Dong Qichang's Calligraphy Course

First, calligraphy stippling should emphasize "lifting pressure". Lifting the pressure can make the lines three-dimensional, elastic, strengthen the contrast and give people considerable tension. Dong Shi's "pen-lifting" is about his own style. Compared with the calligraphy of inscriptions, the calligraphy of iron blood is inherently more stressful and less stressful. If he can lift the pen, the less the conical surface of the pen touches the paper, which is more conducive to making the turning smart and smooth and the lines more exquisite. Therefore, we can see that Dong Qichang's achievement is the epitome of iron and blood, pursuing a delicate and ethereal realm.

Secondly, I understand Dong Shi's so-called "returning to the wrist", that is, when writing a painting, you should hide the front when you start, and return to the front when you close it, which is what the predecessors said: "No sag, no contraction, no harvest." Only when you can keep the pen at first can you gradually put it down. Naturally, it is right to be slow first and then fast, and it is a layman to be fast first and then slow. Pen slip is an inadvertent brush sweep on the paper, and the ink is not completely immersed in the paper. Otherwise, the lines are either astringent or smooth and elastic.

Third, some people only know how to hide the front, but they don't know how to hide the front, which leads to vague writing and poor brushwork and becomes a vulgar book. Dong's words are for learners to study the brushwork of bibliophiles in past dynasties. Seal script, official script and regular script have different strokes of hiding front, and the angle and degree of hiding are also different, so it must be explained clearly.