Calligraphy is an art integrating time and space, which requires that the strokes of calligraphy, even individual characters, and the writing style must have inherent laws that cannot be copied, and "one point" and "one word" must conform to their own basic statutes. Potential is the transfer relationship between the last stroke and the next stroke of a word. On the one hand, it shows the connection between shapes, on the other hand, it shows the internal connection. The beauty of calligraphy lies in movement and change, and it is full of interest because of the close connection between internal characteristics and verve.
Time, space, rhythm, potential and charm
"One word is divided into one rule, and one word is the final rule", which is a famous saying of Sun, a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, from Shu Pu. The original words are like this: "If several paintings are drawn at the same time, the shapes are different, and all the points are on the same line, which is good for each other. One point is the rule of one word, and one word is the final rule. " ? During writing a book, I encountered many stippling situations. How to make stippling diverse but not identical, and stippling interspersed but not cumbersome? This is indeed a contradiction that is not easy to solve in calligraphy. Here, Sun not only tells the beauty of various forms of calligraphy art, but also points out the key to solving such problems. In my opinion, this language is a classic and has certain reference value for calligraphy creation.
Ou Yangxun, a legalist in the Tang Dynasty, said in Thirty-six Plans: "If you want to be around it without losing its position, you want to cover it, you want to inherit it, and so on." It is believed that the formal beauty of calligraphy is a word, but Sun is more specific. He emphasized the role of the first stroke and the first word. A point often becomes the standard of a word, and the first word of a work often becomes the standard of the whole calligraphy work.
It is thought-provoking that why "a little" can be the criterion of a word and why a word can be the criterion of the whole calligraphy work? In my humble opinion, if the understanding of this sentence only stays on the superficial meaning of the word, it will give people the feeling of seeing flowers in the fog, and we can't clearly understand its main idea, so we can't understand the essence of calligraphy art. Here, we might as well understand the true meaning of Sun's sentence and the rich connotation of the formal beauty of calligraphy through the discussion of the temporal and spatial significance of calligraphy art, the shaping of the resurgence and the harmony of Yin and Yang.
I. Temporal and spatial significance
Calligraphy is an art of combining time and space. Its temporality is characterized by its own order and unrepeatable regulations. There is a time sequence from the most basic stippling to the progress between words. A stroke is a stroke, which cannot be redrawn or rewritten. Therefore, every line, the connection of each group of lines, and even the composition of the whole article have a certain trajectory. With the continuation of writing time, its sense of space is also changing, and the stippling of writing keeps cutting the paper, forming a changeable division of black and white space. This writing process, from point to word to line, needs a stroke, just like the process of dancers dancing. After he made his first move to the beat of the music, with the passage of time, he made his second and third moves very coherently and naturally ... so that he couldn't go back after making the move.
It is precisely because of the temporality and spatiality of calligraphy art that the strokes of calligraphy, even individual words and strokes, cannot be repeated, which requires that "a little" and "a word" should conform to their own basic statutes. The first point is written down. The form of stippling, the characteristics of pen and size determine the basic style and tone of a word. In the same way, the determination of the style, tone and size of the first word also has certain provisions for the following words. This regulation is because the size, style, style and characteristics of the word are determined after the first word is written, and the size, structure and basic characteristics of the whole word are also determined. For example, to create a successful calligraphy work, if we want to echo and blend, then the first stroke is the use of regular script in Yan style, which determines that the calligraphy style of the first word written must be regular script, and the calligraphy style must also be Yan style, and its successors will follow. On the contrary, if we don't pay attention to these internal regulations from the beginning, it will be difficult to achieve commendable results. In this regard, Wang Xizhi seems to feel the same way: "If you lose a little, a beauty's illness is like an eye, and a painting loses a line, just like a strong man's arm."
Chen said in "Calligraphy Essays": "Calligraphy works are an artistic whole, a complete piece of music, written with uninterrupted rhythm and a complete performance. To be complete, you can only start from scratch. Although calligraphy exists in the form of space, it is indeed a sequential creation, which has the aesthetic characteristics of taking advantage of the trend. " It is based on this temporal and spatial significance that calligraphy works begin with stippling. A word is based on the first stroke, and the interweaving of various lines behind it is actually just the extension and growth of the form, statutes and style of the first stroke.
2. The formation of elasticity
Potential is the transfer relationship between the last stroke and the next stroke of a word. On the one hand, it shows the connection between shapes, on the other hand, it shows the internal connection. Calligraphy is not a simple arrangement and mechanical accumulation of strokes or characters, nor is it a given result in advance, but a creative activity that conforms to the trend and the law of the development of things. Sun emphasized the connection between stippling and writing through this sentence. The determination of "a little" and "a word" in calligraphy, their posture and shape determine the movement change of a line and a painting, which changes with the change of the starting point and potential of the word, that is, the reason for the next word or stroke is determined by the situation of the previous word or stroke. Take Wang Xizhi's Frequent Sorrow Post as an example. The word "frequency" at the beginning of the post is low on the left and high on the right, like a crumbling jagged bluestone, forming an oblique trend, followed by the second word "you", giving people a feeling of wanting to reach the top. Judging from a single word, it seems that neither the word "frequency" nor the word "you" is beautiful. However, if we look at them as a whole, we will find that the word "frequency" lays the tone for the word "you", which inherits and continues the style of the word "frequency", and the two words are skillfully interspersed and echo each other. There are many similar characters in Sun's Book Score, but the appearance of the characters has not changed much, and most of them are shaped by different processing methods. After careful observation, we will find that the so-called different treatment methods are actually based on the initial word, pen shape and momentum. According to the needs of the actual situation, they are slightly reconciled and flexible in pen action, pen action direction and strength, forming Fiona Fang, thickness and frustration, and then they are rich and colorful because of the internal coherence, continuity and flexibility of the situation before and after, and there is no sense of similarity before and after. Like a pile of stones rolling down the hill. Although these rocks are similar in quality, they are different in size and shape. When they rolled down the mountain, they formed different modal trajectories because of the different mountains and directions. For a moment, can you make people feel monotonous?
Calligraphy is an art based on Chinese characters, which is mainly formed by the movement of pen and ink stippling on it. Word by word, line by line, coherent from top to bottom, born of the situation. The trajectory of this movement is like a vigorous life. Only the internal connection and pulse theory can embody the internal spirit of calligraphy art, otherwise, if the strokes or characters are independent and monotonous, the whole work will be lifeless because there is no change.
Three. Harmony of yin and yang
Calligraphy, like nature, lies in movement and change, and at the same time, it is full of interest because of the close connection between internal characteristics and verve. Cai Yong said: "Fu Shu originates from nature, stands naturally, and is born of yin and yang; Both yin and yang are born and the situation is embarrassing. " It can be seen that the reason why calligraphy is as vigorous as natural things is because it grasps the contradictory relationship between Yin and Yang. In calligraphy works, the contradiction between Yin and Yang is often manifested as the contradiction between emptiness and reality, fairness and danger, simplicity and correctness, square and circle, illness and astringency, lightness and heaviness, sparseness and tightness, dryness and moistening. Only by deeply understanding this point and skillfully handling the contradictory and unified relationship between them in the process of calligraphy creation can we be free and easy, rich and colorful.
"One point is the rule of one word, and one word is the standard of the final article", in which "rule" and "standard" are actually a kind of ruler similar to law. The law of calligraphy creation fundamentally comes from and follows the law of yin and yang changes in nature. Based on his understanding of the law of Yin and Yang, Sun integrated the law of nature into the specific field of calligraphy and penetrated into every stroke and word of calligraphy. In one stroke, there is sickness and stagnation, and there is reality and deficiency; The structure of each word has density and size; The composition of a word is also true and false, all based on yin and yang statutes.
"Calligraphers all pay attention to the treatment of dialectical factors such as black and white, truth and falsehood, thickness, size, dryness, yin, Fiona Fang, straightness, frugality, rigidity, cleverness, tightness and compactness, and achieve corresponding unity, thus forming a changeable and ever-changing artistic image, vividly embodying Lao Tzu's thought of' Tao gives birth to one, two, three and everything'. This passage tells us that calligraphy works need rich changes, full of contradictions between Yin and Yang, and also need overall harmony and unity, mutual development and mutual concessions, and finally achieve the effect of harmony between Yin and Yang. A closer look at Wang Xizhi's "Two Thanks" shows that the strokes are thick and thin, and they are both rigid and soft; Its structure is positive, big and small, full of opposition and unity; Composition is virtual and real, sparse and dense, and changeable, but no matter how it changes, it has an internal tone, that is, harmony between yin and yang, just as music has a main theme and achieves harmony and unity.
We might as well take a look at the law of harmony between yin and yang throughout this work. After the first stippling, move on to the next one, from stippling-word-line-article, dots are organically combined in words, and words are organically gathered in articles. On the one hand, we should consider the requirements of our own brushwork and strokes, and also fully consider the close relationship between a word and the surrounding words, lines and the whole chapter, such as density, reality, size, Fiona Fang, rigidity and softness.
From this perspective, calligraphy is an art of continuous practice through concentrated thinking. The excavation and epiphany of a point is just a window to infinite philosophy.
? Author's brief introduction: Liu Zhixia, female, born in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province, whose ancestral home is Tianjin. Master of Calligraphy, Academy of Fine Arts, Shaanxi Normal University, member of China Calligraphers Association. Calligraphy works were exhibited in the 4th National Women's Calligraphy Seal-cutting Exhibition sponsored by China Calligraphers Association, the National Calligraphy Exhibition commemorating the 2578th anniversary of Laozi's birth, and the 1st Calligraphy Seal-cutting Exhibition in western China, and their works were exhibited in professional calligraphy seal-cutting exhibitions in Shaanxi Province and other provinces and cities for many times. Published theoretical articles and calligraphy works in many professional calligraphy newspapers and periodicals.
Reference materials?
[1] Ou Yangxun's Thirty-six Laws, Selected Calligraphy Papers of Past Dynasties, first edition 1979.
[2] Ou Yangxun's Thirty-six Laws, Selected Calligraphy Papers of Past Dynasties 1979 First Edition.
[3] Wang Xizhi's Twelve Chapters of Gestures, Selected Calligraphy Papers of Past Dynasties, First Edition 1979.
[4] Chen's Essays on Calligraphy, first edition in May 2003.
[5] Cai Yong's Nine Potentials, Selected Calligraphy Papers of Past Dynasties, First Edition 1979.
[6] Jin Kaicheng "Comic Calligraphy Art and Traditional Culture" and "Calligraphy Research" 1995 No.3.