Brushwork: Brushwork is the method and technique of using the brush. The ancients also called it the use of the brush or the movement of the brush, which is the way the brush moves on the paper. What should be the ideal state of the brush on paper for writing? This is the key to calligraphy techniques and the most basic rules for good or bad strokes. Brushwork is one of the most important components of Chinese calligraphy theory. It is said that as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Yong (yong) wrote "Bijue" which has been handed down to the world and has been cited as a treasure by calligraphers to this day. Ancient literati regarded brushwork as a secret. They were very conservative and would never tell others lightly. It is said that a calligrapher named Wei Dan, a student of Cai Yong, owned Cai Yong's "Bi Jue". Another calligrapher Zhong Yao wanted to borrow "Bi Jue" to read, but was rejected. In order to show his sincerity, Zhong Yao beat his chest so hard that he vomited blood and passed out. However, he failed to see "Bijue" after all. When Wei Dan died, he buried "Bijue" as a funerary object in the tomb. Zhong Yao sent soldiers to dig graves and obtained Cai Yong's "Bijue", which greatly improved his calligraphy skills. Although the legend is not credible, it is enough to prove the importance of the brushwork theory. So what is the secret of Cai Yong’s "Bi Jue" ("Nine Movements", "Bi Lun")? It involves many aspects such as calligraphy techniques, calligrapher's feelings and the relationship with external objects. The most critical sentence is "the round pen has a backing paper, and the heart of the pen is always moving in the pointillism". This has always been cited repeatedly by calligraphers and regarded as an important magic weapon in calligraphy techniques: center strokes. 2. Center pen movement Center pen movement is the main operation mode of the brush when writing. The "center of the brush" in Cai Yong's words "make the center of the brush always move in pointillism" refers to the front and tip of the brush. "Always running in the middle of stipple painting" means often running in the middle of strokes. Since the brush is conical, the brush in the middle is thicker and has more ink than the ones on both sides, so the strokes written have a round and thick three-dimensional feel and appear full. This is called "center forward movement". But sometimes, although the tip of the brush is in the middle of the stroke, the brush is not in a conical state, but in a flat state like an oil brush. At this time, the texture of the strokes written will appear flat and timid, so Cai Yong wanted to put the word "round" on the front. The four words "pen belongs to paper". If "flat pen" occurs during writing, one method can be to rub the brush on the edge of the inkstone to return it to a conical state; another method is to use the finger holding the pen to rotate the pen barrel so that the flat pen becomes round when the pen is placed. ; Another method is to adjust the pen tip to make it round during the writing process. However, the method of explaining the center pen movement of "the center of the pen is often moved in pointillism" is still difficult to understand because of the specific writing time. , the brush tip has been distributed in the middle and both sides of the stroke, so it is difficult to find the so-called center of the brush. Therefore, another more precise and scientific method should be used to interpret it. When the brush is running on the paper, the pen belly is running. In front of the center, the tip of the pen follows closely behind, and the tip of the pen is always repeated on the ink mark formed by the center of the pen. When the center moves the pen, the direction from the tip of the pen to the belly of the pen is consistent with the direction of the strokes written by the center of the pen. Different textures will be produced due to different writing strength and speed: one type has smooth and smooth edges, as if cut by a knife, which was called "Guchai Jiao" in ancient times; the other type has rough and uneven edges, like ten thousand strokes. Nian Xiangteng was called "house leak mark" in ancient times, or "gold and stone energy". The former writes slightly faster and uses even force, showing a strong, straight and energetic beauty. The latter's writing speed is slightly slower and harder, and his fingers are trembling. It shows a powerful and sophisticated beauty. Beginners should practice the former type of clean lines first. After you become proficient, you can pursue "house leakage marks". In fact, "roof leakage marks" are formed naturally and are by no means artificial. It cannot be done deliberately by shaking or twisting. The ancients often used "penetrating through the back of the paper" and "penetrating into the wood three-thirds" to describe strokes and lines. The so-called "power through the back of the paper" means that when writing, the pen is strong and the ink can penetrate through the back of the paper. Teachers test students' writing skills by turning over the Yuanshu paper to see if the ink in the middle of the strokes has been thoroughly absorbed. If the two ends of the strokes are as black as the middle, it means the student is writing seriously and not sloppily. If it is found that the beginning and end of the stroke are black but the middle part is not black, it means that the student writes carelessly and passes by. "Three points into the wood" comes from Wang Xizhi. When he wrote the sacrificial blessing board (wooden board), he had to rewrite a new message, so he asked a carpenter to cut off the words. As a result, three thirds of the words were cut off so that the ink marks disappeared. It shows that Wang Xizhi's writing power is strong and powerful, and the ink can penetrate as deep as three-thirds of the wooden board. "Power through the back of the paper" and "penetrating into the wood for three points" both talk about the power of the center's brushstrokes and the solid and not superficial ink. 3. Off-center brushwork: Offset brushstrokes are different from center-forward brushstrokes.
In eccentric strokes, the pen tip is not in the middle of the stroke, but walks on one side of it; that is, the pen tip is on one side of the stroke, the pen belly is on the other side of the stroke, and the pen tip and the pen belly are walking side by side (see Figure 7). The strokes on the front side of the pen are smooth and level, while the strokes on the belly side of the pen are dull and uneven. This kind of strokes are light on one side and hairy on the other. Because of its imperfection, calligraphy has always been regarded as a diseased pen by calligraphers. As for whether calligraphers use linear or cursive scripts due to the acceleration of writing speed or the dry and wet shades or even occasional deviations in order to enhance the rhythm of their works, it should be discussed separately. The first thing beginners need to master is the technique of center forward's pen handling. 4. Side-forward brushstrokes Side-forward strokes are a method of strokes between center-forward strokes and side-forward strokes. That is to say, when viewed from top to bottom, when the direction of the stroke (center line) and the direction of movement (center line of the stroke) form an angle of about 45 degrees, this style of brush movement is called side-stroke brush movement. The texture of the strokes written by the side forward brush strokes is also between the center forward strokes and the partial forward strokes. When the angle between the stroke direction and the running direction is less than 45 degrees, the texture of the strokes is close to the center effect; when the angle between the direction of the brush strokes and the running direction is greater than 45 degrees, the texture of the strokes is close to the slant effect. Side-front brushstrokes are widely used in running and cursive scripts, but this method is often used in Yan Zhenqing's horizontal paintings in regular scripts. When the brush is running on paper, there are roughly the above three conditions. Different calligraphy styles have different requirements for brush operation. Seal script only uses the center; official script and regular script mainly use the center, supplemented by the side center; running script and cursive script mainly use the center and side center, and occasionally use the side center. Because the pen tip is soft, sometimes the pen stroke is in a slanted state. During the operation, the pen tip is gradually straightened out and adjusted to the center. The key to writing is to be able to use the center and adjust the tip of the pen to maintain the center. This is the writing technique. Terminology of brushwork There are many terms of brushwork. When learning calligraphy, you cannot know anything about the terminology of brushwork. In addition to the above-mentioned center, slant forward, and side forward, we will also give a brief introduction to other terms of brushwork below. Starting a pen is also called putting down a pen or starting a pen. That is the moment when the tip of the brush touches the paper. Line brush means the movement of the brush on the paper. There are three types of strokes: center forward, partial forward, and side forward. Collecting the pen refers to the moment when the tip of the brush leaves the paper. There are two situations in starting and closing the pen, one is called hidden front and the other is called exposed front. Hidden edge Hidden edge means that the edge of the pen when starting and closing the pen is not exposed, and the edge of the pen is hidden inside the strokes when writing. When starting a stroke with a hidden edge, the reverse method is generally used, that is, the stroke is reversed in the opposite direction so that the edge of the stroke is hidden within the stroke. To hide the edge and close the brush, the brush edge is usually hidden within the strokes by returning the edge. This method of starting and closing the pen of Zangfeng does not show any sharpness and is relatively subtle. It gives people a feeling of softness, smoothness, calmness and implication. Exposed Feng: Exposed Feng means that the tip of the pen when lifting and retracting the pen is exposed outside the strokes. This method of starting and ending the pen shows the sharp edge and gives people a spiritual radiance. A refreshing and upright feeling. Lifting the brush: Lifting the brush upward slightly to make the strokes thinner is called lifting the brush. But there is a limit to how far you can lift the pen, that is, the tip of the pen cannot leave the paper, because leaving the paper will cause the pen to be closed. Pressing the brush: Gently pressing down on the brush to make the strokes thicker is called pressing the brush. Fast pen and astringent pen Fast pen refers to running at a faster speed. Astringent pen refers to a slower running speed. Generally speaking, the strokes written by a fast pen are easy to be smooth and strong, while the strokes written by a hesitant pen are easy to be hairy and stagnant. Write at the right speed. If it is too fast, the strokes will be slippery and weak; if it is too slow, the strokes and shapes will be prone to dullness. Turning and folding means that the brush suddenly changes direction at a certain point during its operation. The difference between turning and folding is that turning is arc-shaped and has no turning points; folding has edges and corners and turning points. For example, in the word "Li", the place where the strong horizontal hook turns on the right side is "Zhuan", because it is a slowly turning arc shape, which is called Yuan Zhuan. Another example is the word "口". The horizontal and vertical turns are square and angular, which is called "square fold".