Wang Sengqian, a calligrapher in the Southern Dynasties, said in "Praise of Literary Style": "The wonderful way of a book is that the spirit comes first, followed by the form and quality, and only those who have both can be praised by the ancients". What he emphasized was to write the spirit in form, and to have both form and spirit. I think before reading a work, we should first make clear the aesthetic standards of calligraphy appreciation, which is the basis of correct calligraphy evaluation and appreciation. Secondly, we should master the methods of calligraphy appreciation, which is the key to calligraphy evaluation and appreciation.
First, the aesthetic standards of calligraphy
Generally speaking, "shape" includes the stippling lines of calligraphy and the resulting spatial structure; "God" mainly refers to the expressive meaning of calligraphy.
(A) calligraphy stippling lines
The stippling lines of calligraphy have infinite expressive force, which is abstract in itself. The calligraphy image they form has no definite meaning, but it should contain all the characteristics of beauty. This puts forward special requirements for the stippling lines of calligraphy. Require a strong sense of quantity, rhythm and three-dimensional sense.
1, sense of strength
The power of stippling lines is one of the elements of line beauty. It is a metaphor, pointing out the sense of power aroused by drawing lines in people's hearts. As early as the Han Dynasty, Cai Yong made a special study on the stippling lines in Nine Potential. He pointed out that "hiding the head and protecting the tail, the strength lies in the words", "making the pen heart often do stippling" and "making stippling as powerful as possible". It is required that the stippling should be hidden deep in the laurel corner, and what is done will be collected and its power will be obvious. It should be noted that our emphasis on hiding the head and protecting the tail does not mean that we can ignore the midline. The center line pen must take the convergence center, so as to make the stippling lines round and smooth, warm but not soft, and contain strength. However, the starting point and the ending point of the dotted line are not all big and small seals hidden in the corner. Calligraphy is often combined with hiding and revealing as needed, especially cursive script. When appreciating it, we should pay attention to the acceptance and echo of the beginning and the end, and whether the middle part is flashy and frivolous.
2. sense of rhythm
Rhythm originally refers to the regular changes in the height, strength and length of notes in music. Because of the different strength and speed of calligraphy in the process of creation, different forms such as thickness, length and size change regularly alternately, which makes the stippling lines of calligraphy have a sense of rhythm. The strokes of Chinese characters are different in length and size, which further strengthens the rhythm of stippling lines in calligraphy. Generally speaking, static fonts such as seal script, official script and regular script have a weak sense of rhythm, while dynamic fonts such as running script and cursive script have a strong sense of rhythm and rich changes.
3, three-dimensional sense
The stereoscopic impression is the result of using the pen in the center. The strokes written in the center are "reflected in the sun, and there is thick ink in the center of the painting, which is just in it. As for the fold, there is no deviation." In this way, the dotted lines can be full, round and round. Therefore, the pens used in the center have always been highly valued. However, it is not difficult to find that in calligraphy creation, profile can also be seen everywhere. Except for Xiao Zhuan, all other calligraphy styles are inseparable from the side edge. Especially cursive script, as a supplement and foil to the center, wingers can be seen everywhere.
(B) the spatial structure of calligraphy
On the premise of following the principles of Chinese font and stroke order, the stippling lines of calligraphy cross-combine and divide the space to form the spatial structure of calligraphy. The spatial structure includes three parts: single word structure, whole line circulation and overall layout.
1, single word structure
The structure of a single word requires neatness, fluency, balance of length and density. In this way, on the basis of fairness, we can pay attention to vicissitudes, intricate changes, the image of nature, the danger in fairness and the interests in danger.
2, the whole line of qi
In calligraphy works, the characters are connected up and down or back and forth, forming a "linking", which requires up and down and coherent response. Although the static characters such as regular script, official script and seal script are independent, the strokes are broken and connected. Running script, cursive script and other dynamic characters can be word for word, with hairspring traction. In addition, we should also pay attention to the change of size, positive response, contrast between reality and reality, and the resulting sense of rhythm. In this way, the circulation of qi can be natural and coherent, and blood vessels can be unblocked.
3. Overall layout
In calligraphy works, the combination of dotted characters, hyphens in rows and lines in chapters constitutes the cutting of space by dotted lines, and thus constitutes the overall layout of calligraphy works. It is required that the density between words and between lines is appropriate, and the white is black; Flat and balanced, positive to each other; Rugged and full of changes. Among them, the static characters such as regular script, official script and seal script are mainly fair and balanced; The dynamic characters such as running script and cursive script are complicated and ups and downs.
(C) the spirit of calligraphy
Spirit refers to the air and brilliance on a person's face. The expression in calligraphy refers to the spirit, style, temperament, interest and interest revealed in lines and their structural combinations. "Spirit comes first, shape comes second, and both can be seen in the ancients." It shows that the form, appearance and structural layout of stippling lines are higher than "form and quality", and form and quality are the premise and foundation of spiritual existence; Therefore, the essence of calligraphy artistic expression is the overall harmony of stippling lines and their spatial combination. Pursuing the spirit and expressing the spirit of nature will always be the highest realm that calligraphers strive to pursue.
On the one hand, the acquisition of calligraphy spirit depends on skillful creative skills, which is the premise and foundation; On the other hand, only when the creative mind is calm and comfortable, the creative center is fluent in both hands, and I forget myself, can I write my true feelings and integrate my knowledge and aesthetic taste.
Second, the method of calligraphy appreciation
Calligraphy appreciation is consistent with other art appreciation and needs to follow the general laws of human cognitive activities. Because of the particularity of calligraphy art, calligraphy appreciation shows uniqueness in methods. Generally speaking, we can start from the following aspects.
1, from whole to part, and then from part to whole.
To appreciate calligraphy, we must first look at the overall situation and have a general impression of its expression and artistic style. Then pay attention to whether the pen, knot, composition, Mo Yun and other parts are lively and lively. After the partial appreciation, we should stand at a distance to observe the overall situation, correct the "overall impression" obtained from the first viewing, and grasp it from a rational height again. Pay attention to whether artistic expression and artistic style are coordinated, where the works are wonderful and where there are shortcomings, and fully appreciate them from both macro and micro perspectives.
2. Restore the static image to the moving process.
Calligraphy works are relatively static as the result of creation. When appreciating, we should follow the author's creative process, adopt the method of "moving the line of sight", imagine the rhythm and strength of the pen and the different changes of the author's feelings in the creative process according to the language and time sequence of the work, and restore the static image to the process of movement. That is to imitate the author's creative process and correctly grasp the author's creative intention and emotional changes.
3. From the image of calligraphy to the specific image, correctly understand the artistic conception of the work.
In the process of calligraphy appreciation, the calligraphy image is compared with similar things in real life to make the calligraphy image concrete. Then, from the aesthetic characteristics of things similar to calligraphy images, we associate the aesthetic value of the works, so as to understand the artistic conception of the works. Appreciating Yan Zhenqing's regular script, we can associate his calligraphy image with specific images such as "Jing Qing presses the sword, Fan Kuai holds the shield, King Kong dazzles, and Lux punches", from which we can draw the following conclusions: strong physique-masculine-full of heroic temperament-neat and inviolable characteristics, and Yan Zhenqing's regular script is linked with dignified and majestic artistic style.
4. Understand the creative background of the work and correctly grasp the emotional appeal of the work.
Any calligraphy work is the accumulation of a certain cultural history and the product of a specific historical and cultural background. Therefore, it is of great benefit to know the creative background of the works, including the creative environment, the unique cultural atmosphere contained in the works, the author's personality cultivation, aesthetic taste, creative mood and creative purpose. For correctly understanding the author's creative intention and correctly grasping the emotional appeal of the work. In the Qing Dynasty, Wang Shu wrote in the inscription and postscript of "Virtual Boat Tang Yan Zhenqing to Uncle Haozhou": "The manuscript dedicated to Ji Ming was torn to pieces, and his book was frustrated and out of control. This "Gao" is calm, easy to make a guest appearance, and there is no strange promotion like "offering sacrifices to nephews". The so-called music-related party laugh has been sighed. Things are different, so is calligraphy. It should be reasonable. " It can be seen that both the author's personality cultivation, creative mood and creative environment have a considerable impact on the mood of the work. To. In addition, calligraphy works are influenced by the book style and aesthetic fashion of a specific era, which makes calligraphy works reflect a diverse cultural atmosphere. This undoubtedly increases the difficulty of calligraphy appreciation, but also makes calligraphy appreciation interesting.
In short, there is no fixed pattern in the process of calligraphy appreciation due to the influence of personality psychology. The above is just one method of calligraphy appreciation, and several methods can be used alternately in the process of appreciation. In addition, in the process of appreciation, we must comprehensively use all kinds of calligraphy skills, techniques and calligraphy theory knowledge to maximize our aesthetic evaluation ability and try our best to appreciate the artistic conception of the works according to the author's creative intention. We should strive to appreciate and comment, evaluate and reward the work, and put it in a specific historical environment to make a correct appreciation and fair and objective evaluation of the work. Of course, mastering the correct appreciation method is an important way to improve appreciation ability. Yang Xiong said: "You can see a thousand swords before you can see a thousand swords; Can read thousands of fu, and then can fu ",that's what I mean.