On the advantages and disadvantages of inscriptions and ink

The tablet was engraved by calligrapher Shu Dan and later craftsmen, so the model tablet was copied indirectly, and only the ink was copied directly. Calligraphers write on tablets or paper with ink or cinnabar. The characters written with a brush are naturally more rounded and have the characteristics of strokes. However, after the craftsman carved with a knife, these "strokes" were all carved, and the subtle strokes and roundness were gone, replaced by the square and angular "knife flavor". As far as calligraphy art is concerned, both knife flavor and pen flavor have their artistic effects. As a basic skill to practice, each has its own advantages. From the original ink, you can directly feel and understand the techniques of starting, turning and receiving pens, and you can also learn the changes of ink color, which is very interesting all day. Moreover, the carved template and the strokes carved by the knife are straight and straight, which is more powerful. In particular, some inscriptions in the Northern Wei Dynasty were carved directly by seal engravers without calligraphers' calligraphy, and they were straight and angular, which was naturally good for training basic skills. However, if you want to write this effect with a brush, you must put on airs. Therefore, some calligraphers suggest that to practice basic brushwork, we should seek the taste of the pen and the trajectory of the pen through the taste of the knife. Especially for some late rubbings, due to long-term wind and rain erosion and hammering, the strokes of late Sui rubbings are almost thin and linear. Therefore, we must choose early rubbings to choose templates, and at the same time use rubbings to study and pursue the original strokes.