Thread quality is an important factor in determining the level of calligraphy. Calligraphers often use a saying in their reviews of works: "Linework (or stippling) lacks quality." Therefore, book friends often leave messages asking, what do you mean by lack of quality? How can I make the lines look high-quality? To be honest, you'll understand this once you see it more often. If you have to explain it in detail, it's really not easy to explain clearly. However, Bao Shichen, a great book commentator in the Qing Dynasty, mentioned similar issues very early. We might as well listen to what he said.
Portrait of Bao Shichen
Bao Shichen, in "Art Boat Shuang Ji? Li Xia Bi Tan", said this brilliant thing about the problem of "cowardice" in writing at the time. The words of the history of calligraphy:
The technique of using the brush can be seen at both ends of the painting, while the ancients' strong and unbridled style is found in the middle of the painting. There are still signs to be found because of the manipulation of the two ends of the cover. Among them, the reason why the cut is abundant but not timid, solid but not empty, is not due to the insight of the bone potential, which cannot be caused by luck. There are also those who are bold at both ends and make the middle section empty. Try to draw the ancient post horizontally and straightly, cover the two ends and play with the middle section, and everyone will see it. The beauty of Zhongshi is hard to describe after martial virtue.
Bao Shichen’s words were mainly aimed at the ills caused by the prevalence of the pavilion style at that time. The Guange style heavily stylizes pointillism. The writer puts a lot of attention on the "two ends" of the pointillism. The writing becomes more complicated and unsightly, and he has to trace and make up for it. However, the "middle" line as the main body is extremely monotonous. , almost no change, weak and weak, which is the so-called "middle timidity". In this regard, he put forward the theory of "centered truth" and believed that this was the beauty of ancient writing. Zhongshi is what Bao Shichen said: "rich but not timid, solid but not empty, and insightful."