Concise and vigorous
Vertical and horizontal ups and downs
Yan Zhenqing’s cursive writing has the characteristics of being both concise and vigorous, as well as vertical and horizontal ups and downs. His writing style is vigorous, skillful and natural, and has the flavor of seal script, but his cursive writing still maintains the standards of Wei and Jin Dynasties. Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy theory is circulated in "Twelve Meanings of Zhang Changshi's Calligraphy".
The way of writing has been discussed before. The next step is to use its essentials. How to make various strokes when starting to write, expressing different calligraphy styles. There are many changes during this period, and there are also things like the time between starting and starting. The method, the priority of strokes, the connections and breaks between strokes or words, the way of turning, the use of strokes, etc. all need to be paid attention to. But even though there are many, there are still certain rules to be found. The following is roughly divided into seven points, which are briefly described in categories:
Starting and ending a pen:
As for starting a pen, make sure that the square and circle are clear. , perfect and clean, Bao Shichen said: "The starting point of writing: if you go along, there will be no missing peaks, and if you go in reverse, there will be no rising ink." If there are no missing peaks, the shape will be perfect, and if there is no rising ink, the strokes will be clean. round. When closing the pen, you need to pause or fold the tip of the pen to make a square shape, and return the tip to make a round shape. The above points are the basic principles for getting started, and you should practice more.
Pose and pause:
When you are writing, the process of completing a word is composed of lifting and pausing. "Dun" is formed by the interaction of pen and stroke. "Dun" means pressing the pen down, bending the edge of the pen and exerting force on the paper. "Lift" means to lift or half-lift the pen to continue writing. Generally speaking, you need to lift the pen before you can stroke after pausing, and you need to pause after lifting the pen to shape the stroke or to connect the next stroke. Finally the words take shape. That’s why it is said that calligraphy writing is an alternating process of mention and pause. It also includes more detailed changes, such as full and half lifts, and the importance of pauses. This requires readers to experience it themselves.
Turn and fold pens:
In addition to the above-mentioned lifting and pauses, pen turning and pen folding also need to be paid attention to. "Turn" is the method of making round strokes, and "Zuo" is the method of drawing square strokes. Zhang Tingxiang once said: "The real book is formed by pointillism, and its nature is revealed by turning." Among them, as seen in the breakdown of ancient books, folding can also be called turning. The method of expression is "drag and add on top", which means to stop the pen during the stroke and change the direction of the stroke to make a slight "ㄟ" shape. Square the outer corners to get the meaning of the strokes. As for the turning method, it is also called twisting. In the strokes, "moving and turning downwards", the meaning is almost the same as above, but it does not stop when turning, and turns downwards with the trend. The shape is also the same as ㄟ, but the outer corners of the drawing are rounded, turning The amplitude is relatively large. Jiang Menglin once explained it graphically and attached a poem: "Turn it over and fold it into a right angle, twist it and roll it like a spin." This example can be clearly seen.
Square pen and round pen:
This part is more complicated and focuses on the overall effect. According to the above-mentioned starting, closing, lifting, pausing, turning and folding, when writing, slow down a little to make the writing more stable. Use appropriate techniques to make the strokes medium at the starting, ending and turning points to highlight them. The curvature makes the overall structure look round, relaxed and elegant. The square brush highlights the backbone of the strokes among the above-mentioned points, making the overall structure clear, straight yet light, calm, vigorous and straight. Zhang Longyan said: "The square brush is straight and precise, while the round brush is crooked and strange." He praised it very much.
Hidden front and exposed front:
When it comes to the pen edge, it can be extended to deviated front, straight front, overlapping front, folded front, and return front. It is important to know the usage of the pen edge. If there is no change in the center of the calligraphy pen, that is the way to die. The hidden front and the exposed front are the most important. Hiding the edge means hiding the edge of the brush in the strokes without showing traces; exposing the edge means the edge of the brush is exposed naturally. Xu Haoyun: "When using a pen, you need to hide the sharp edge. If the sharp edge is not hidden, the writing will be defective." This sentence is very clear. If the brush strokes are not concealed, there will be a lack of implicit and deep rhyme. Also, if one side is not emphasized, it will be a disease if the strokes are not in the middle. The two must be coordinated, the hidden edge encapsulates the spirit, the exposed edge allows the spirit, so that the character's momentum is straight and straight, and the charm is natural, that is, the way is achieved.