Calligraphy: The history of the development of Chinese calligraphy can be traced back at least to the Yin and Shang Dynasties. However, from the Yin Shang oracle bone inscriptions to the bronze inscriptions and seal scripts, although there is a conscious or unconscious pursuit of the beauty of calligraphy, calligraphy has a great influence on the world. To a certain extent, it is a practical tool and has not become an independent art form - an object of people's appreciation and criticism. Moreover, it is difficult to find records about calligraphy criticism, so the history of calligraphy criticism is not as long as the history of calligraphy. If we count from the Qin Dynasty, which produced the Xiaozhuan script with obvious artistic aesthetic form and the first batch of calligraphers with historical evidence (Li Si, Hu Wujing, Zhao Gao), then the period until the demise of the Qing Dynasty in 1911 The long history of calligraphy criticism was completely completed under the shadow of the feudal social system.
Under the feudal system, there was a strict hierarchy from common people to the emperor. If the lower class people wanted to enter the upper class or the ruling class of society, they had to pass selection. This selection developed into the imperial examination in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. "Hanshu Yiwenzhi" records: "When the Han Dynasty was prosperous, Xiao He Caolu said: 'Taishi examines students who can write more than 9,000 satires, and they will be selected as history. ’ They were also tested in six categories, and the best ones were Shangshu, Yushi, Shishu, and Lingshi. When officials and people submit letters, if the words are incorrect, they are often impeached. "In addition, Ma Zonghuo said in his "Shu Lin Zao Jian" that the Tang Dynasty attached great importance to calligraphy: "It is imitated in the Zhou Dynasty to use calligraphy as a teaching method, to imitate the Han Dynasty to recruit scholars, and to imitate the Jin Dynasty to appoint doctors of calligraphy. . The establishment of calligraphy specifically began in the Tang Dynasty. "Since the Tang Dynasty, the role of calligraphy in selection has continued to increase. As a result, literati and scholars all over the world devoted their efforts to this. In addition, the brush was dominant in the field of ancient writing tools, and the imperial examination had the same purpose as practicality. Promoting the popularization and improvement of calligraphy, it not only cultivated generations of calligraphers, but also produced countless calligraphy critics and calligraphy appreciators.
In addition to the imperial examination system, the highest level of the ruling class. Personal likes and dislikes often affected the development of calligraphy in this era. Emperor Taizong Li Shimin of the Tang Dynasty highly praised Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. He not only studied Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, but also personally wrote the "Book of Jin" "Biography of Wang Xizhi" to praise it, thus establishing Wang Xizhi's reputation. Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is the standard in calligraphy criticism. There is also Song Huizong Zhao Ji. He is not only an outstanding calligrapher and painter, but also an advocate and organizer of artistic activities. He expanded the Hanlin Academy of Calligraphy and Painting, gathered many calligraphers and painters, edited the "Xuanhe Calligraphy Book", organized the engraving of "Daguan Tie", and also extensively collected scattered folk cultural relics. This was not only conducive to the spread and development of art at that time, but also had an impact on later generations. Very big. On the other hand, the negative effects of the personal likes and dislikes of the top ruling class cannot be ignored. In the early Qing Dynasty, Kangxi liked Dong Qichang's calligraphy, and the world was eager to learn from it. Later, Qianlong also admired Zhao Mengfu, so Zhao's calligraphy became popular all over the world. Therefore, the calligraphy of the early Qing Dynasty was inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty and the late Qing Dynasty. In addition, the calligraphy preferences of powerful officials will also affect the current style, such as Li Zong'e, Cai Xiang, Wang Anshi in the Song Dynasty, Weng Tonghe in the Qing Dynasty, etc. This kind of calligraphy style based on the likes and dislikes of high-level officials and powerful officials violates the development law of calligraphy art. Not only will it hinder and restrict the development of calligraphy, but it will also distort the objective standards of calligraphy criticism.
If the likes and dislikes of the imperial examination and high-level officials affected calligraphy from the top down, then the various social trends of thought in different eras had an effect from the bottom up, and this is more in line with the development of calligraphy. objective requirements. Because the emergence of each social trend of thought is closely related to the aesthetics and philosophy of the previous era and this era, it often reflects the overall spiritual outlook of this society, from which we can also get a glimpse of its influence on the calligraphy art of that time. Influence in all aspects. The "Xuantan" style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was the product of the society's break with Confucian ethics and admiration of Taoist philosophy at that time, and this was also the thought of the times that gave rise to Wang Xizhi's calligraphy of "not exciting but not vigorous, but the rules are far away". trend. In the early Tang Dynasty, with the remnants of the Sui Dynasty, the calligraphers were thin and hard. With the development of society and economy in the Tang Dynasty, the culture was at its peak and the society was prosperous in the Tang Dynasty. Correspondingly, the aesthetics of the society changed from those in the early Tang Dynasty to those in the early Tang Dynasty. Slimness turned into fatness, and Yan Zhenqing's lush, powerful, rich and full calligraphy that appeared in this era naturally became the product and typical representative of this trend of thought. The great development of cursive script in the Song Dynasty can also be seen as the result of escaping from the strict regular script formed in the Tang Dynasty and pursuing the freehand calligraphy style of the Song Dynasty.
In addition, the "emphasis on calligraphy style" in the Ming Dynasty and the rise of stele studies in the Qing Dynasty were all innovative ideas put forward by people at that time after they deeply thought about the shortcomings of calligraphy in the previous period, and their correctness and validity were confirmed by irrefutable facts. It has a significant impact on the development of calligraphy, and this impact is fundamental.
In addition to the above aspects, when studying the history of calligraphy, we will also find that the development of calligraphy in each era has its own characteristics and is quite different. Although this difference is not immediately apparent, it often lasts for a long time. The result of accumulation over time, but the impact of changing dynasties on calligraphy is objective. Shortly after the Qin Dynasty unified writing into Xiaozhuan, its dominant position was replaced by the official script in the Han Dynasty, and in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the official script was overshadowed by the regular cursive script. In addition to the laws of the development of writing, is there no other reason? ? Then why didn’t the cursive script, which was basically produced in parallel with the official script, also mature and develop in the Han Dynasty? Why was it that not long after the official script matured in the Eastern Han Dynasty, its status was replaced by regular script in the Wei and Jin Dynasties? Why were regular script tablets so popular in the Northern Wei Dynasty? Why did calligraphy flourish in the Tang Dynasty but almost disappeared by the Five Dynasties? Why did the Song Dynasty advocate freehand brushwork while the Yuan Dynasty advocated restoration? ... Because every dynasty change not only destroys existing achievements, but also causes the ruling ideology to change constantly as the situation develops and is subject to the need to consolidate rule. The prosperity of the Han Dynasty inevitably requires an art form that is compatible with it, and the simple inner quality and flying momentum of official script are exactly the product of this need; the Wei and Jin Dynasties settled in the south of the Yangtze River, did not think about progress, and valued elegance and Taoism. Official script How can old-fashioned writing be more suitable for expression and informality than cursive writing! During the foreign rule in the Northern Dynasties, Buddhism flourished, advocating the afterlife, and popular burials, so epitaphs flourished. In the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, wars continued, characters were lost, and everyone was in danger, so why did they have time to engage in art? In the Yuan Dynasty, a foreign race took over, and Zhao Mengfu, who was an official, was favored. He advocated a gentle style of calligraphy and set off a retro style in order to eliminate people's dissatisfaction with reality and make them content with the status quo... It is this kind of ruling ideology that changes with time. It played a subtle role in the formation of calligraphy styles in various dynasties in the history of calligraphy.
In China's feudal society, starting from the Han Dynasty, the ruling ideas adopted by the ruling class were basically orthodox Confucian academic ideas. The Confucianism founded by Confucius and Mencius advocated monarchy and established a strict hierarchical system. It required loyalty and filial piety from its subjects, strengthened its rule with a series of ethical and moral norms, advocated "the integration of propriety and benevolence", and advocated "neutralization". On the one hand, Confucianism could adapt to the needs of feudal rulers to establish centralized politics, and played an important role in maintaining social stability and consolidating the ruling order; on the other hand, it imprisoned people physically and mentally into feudal despotism. The free expression of human nature is greatly restricted in this prison.
When people cannot escape the strong existence of Confucian ethics in reality, they will pursue the sky of freedom in the spiritual world. Literature and art have become the vast wilderness for literati to gallop their free souls, so in reality Seeking transcendence became the spiritual ideal of intellectuals in feudal society. The Taoist doctrine is exactly suitable for people's spiritual needs.
If Confucianism plays a leading role in traditional Chinese political culture, ethics, culture and education, customs and habits, and national spirit, then in the fields of traditional Chinese philosophy, literature, art, sports, etc. The key role should be played by Taoism. But the two are not absolute, but blend and penetrate each other. Therefore, calligraphy not only talks about the yin and yang opposition of hidden edge and exposed edge, hardness and softness, speed and astringency, etc., but also talks about the beauty of neutrality of hidden edge and exposed edge, hardness and softness...; it not only pays attention to the stability of order - emphasizing the law, but also paying attention to Freedom of individuality - Shangyi Shangqing; not only pay attention to the integrity of people, but also pay attention to the elegance and freedom of calligraphy... But fundamentally speaking, the influence of Taoist thought on the art of calligraphy is more fundamental and more in line with the development law of art. Because art has no life without innovation, and artists without their own individual freedom will not produce great works.
Therefore, the ideological and cultural basis for the existence and development of Chinese calligraphy and even calligraphy criticism in feudal society is "Taoist thought as the core, while integrating the essence of Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism, famous schools and other schools of thought "The traditional Chinese cultural thought.
The history of calligraphy criticism should be consistent with the history of calligraphy, because when there is creation, human consciousness (including aesthetic consciousness) must penetrate it, and it must also involve comparison and selection, because there is no Screening and judgment cannot be distinguished and cannot be used.
However, the early history of calligraphy was attached to the practical purpose of calligraphy. Even calling the writing relics at that time calligraphy works was an addition by later generations. Therefore, even if there were any aesthetics, comments, comparisons, and judgments about writing at that time, It is just simple, based on practicality and has not risen to the level of true artistic aesthetics, so it cannot be called calligraphy criticism. If we talk about real calligraphy criticism, I think it should at least appear before the Qin Dynasty. Because Li Si of the Qin Dynasty was already recognized as a great calligrapher, he was not only ordered to unify the scripts of the six countries into Xiaozhuan, but also created the standard model of Xiaozhuan. Wherever writing is important, whether it is when Qin Shihuang traveled eastward to prefectures or counties, Li Si was chosen to write the stone carvings erected to show off his martial arts skills, the Tiger Talisman for the Military Festival, and the jade seal edict. Presumably people's appreciation of calligraphy was already very popular at that time. But unfortunately: we have never seen definite evidence about this from the Qin Dynasty or before the Qin Dynasty. The earliest special text material on calligraphy that we can see should be "Fei Cao Script" by Zhao Yi of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Since then, there have been numerous documents on calligraphy criticism in the past dynasties, some of which are independent volumes, some of which are essays and reflections, and some of which are in the form of poetry. , some are sent to the inscriptions and postscripts... Together they form a unique treasure house of calligraphy criticism documents in our country. Throughout the history of calligraphy criticism in our country, we can't help but sigh at the great creations of our ancestors and be proud of the excellent cultural tradition.