstracts, Yu He's On Books, and Wa Jianwu's Book. In particular, calligraphy theory, a monk named Wang, made a deliberate exploration of the process and characteristics of calligraphy creation, which had a far-reaching impact on the development of calligraphy art in later generations.
The Sui and Tang Dynasties was the prosperous period of ancient calligraphy theory in China. Although the Sui Dynasty was not established for a long time, its calligraphy inherited the inscriptions of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and was inspired by the Tang Kai School, which laid the foundation for the establishment of the regular script method in the Tang Dynasty. His calligraphy theory also focused on discussing the brushwork and structure of regular script, and Zhi Yong's Eight Laws of Yongzi and Zhi Guo's Ode to the Heart are the representatives in this respect. With the peak of calligraphy art in the Tang Dynasty, calligraphers and masters came forth in large numbers, with various schools, and calligraphy theory also flourished. A large number of systematic and weighty calligraphy books have come out one after another. The discussion of detailed techniques and the analysis of the law of calligraphy creation have gradually replaced the elaboration of the overall impression of calligraphy art, involving all aspects of calligraphy art and embodying the atmosphere of "respecting the law" in the Tang Dynasty. Thirty-six Methods, Sun Shu Pu, Zhang Huaiyu's Book Comments, Letters and Paragraphs, Lun, Liu Ti's Book Theory, Ten Methods of Using a Pen, Dou Quan's Book Fu, Yan Zhenqing's Twelve Meanings, and In the Book Team. In particular, Thirty-six Laws, Sun's Book Score and Yan Zhenqing's Twelve Laws occupy an important position in the history of calligraphy theory in China.
The Song Dynasty was a period of change in ancient calligraphy theory. For various reasons, the calligraphy in Song Dynasty was not as good as that in Tang Dynasty, but it was able to find another way, and the calligraphy in Song Dynasty was very popular for a while. And on calligraphy theory. Song Dynasty advocated that calligraphy creation should not be bound by statutes, and it is unnecessary to haggle over specific methods such as stippling and layout, but should pay attention to the charm of works and the inner spiritual temperament of calligraphers, freely express their thoughts and strive for innovation. It is a reflection of the calligraphy style of "Shang Yi" in Song Dynasty. Zhu's sequel "Broken Arm", Su Shi's Lun Shu, Dongpo's Inscription and Postscript, Huang Tingjian's Lun Shu, Mi Fei's Book History, Hai Yue's Famous Words and Jiang Kui's Lun Shu Pu are all representative works of this period. The continuation of the book score is particularly systematic and refined, which has been praised by calligraphers of all ages and has a great influence.
The art of calligraphy in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties did not develop much, and the research on calligraphy was still popular, and it has not yet gone out of the trough of calligraphy creation. In calligraphy theory, by inheriting the laws of Jin and Tang Dynasties, he denied the Song people's style of "respecting ideas", and then attached importance to the formal beauty of calligraphy art, demonstrating the demeanor of Wei and Jin Dynasties. In Yuan Dynasty, calligraphy was mainly based on statutes, including Yan Ji by Zheng Gou, Annotation by Liu Youding and Hanlinyao by Chen Yizeng. On the other hand, the book theory of the Ming Dynasty emphasized elegance and both strength and beauty. Tao's Society of Book History, Feng Fang's Shu Shu and Xiang Mu's Shu Pin Ya Yan are his representative works.
The Qing Dynasty is a period of connecting the past with the future in ancient calligraphy theory. Since the middle of Qing dynasty, there has been a pattern of obvious separation between tiexue and stele study, and tiexue has gradually turned from prosperity to decline, while stele study has become increasingly prosperous. Therefore, early calligraphy theory paid attention to the elucidation of pen and ink skills, and his representative works included Da Zhongguang's Book Raft and Zhu Luzhen's Book Slips. Later, it mainly discusses the theory of stele study. Ruan Yuan's North-South School of Calligraphy, Bei Bei Nan You, Bao's Yi Yi, and Kang Youwei's Yi are representative works in this field, forming an atmosphere of restraining posts and respecting monuments and emphasizing the north over the south. Liu Xizai's "Notes on Yi Jian" respectively summarizes the characteristics of the North and South styles of calligraphy, emphasizing their respective strengths and being fair and objective. Moreover, The Outline of Calligraphy gives a comprehensive, systematic and essential theoretical summary of the history of China's ancient calligraphy art, the evolution history of calligraphy style, and the techniques and styles of calligraphy art. These works occupy an important position in the history of China's ancient calligraphy theory. They comprehensively and systematically summarized the theory and practice of epigraphy in Qing Dynasty, which promoted the development and prosperity of calligraphy art in Qing Dynasty. It has had a far-reaching impact on the development of modern calligraphy.
The general outline of the development of ancient calligraphy theory in China is as mentioned above, from which we can easily find the following outstanding features:
First of all, pay attention to the summary and guidance of aesthetic fashion. Generally speaking, a society must have a social fashion, and this social fashion will inevitably affect all aspects of social culture; The welcome or resistance of social and cultural parties to this fashion will inevitably directly affect the prosperity and demise of this social fashion. Similarly, the aesthetic fashion of calligraphy art in different times is also different. How to guide this aesthetic trend and make it the dominant aesthetic trend in this era has become the concern and discussion of book theorists in various eras. For example, "Shang Xiang" in the Han and Wei Dynasties, "Shang Yun" in the Jin Dynasty, "Shang Fa" in the Tang Dynasty and "Shang Yi" in the Song Dynasty all summed up the aesthetic fashion in the practice of calligraphy art in various times, which in turn guided the practice of calligraphy creation and promoted the development and prosperity of calligraphy art.
Secondly, the study of calligraphy art is comprehensive and systematic. As long as you have a cursory look at calligraphy theory's works in ancient China, you will see that the research and summary of calligraphy art in ancient China is all-round, involving all aspects of calligraphy art and forming its own system. If we compare it with China's ancient painting theory, we can better show this feature. For example, the study of the development history of calligraphy began with Yang Xin's "Ancient Books" in the Southern Song Dynasty, and almost all subsequent dynasties produced such works. They listed the development history of calligraphy from ancient times to the end of Qing Dynasty, and preserved the complete face of the development history of calligraphy in China. Another example is the study of the evolution history of calligraphy, which involves the emergence, development, changes, concepts, characteristics and other aspects of calligraphy, such as Da Zhuan, Xiao Zhuan, Ba Fen, regular script, running script, Cao Zhang, Cao Jin, etc. It is systematic and comprehensive. Another example is the study of calligraphy techniques, which is extremely profound and comprehensive. Generally speaking, there are meticulous and accurate studies on pen, front, writing, knot, ink and white painting.
Third, pay attention to the relationship between books and character. As early as the Western Han Dynasty, Yang Xiong put forward the famous view that "the book is the painting of the heart", and believed that the works of calligraphy art were a direct reflection of the calligrapher's thoughts, morality and taste. This view has had a far-reaching impact on later generations. Zhu, a calligraphist in the Northern Song Dynasty, believes in his sequel "Duane" that the quality of a person's calligraphy art has a great relationship with his character cultivation. For example, he said: "Duke Lu can be described as a loyal minister, but ... was born in Bihan, resolute and well-prepared, such as a loyal minister and a righteous man, and he can't win big festivals." "Yangtze Cloud" paints with books as its heart, and Lu is convinced of this. "This actually means that Yan's dignified and vigorous style comes from his high morality and integrity. Liu Xizai, a great calligrapher in modern times, put it more clearly in The Outline of Books: "Books are like books. If you study, if you are talented, if you are ambitious, in short, you are like a person. "He believes that we can not only see the calligrapher's knowledge, talent and ambition through calligraphy, but also see the calligrapher himself. A good character makes a good book.
In addition, he is also good at expressing the feelings of the appreciator with vivid metaphors, thus fully showing the interweaving of various psychological activities in the process of appreciation. As early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Yong emphasized that the style of calligraphy creation should be integrated with various vivid forms of human nature with rich and beautiful metaphors. Since then, calligraphers of all ages have inherited this tradition. For example, Sun wrote in "Book Score": "Seeing the difference between a husband hanging a needle and revealing it, the wonder of falling rocks in the rush of thunder, the horror of flying beasts, the state of dancing snakes and being surprised, and the shape of landing on the shore and falling into danger." Or as heavy as a cloud or as light as a cicada; Guide the spring, the mountain will be safe; As thin as a cliff in the first month, the stars hold the moon ... "Here, the author uses a series of vivid metaphors-actually metaphors-to compare the wonderful scenes of Zhong You, Zhang Zhi and Erwang's calligraphy, which makes people get a perceptual understanding and easy to understand. This kind of example is really endless.
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