[Calligraphy Column] On Books and Character
Ancient and modern books often talk about character. In the relationship between "book" and "character", there has always been a saying that "book is like a person" and "book is character". Therefore, it is advocated that calligraphers attach importance to books and people, and establish products first.
Like an author, like a book.
Because a person's calligraphy works not only contain the national tradition and the spirit of the times, but also contain the author's personality and sentiment. "If people have different faces and different sexual points, although there is a book, each has its own convenience." (Zhang Tang Huai Guan "On the Six Methods of Calligraphy") Therefore, the artistic styles of calligraphers are different. All the scholars in the Tang Dynasty studied under the king, and only Ou, Yu, Chu, Xue, Xu, Li, Yan and Liu were adults. North is a beautiful student, while Cai Bidu, Su Biqu, Huang Biyun and Mi Bizi have different styles. This is because they have different personalities. Although they live in the same era and share the same ancestry, their calligraphy art has different features. In fact, the temperament and charm of calligraphy are always permeated with the thoughts and feelings of calligraphers, and they are always stubbornly reflected in their works, and no one can restrain themselves at will.
China's calligraphy art has always paid attention to the temperament and charm of characters. Because calligraphy art can entrust and express the author's thoughts and feelings. As early as the end of the Western Han Dynasty, Yang Xiong said: "Books also draw hearts." This paper reveals the relationship between calligraphy and the inner world of the creative subject. By the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhao Yi formally put forward: "Every mortal has different qi and blood and different bones and muscles. Close-minded and clumsy. The ugliness of books lies in the heart and hands. Further concretize "books are like people". Later, Amin Xiang Mu explained this truth. " What the heart sends is morality, economy, honor, integrity, articles and handwriting. However, people's minds are different, just like their nature, from the inside out, books are also cloudy. ("Calligraphy is elegant. What is said here is that calligraphy can also express people's personality and temperament characteristics. He also said: "Different personalities, different temperaments, pen strokes, evil self-form. "In the Qing Dynasty, Liu Xizai wrote in" A Book of Art ":"Pen and ink are based on human temperament. " And he said, "The book is like this. If he studies, if he is talented, if he is ambitious, in short, he is like a person. " It is further pointed out here that calligraphy not only shows people's temperament, but also shows knowledge, talent and ambition. That is to say, the character and moral character of a calligrapher. Liu Xizai also summed up the calligraphy characteristics of people with different identities: "Tessa's book is warm and mellow, Xiong Jun's book is Shen Yi, the book of abnormal people is degenerate, and the book of gifted scholars is beautiful. "This is the case. In the history of calligraphy, almost everyone is honest and noble. Their morality, sentiment, personality, integrity and their calligraphy works have been handed down to future generations, which is amazing. For example, Wang Xizhi's elegant and leisurely style; Yan Zhenqing's fortitude and integrity; Su Dongpo's broad-minded and bold spirit; Zhu Yunming's romantic chic; Different customs in Zheng Banqiao; Deng's simplicity and honesty, etc. Can be appreciated from their calligraphy works. Therefore, "the book of a generation" is full of people and writers of a generation. "(Outline of Art Books) This points out more thoroughly that the art of calligraphy expresses people's mental outlook.
But the same author, under different circumstances and different feelings, is both "laughing and sighing", and his writing has its own characteristics and differences. For example, Yan Zhenqing's famous regular script "Duo Ta Induction Monument" and "Sacrifice to a Nephew", known as "the second running script in the world", were written under two completely different temperaments. The former is strict with multi-tower piety, creating a meticulous, dignified and vigorous artistic style; The latter was strict, with great anger at betraying the general minister and deep sorrow for his nephew, and created a bold and unconstrained artistic style of Yan Xing, turning grief into an armchair strategist. As Chen Yi once said, the feelings of "joys and sorrows" have their own scores. Happiness means that you are angry and comfortable, anger means that you are rude and dangerous, sadness means that you are depressed, and happiness means that you are flat and beautiful. If the feelings are serious, the words are shallow and profound, and the changes are endless "("The Essence of Hanlin ") Tang Sun Guoting talks about Wang Xizhi, and" Writing Le Yi "is full of emotions; The book "Painting Praise" was originally intended to be magnificent; Huang Tingjing is full of nothingness; "Taishi Zhen" is also a vertical and horizontal debate; Similar to Lanting Jixing, the calmness of thought is superb; I swear in private and feel miserable. (Book spectrum) Because calligraphy is a perceptual art form, Yang Xiong called it "heart painting", Wang Xizhi called it "book meaning" and Xu Wenchang called it "book spirit", all of which briefly pointed out the spiritual essence of calligraphy art, in a word, "just like a person. "
Attach importance to books and people, and establish products first.
There is a traditional concept in the history of calligraphy in China, that is, attaching importance to books as well as people, and emphasizing learning to be a man before learning books-quality first. Su Dongpo, a famous writer and calligrapher in the Song Dynasty, said: "There are ugly faces, but gentlemen and villains cannot be hidden." Words are argumentative, but the spirit of a gentleman and a villain cannot be deceived; Books are clumsy, but the hearts of gentlemen and villains should not be confused. "(On Books) Although the standard of gentleman and villain in feudal times is not enough for today, we can still extract reasonable content from Su Shi's point of view, that is, in artistic creation, characters occupy a very important position. Fu Shan, a adherent of the Ming Dynasty, also emphasized the relationship between writing and calligraphy. In his poem "Writing Words to Show Children and Grandchildren", he said at the beginning: "Writing words first creates people, and people have strange words since ancient times. The Outline has always rebelled against Kong Zhou, which can't be supplemented by words. "He added:" Words have nothing to do with personnel, fearing servility and vulgarity in politics. If you are not servile and vulgar, you can listen to the wind, not just words. "He admired Wang Xizhi as a human being and expressed regret over Wang Xizhi's Calligraphy Handed Down to the Present. He admired Yan Zhenqing: "It is also evil to be a character before being a man, and he looks like a slave. Try Lu Gong's book, and you will be proud of yourself. Life and death can't be returned, so it's chaotic! " In Qing Dynasty, Zhu Hegang also pointed out in his New Interpretation of Linchi: "Calligraphy is only a skill, but it is the first moment of making a product. ..... So there are many people who write about morality, work, articles and morality. Those who judge the world, admire others, value their books, and those who are scholars are immortal. ..... However, although a gentleman has stunts, he is ashamed of the world and Yin Jian! "It's all based on personality. In other words, to appreciate a person's calligraphy, we should consider the person who writes, and to appreciate calligraphy is to appreciate his character. If a calligrapher's moral quality is noble, his calligraphy will have a strange and ancient style, and his works will be cherished by the world. If the calligrapher's morality is corrupt, no one will pay attention to the best words. It is useless to try to cover up or make up for his character defects with the achievements of calligraphy art. On this issue, judging from the circulation of ancient books, it is probably the same. For example, Wang Xizhi, who is revered as a calligrapher, and Yan Zhenqing, who is lamented as a calligrapher, are not only good at calligraphy, but also noble in character. National heroes Yue Fei, Wen Tianxiang and Lin Zexu, their calligraphy may not be outstanding compared with some famous calligraphers in history, but their calligraphy is specially protected and loved. On the contrary, some people may be good, but their character is not good and their books are rejected. For example, in Song Dynasty, Qin Gui's ci had considerable skill in technology, but its ci was rarely circulated. Legend has it that "Cai" among the four "Su, Huang, Mi and Cai" in Song Dynasty originally referred to Cai Jing, but later it was changed to Cai Xiang because of its bad character. In the late Ming Dynasty, Zeng Guofan and Zheng in the Qing Dynasty. He is very familiar with calligraphy skills and has a great title, but influenced by his personality, he has not been valued or rejected in history. Books died with people and disappeared, making him more known.
Su Dongpo said: "Ancient essayists also talked about life, but they were not human beings, although the work was not expensive." (Su Shi's Dongpo Collection) His views on books are very clear. Only when a good book has Kaku Takashina can its works be treasured by the world. People who suffer losses in major festivals and are morally corrupt are not appreciated by knowledgeable people even if they can write good words. This view, from an artistic point of view, seems somewhat biased. However, I think it is a universal requirement for calligraphers to attach importance to both books and character. It is impossible to treat the nature of books separately in absolute terms. Books and character are inseparable, which has been recognized since ancient times. Judging from the records in Xuanhe Pu Shu, the evaluation of Du Mu's calligraphy is carried out from two angles: his character and poetry. He said: "There is a strange festival in the countryside. I dare to talk about big things, especially current events, not for the sake of pollution. In terms of poetry, he is a hero ... His poem "A Gong Fu" has beautiful words and a poet's exhortation style, which scholars call it so far. As a grass, it is vigorous and powerful, which is in line with its article. " Therefore, a versatile scholar, whether writing poetry, composition, writing or painting, always has a unified style.
In short, whether the author is good or bad, his mental outlook will always be reflected in his calligraphy works, which is an objective historical conclusion.
This situation has profound moral concepts and aesthetic reasons. First of all, there is a tradition in our country, that is, we always like to associate beautiful things with ethical concepts, and think that only this thing with higher moral and spiritual significance deserves special respect, or that it is a higher level of beauty. Secondly, the art of calligraphy is an appreciation. From the perspective of art book psychology, when people create or appreciate art works, they are accompanied by a pleasant aesthetic feeling. To appreciate a work, it is natural to associate it with the creator. If the author is a hero admired by everyone, or a person with good character, when he appreciates the works, he will not only appreciate the beauty, but also be infected by his noble moral sentiments. That's exactly what happened: Yan Zhenqing was loyal to his country and had integrity all his life. His calligraphy is also vigorous, magnificent, rigorous and meticulous. In particular, "Sacrificing a Nephew" really integrates his personality, feelings and art. It is really pen and blood, and every word is tears. The strength of the British style is evident in the style of writing. His feelings are vividly expressed through calligraphy. Premier Zhou Enlai wrote in mourning for the martyrs who died in the south of the Yangtze River: "A leaf in the south of the Yangtze River is a strange injustice through the ages. What's the hurry! " Calm and steady, depressed and restrained, showing hatred for the enemy and mourning for the martyrs, making people love more and more. Appreciate such works, you will get a double harvest of thought and aesthetics, and your interest will be higher. As listed above, the author's character is not good, even very poor. Reading his words, you will inevitably think of him, and you will inevitably get tired and even disgusted. What an aesthetic enjoyment! Therefore, people are very cautious when dealing with this problem. Therefore, books, like people, are not only reflected in such principled issues as "goodness" and "evil", but also include a person's mind, knowledge, personality, interests and so on. "uninvited books, see the character. Therefore, it is not enough to tell a book without learning, especially without quality. This book also makes sense. " (Li Jian's Shu Dao) In the Qing Dynasty, Li Ruiqing put it well in the Yi Draft of the Qing Dynasty: "Learning books first makes you stand. The right army has a high personality, so the book is fascinating. A mind is by no means better than a dirty book, so it can be asserted. " )
This is the dialectical relationship and historical fact that books and characters are equally important and products are put first. This is an aesthetic concept formed in the history of China's calligraphy, and it is the fundamental viewpoint to comment on the relationship between books and characters, which can't be changed by anyone.
Strengthen self-cultivation and improve in an all-round way
In essence, calligraphy embodies people's morality, knowledge and character. Calligraphy, as an art, can and must reflect a person's life experience, knowledge level, cultural accomplishment, good character, even ideological tendency and moral outlook to a certain extent. This is because, as the appreciation of calligraphy art, it is the expression of aesthetic consciousness; Calligraphy works are materialistic aesthetic consciousness; Calligraphy works are the products of calligraphers, and calligraphers themselves are restricted by specific thoughts, feelings and aesthetic tastes caused by specific times and living environment. At the same time, all art is inseparable from the author's personality and personality, and the creation pays great attention to personal style. What is the style? Say: "Style is people." Any successful work must have a strong personal style. Thousands of people lose their individuality, individuality and personality, and style. Calligraphy works without individuality are not real art. Like other art forms, whether a calligrapher can create a personal style is the key to the success or failure of his art. To understand the problem from this height, as a calligrapher, he must improve his personality, maintain his personality and strive to be a person with noble moral sentiments. Of course, people with cultural accomplishment are not necessarily calligraphers; But a real calligrapher should not only have a high literary and artistic accomplishment, but also have noble moral character and sentiment, which is related to the author's temperament, which cannot be refined and achieve higher achievements. It can be seen that the essence of calligraphy beauty is the beauty of personality or emotion expressed by calligraphers with abstract lines through images. So the pursuit of brushwork and structure is far from enough. A calligrapher who makes a difference always pays attention to his knowledge and temperament, always cultivates his mind and broadens his horizons, always blends his feelings into his pen and always shows them in his calligraphy works. Therefore, people who are good at calligraphy always strive to combine tradition with innovation, skill with artistic conception with beauty and simplicity, and strive to achieve the unity of content and form, and strive to achieve the unity of character and calligraphy.
So, how can we achieve the unity of content and form, characters and books?
That is: a calligrapher should not only have kung fu inside the book, but also have kung fu outside the book.
China's calligraphy has always attached importance to tradition, learning methods and techniques, and both internal and external cultivation. However, at present, in the field of calligraphy, especially among young people, some people are only keen on learning techniques, but they are not interested enough or even bored with the cultivation of calligraphy theory, the history of calligraphy and literary knowledge. As for the cultivation of moral sentiment temperament, it is even less important. This is a tendency to value books over people, and it is also a reflection of the bourgeoisie in calligraphy. Song Luyou once said: "If you want to learn poetry, kung fu is above poetry." The same is true of studying books. If you want to achieve something in your studies, work outside of books is essential. Mr. Situyue, an old calligrapher, once said, "Reading more posts is helpful for learning books, and reading more books is also helpful for learning books." "In addition to drawing nutrition from the calligraphy of ancient masters and everyone, you can also learn more poetry. The ancients said that poetry and books can be temperament, and the temperament has changed, and the bookish spirit has come out. " Professor Lu, a late calligrapher, earnestly warned his students before his death: "You can't bury yourself in calligraphy and seal cutting. The most important thing is moral knowledge. You can't stand up without this. There is no great calligrapher who is unlearned in ancient and modern times. We have a tradition in Zhejiang, from Xu Qingteng and Zhao Shu to modern philosophers, whose artistic attainments are rooted in knowledge. ..... If you want to be lighter than fame and fortune, you can't study silently in pursuit of fame and fortune. " (See the first year of Calligraphy)
From the above discussion, we realize that to be a real calligrapher, we must strengthen all aspects of self-cultivation and achieve all-round improvement. In addition to practicing and learning skills, we should also learn and master knowledge at all levels. Such as the history of calligraphy and the book theory of past dynasties, philology, ancient Chinese, history, literature, literary theory, modern Chinese, aesthetics, Chinese and foreign aesthetic history, philosophy and so on. At the same time, we should work hard to strengthen the cultivation of moral sentiment, and be good at transforming the knowledge we have mastered into temperament and skills, so as to actively show it in the book. Calligraphy should be the crystallization of the calligrapher's profound knowledge, profound ideological and artistic accomplishment, and skillful and profound techniques. When the calligrapher reaches a certain level, the so-called spirit and charm will come unexpectedly. To reach a high-level stage, calligraphy art is not more profound than skill, more exquisite than stippling and composition, but more cultivated than the author's spirit, mind and temperament. Therefore, if you want to make achievements in your studies and get married, you must build your own complete knowledge structure of calligraphy, and you must strengthen and have comprehensive cultivation in calligraphy. This is: the kung fu and accomplishment of calligraphy, the understanding and accomplishment of culture, and the personal temperament and accomplishment. These three aspects of promotion are indispensable. Only in this way can we develop the artistic conception and style of calligraphy creation and achieve success. As Xiang Mu said: "Liu Gongquan said: the heart is right and the pen is right, and Yu Jin said: people are right and the book is right, the heart is a teacher, and the heart is right and people are right. The pen is the filler of the book, and the pen is the right thing. ..... To correct your book, correct your pen first, so to correct your author, correct your heart first. ...... So the book is like a theory, and the book is like a person. " (Elegant characters in calligraphy)
"The spirit is old everywhere, and the spirit will be flat when you have a deep knowledge." As a modern calligrapher worthy of the name, if you want to create excellent calligraphy works with the spirit of the new era, you must constantly purify your soul, so as to make your artistic works more mature and move towards a higher artistic realm. He should persist in attaching importance to books and putting people first, cultivate himself into a pioneering, innovative and progressive mind in the new era, take a clear-cut stand on the Four Cardinal Principles, resolutely oppose the bourgeoisie, and unswervingly take the road of reform, opening up and strengthening the country.
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As mentioned above, the relationship between personality and books does exist mutual infiltration, mutual influence and mutual containment, which is undeniable. However, it cannot be ignored that calligraphy skills have their own characteristics. There is a profound inheritance in brushwork, composition, painting, style and realm, which has a greater influence on personality than the historical conditions. Sometimes in the face of a work, it is difficult to judge the author's loyalty, treachery, good and evil. In fact, some people have good character and may not be able to write good calligraphy works; On the other hand, it is not necessarily bad. Therefore, "books are like people" cannot be absolute, and the relationship between books and characters can never be equated. If we specialize in writing and learning books based on character, our calligraphy development will be monotonous, broken and deformed. Therefore, books and theories should not be wasted because of people. We should say that as an artist and calligrapher, we should promote ourselves to develop in the direction of good character and good books, and become a person who has a skill, but especially needs a progressive thought and noble personality. We can't deny his artistic achievements just because the historical figures in his works lack character, let alone keep them secret.
For your reference!
Good luck!