Any kind of art has its special meaning. If Chinese painting expresses more of a natural philosophy, emphasizing the in-depth integration with nature, and its pictures often show a musical spiritual realm, then calligraphy is completely connected with it, and its performance is more prominent. Because calligraphy does not have as many objects to describe as painting, its creative objects are simpler - just the physical structure of Chinese characters and very pure lines. As Lao Tzu said, "The elephant is invisible" because calligraphy is more abstract and pure than other art styles. Calligraphy has both concrete and abstract expression functions. It is colorless but has the brilliance of pictures, and is silent but has the harmony of music. It uses abstract lines as artistic materials to express and convey various shapes, emotions and momentum, forming a unique aesthetic. style. Calligraphy is the art of lines, full of vitality and appeal. This kind of stippling lines is not rigid, but dynamic. It is separated from the specific picture of things, but it can express the power of the universe and the power of life. The lines of Chinese calligraphy depend on the pen, the Tao, the spirit, and the Qi. "Book of Changes" says: "One yin and one yang are called Tao." Chinese philosophers believe that Yuan Qi is the origin of all things in the world, and Yuan Qi is divided into two qi, Yin and Yang, that is, "Tao originates from one and becomes two."
The beautiful form of calligraphy is manifested in many aspects such as stippling, structure, movement, and composition. At its core, calligraphy is dominated by stippling, that is, lines.
So, what kind of lines can be called beautiful? Mainly manifested in the following aspects:
① The three-dimensional sense of lines The three-dimensional sense of calligraphy lines is the life of calligraphy art. In this regard, the ancients made a lot of explorations based on practice, and finally they found the rules for using pens that are unanimously recognized by people, which is the so-called "center". Mi Fu in the Song Dynasty said: "If you have a pen (the effect of using a center stroke), even if it is as thin as a moustache, it will be round; if you don't have a pen, even if it is as thick as a rafter, it will be flat." The "round" mentioned in it refers to lines. three-dimensional feeling.
② The sense of force of lines Generally speaking, the sense of force of lines has many factors, and the most important ones are roughly: first, the center pen with round and thick lines; The third one is the astringent brushwork that incorporates an appropriate amount of vigorous and dry strokes into the lines, and the fourth one is the sense of stability and solidity formed by the precise combination of lines.
③The emotion of lines The emotion of lines is one of the important foundations of the emotion of words. Generally speaking, this has to do with the author's mood when writing. When a person is happy, because he is in a relaxed mood, his writing is often beautiful; when a person is in trouble, because his mood is heavy, his writing is often heavy-handed. In addition, it is self-evident that impatient people write in a hurry while indifferent people write empty words.
④Rhythm of lines Sun Guoting said in "Shu Pu": "Within one painting, the changes are ups and downs; within a point, the peaks are frustrated." The thickness is the same but not the same. Rhythmic lines cannot arouse people's sense of beauty. The so-called cadence, ups and downs, although there is no sound, have the melody of music. This is one of the important reasons why calligraphy can move people.
⑤ Echo of lines The glyph is composed of lines, that is to say, it is composed of specific "stippling". The ancients attached great importance to the echo between dot paintings. The starting stroke is "Hu", the corresponding stroke is "Ying", or in the middle of a stroke, the "Ying" is up and down, looking forward to the situation. Only in this way can each word flow through the blood and become an organic whole, thus giving people a sense of life. Otherwise, each dot in the character will be independent and unrelated to each other, which will make the entire character shape scattered and unorganized. How can there be any art?
To sum up, the above five points are the key to the beauty of calligraphy art lines. In addition, there are some more, such as "drawing beauty with side strokes", which I won't go into here.
As for the specific ways to appreciate calligraphy, Chen Zhenlian said in the article "Specific Ways to Appreciate Calligraphy" that there are five specific ways: from stillness to movement, from abstraction to concreteness, from prototype to extension, and from plane to Three-dimensional, from clear to hazy.
① From stillness to movement What calligraphy provides to the audience is the established pointillism structure, which is stationary. An important task for the appreciator is to restore the static pointillism into a dynamic process, thereby exploring the ups and downs of the calligrapher's emotions, changes in brushwork techniques and even their psychological basis during creation. Jiang Kui, a calligrapher from the Song Dynasty, said in "Sequel to Book Spectrum": "When I look at famous books from ancient times, the dot paintings all vibrate, as if I saw them moving." The static dot paintings become vibrating, and when viewed, they vibrate. You can also simultaneously experience the reasoning process of previous generations of authors when they wrote. This indeed fully demonstrates the important role of the temporality of calligraphy art in appreciation.
② From concrete to abstract Abstract calligraphy structures and dot paintings are inseparable from the appreciation and supplementation of the appreciator. Consciously making analogies between certain identical or similar things and images is also a method that appreciators like to adopt. Although this analogy is not fixed, it is in line with the characteristics of visual appreciation. This shows that the abstraction of calligraphy is by no means without images. On the contrary, it is precisely because the abstraction provided by calligraphy is highly general that it can provide viewers with a wide range of imagination.
③From prototype to extension. The sense of movement of lines and the association of lines are actually inseparable from the extension of this "momentum". "A bird stands firm and aims to fly; a beast is frightened and aims to gallop" is a metaphor with strong momentum. But the actual lines do not have such expressive power of flying and galloping. Only through the viewer's association and extension of the lines, can the viewer find out the foreshadowing of the desire to fly, and further associate this desire to fly with distinctive images such as "birds confronting each other" and "ferocious beasts". Come and form the beauty of art. It can be seen that the understanding of the extension of the line structure is actually an important aspect that must be possessed when appreciating calligraphy, a unique art category that is both abstract and has fixed structural rules.
④From plane to three-dimensional. Judging from the pursuit of calligraphers throughout the history, they also regard three-dimensionality as their main goal, and have accumulated a set of experience in the techniques and rules of calligraphy. We can fully imagine that if the three-dimensional effect is so emphasized in the strokes, the three-dimensional effect of the structure will not be too ignored. Some people once thought that the structure of calligraphy also has obvious three-dimensional space effects, such as the interweaving of dry and wet brushes. The first stroke is dry and the next overlapping stroke is wet. The dry brush is obviously far away from the audience visually, and the warm brush is far away from the audience. If you are close, you can also view the other dense, light, thick and thin intersperses in this way, thus forming a three-dimensional space frame. As an appreciator, wouldn’t it be a pity if we ignore this part of our taste for beauty?
⑤ From clear to hazy The aesthetic function of hazy beauty in calligraphy is huge, which is related to the aesthetic characteristics of calligraphy art. When abstract calligraphy is appreciated, it is difficult for people to measure and compare it with concrete images. They can only imagine and supplement it in abstract form, and achieve a psychological tacit understanding and resonance with the creator. This kind of imagination has a very free and vast world, and hazy beauty is the best medium for this kind of imagination. The so-called "big taste must be light". Light is just hazy. Lao Tzu calls it the highest realm. So, as the highest realm of "big" in the appreciation of calligraphy art, we should also strive to grasp this thin word (to be precise, virtual). Otherwise, it would be difficult to understand the murky and confusing realm in calligraphy masterpieces such as Yan Zhenqing's "Memorial to My Nephew", Lu Ji's "Pingfu Tie", Yang Ningshi's "The Living Tie of Immortals", and Li Bai's "Tie to the Upper Balcony". The heart tastes it.
Line is the foundation and soul of calligraphy. It is an important medium for calligraphy to continue its life. It is also a medium for calligraphers to express their expressions and reveal their spirit, temperament and knowledge. The emergence of Han Li is an epoch-making milestone in the art of calligraphy, and no calligraphy style can compete with it in expressive power. Of course, what is more direct is the main contribution of Han Li - the liberation of lines, which has a decisive influence on our study of line beauty. When we appreciate a calligraphy work, the first thing the appreciator feels is the line, so it is also a bridge between the appreciator and the calligrapher. Through lines, viewers can enjoy spiritual beauty, spiritual comfort, purification and shock. The brush tool of Chinese calligraphy provides ideal support for high-level shaping of line beauty.
Appreciators can regard lines as aesthetic objects and visually grasp the deep connotation of works. Calligraphers also regard lines as a symbol of life in their works. Kang Youwei made this statement in "Guang Yizhou Shuangji·Stele Commentary No. 18": "If the book is like a human being, it must be prepared with muscles, bones, flesh and blood. The blood is thick and the bones are old, the muscles are hidden and the flesh is shiny, and the posture is strangely reversed. It’s really beautiful.” Here, the terms "tendons", "bones", "blood" and "flesh" all refer to calligraphy lines. Kang Youwei believes that the beauty of calligraphy lines is like the beauty of a person's body, which embodies the highest principle of calligraphy beauty. In the field of Chinese calligraphy art, the aesthetic characteristics of calligraphy lines are mainly reflected in the following aspects.
(1) Sense of power
The sense of power discussed here is a kind of skill in calligraphy. It is the coordination and control of palms, fingers, wrists and arms by human consciousness. It also integrates the natural movement of the writer's aesthetic concepts and writing experience. Chinese calligraphy has always emphasized the power of the strokes. Mrs. Wei's "Brush Formation Diagram" says: "The strokes, strokes, waves, bends and bends must all be delivered with all one's strength." Cai Yong of the Eastern Han Dynasty pointed out in "Nine Potentials": "Press hard and the skin will be beautiful." The skin is the form and feeling of beautiful lines. Generally speaking, if the strokes are powerful, the lines will be beautiful, and the skin will have rich connotations. "There is still a contrasting relationship between light and dark in the power of technique: the sudden twists and turns at the beginning and end of the line are called 'bright', and the power of smooth movement in the middle of the line is called 'dark'." This passage points out the true beauty of line strength. The reason why powerful calligraphy works of art are beautiful is that they allow viewers to appreciate the grace of life and the rhythm of the soul in such solid and still glyphs. If the pen power is weak, the beauty of calligraphy cannot be fully expressed and brought into play.
(2) Three-dimensional sense
For calligraphy, a two-dimensional art form, three-dimensional sense is a contradictory statement. Because the lines themselves are flat, it is impossible to meet the physical standards of three-dimensional space. However, if a calligraphy work lacks a sense of three-dimensionality, the lines will be thin and boring, making it unattractive to look at. True three-dimensional sensing is calm, rich and allows people to feel the rich information contained in the lines. Simply put, the three-dimensionality emphasized by calligraphy is an abstractly refined space. In the creation of specific calligraphy works, they have their own forms due to different styles of calligraphy and the aesthetic taste of the calligraphers. The emphasis on lines to have a three-dimensional feel is of course closely related to the traditional spirit of the Chinese people. Any kind of aesthetic consciousness is inseparable from the constraints of social content, and calligraphy is no exception. For example, Mrs. Wei, a female calligrapher, pointed out in "Bi Zhen Tu": "The beauty of the three skills of husband is not the first to use the pen, and the secret of the six skills is not more important than the silver hook." The reasoning formula of this passage is: calligraphy—— Use the pen first; when using the pen, the center is the most important; the lines must be three-dimensional to be beautiful.
From the perspective of calligraphy beauty, center skills are absolute. The side forward skill is relative. It cannot be used independently and can only complement each other alternately with the center. And it cannot be in a dominant position. The reason for this is that the purpose of calligraphy's emphasis on brushwork is to pursue the beauty of lines, and the most important thing in the beauty of lines is that they must have a strong three-dimensional sense and thickness. We can modify the way we use pens, but we cannot overcome the ultimate goal of calligraphy beauty. It is by no means a simple question of technique, but essentially a question of beauty.
(3) Rhythm
We can find a kind of vitality in the rhythm of calligraphy works, and then experience the value of life in the vitality. The principle of rhythm is the intersection of contrasts. Implemented in calligraphy form, it is the ratio of blank to ink, the ratio of blank size, the ratio of blank shape, the ratio of ink dots and lines, and even the ratio of ink thickness, dryness and wetness, square and circle, and turning. Everything that constitutes a contrast contains elements of rhythm. "One yin and one yang are called Tao", and "yin and yang" are the foundation of rhythm. The movement characteristics of the pen during the formation of lines - tightness, weight, speed, are the specific content of the rhythm of the lines. The nature and types of various movements are also different. No matter what kind of rhythm they are, they exist in contrast. Brush calligraphy can express a lot of the calligrapher's personality. The vitality of every calligrapher's life reflects the aesthetic value of the rhythm of lines. Such as: space rhythm, undulation rhythm of pen, blank rhythm, directional rhythm, etc.
The principle of rhythm seems to be relatively simple compared to the principles of power and three-dimensionality. Because for the strength and thickness of the lines, we can start from a practical starting point and make an in-depth description of the appearance. But for rhythm, visible forms abound, and the invisible deep content is not only about calligraphy, but also involves physical and psychological issues. The sense of three-dimensionality, strength and rhythm basically encompass the entire content of line aesthetic consciousness. Not only that, even in terms of calligraphy writing skills, the existence of "three senses" already includes the entire spatial content of the skills.
The composition of the sense of strength relies on lifting, pressing, pausing, setting back, turning, folding, square and circle, emphasizing the ups and downs of the pen - up and down movement; the composition of the three-dimensional sense relies on The center mainly uses the pen, and the pen rules are implemented in the specific range of line beauty. The pursuit is not just to draw lines on a flat paper, but to create a three-dimensional effect; the composition of the rhythm relies on the control of speed and interruption. There is a process of continuity, severity, and illness, so it has the attribute of time. The sense of three-dimensionality and power, plane movement and up-and-down movement constitute a three-dimensional action space. Together with a sense of rhythm, they constitute a contrast between time and space. The three intersect and penetrate each other, forming the broadest artistic world of calligraphy techniques. .