By chance, on the recommendation of a friend, I went to the depths of Yuantong Temple to attend an elegant gathering of rough stone appreciation by three generations of Miyan seal sealers.
Teacher Zhou Jianguo, who is from Xiling Seal, explains the seal in detail, and talks about calligraphy and seal cutting with Master Chunfa, the abbot of Yuantong Temple from time to time. It is a wonderful cultural appreciation.
Watch and imitate the three rounds of tea. After the collection, we got the seal of Duke Zhou and a piece of Chunfa's left-hand calligraphy.
Very happy.
During the dinner, whether they were seal carving masters or calligraphy masters, they all talked about rough stones and calligraphy treasures. Their movements were invisible but full of elegance, which was enviable.
Looking back, I realize that this elegant place is the result of decades of diligent study and practice, decades of purity and solitude, and I feel more admiration than envy.
After listening to the master's discussion on seal carving, I feel that I have not yet begun to get a glimpse of the art, so I can only record some seal carving experiences with a layman's attitude and gain some insights into life.
I actually have very few experience in seal cutting.
First, seal cutting was born out of calligraphy. We first look at the weather and then discuss the sword technique.
When I first started learning seal cutting by myself, after some time of imitating cats and animals, I was often able to impress others. Only when you see the master's rough stone with your own eyes can you know the world of difference. The essence of carving a good seal actually lies in the depth of calligraphy skills and the level of appreciation, which cannot be compared with the superficial skills of three to five years. Practicing calligraphy is a top priority.
Second, good seal cutting should be considerate of the viewer, and should be easy and comfortable to watch.
Teacher Zhou used this seal as an example to explain density arrangement. The purpose of retracting the sharp characters is to leave space so that the arrangement will not be rigid or airtight, which will put too much pressure on those who view the seal.
The seal of "Live up to the Tathagata" takes into account the density of the diagonals, and is arranged appropriately and generously, with great magnanimity.
The edges of each ink pad reviewed this time are comparable to the ink surface. If the regular script is too neat and neat, it will be vulgar; if the running script is too wild, it will be floating; if the official script is too heavy, it will be dull. The edges of these seals are cut out with a knife, and the order is neat but the writing is flexible, which shows the profound skill.
Third, each line of large prints needs to be breathable.
Teacher Zhou took the seal "If you ask about life, it is a dream" as an example. He only mentioned two sentences. The first sentence "Dream is the theme, lengthened and highlighted", the second sentence "Each line of the big seal is evenly divided." It needs to be breathable." The first sentence is not difficult to understand, and the second sentence is breathable. I roughly understand it as the smoothness of space.
This breathability is the arrangement of the space between strokes, the combination of yin and yang, the combination of movement and stillness. A good seal, even though it has many strokes and dense strokes, makes the space always flow, like a maze map, which can always extend in all directions and interact with the inside and outside. It's also like a game of Go. If you lose all your energy, the game will end in a dead game.
In fact, the biggest and biggest touch of this gathering is the taste of life beyond the seal cutting skills: those who have achieved success in ancient and modern times are always lonely behind them.
There are two antithetical seals in the collection, which are the reflections of Abbot Chunfa. The first one: heavy love leads to fatigue of life and death.
We, mortals, do not make false claims about the realm of masters.
I prefer another one: the deep joy of loneliness in summer.
Whether it is calligraphy, seal cutting, or the study of knowledge, there are those who have only dabbled in it, and there are those who are in their mid-90s. If you really want to become a master, you have to work hard to achieve it.
On a summer night, cicadas chirp, a solitary lamp, the window lattice swaying, and the incense smoke curls up. Writing and writing, enjoying the tranquility alone.
Lonely? It is indeed lonely.
Is it bitter? It’s also Qing Huan.
Thirty-five years of loneliness and joy every night have made Chunfa calligraphy famous for its two-handed calligraphy. Watching it live, the left hand seems to be better.
Recently I have been inadvertently reminded of Wang Guowei’s three realms of life. The first realm is “establishment”, the second realm is “keep”, and the third realm is “acquisition”. Maybe because the year is approaching, I unconsciously start to examine whether it can be regarded as "standing".
If life is just a straight passage with only one clear goal at the beginning, then it is still far from the first state in the heart. Fortunately, life is a garden with forking paths. I have several paths related to writing and seal cutting, and I am planning to go up to a tall building alone and look at Tianya Road.
Even though the world is far away, we still have to go. This time, I rely on "the clothes are getting wider and I don't regret it, and I feel haggard because of Yi", I rely on the "lonely summer, deep loneliness and joy" night after night, and I rely on the mountain journey deep in my heart. A journey of water brings thousands of lights into the night.
Teacher Zhou also talked about a strange person in the world of seal cutting, Mr. Wang Fu'an, the founder of Xiling Seal Society, a unique person who could carve seals lying down. Due to years of seal carving, my cervical vertebrae felt uncomfortable, so I tried to carve seals while lying on a rattan couch, gradually lying down instead of sitting, and I developed a habit. When Mr. Wang was lying down carving seals, he had a "rice bag" wrapped around his body, a pipe hanging from his lips, half a glass of white wine beside the coffee table, and an ink-pad vat containing peanut butter instead of ink-pad, which was very pleasant to drink with.
In this seemingly comfortable posture, the painstaking efforts of the seal carver can also be seen.
Looking back on my father’s decades of painting career, I sometimes slept in the open air, got up early and worked hard at night, but more often than not, I woke up in the middle of the night, and saw the back of my father working at his desk under the lamp in the cave dwelling.
When you reach a certain age, you really need to seriously look back and see if you can see the end of the world and whether you are ready to become haggard.
When things in the world are always chaotic and your mood is inevitably irritable, you may need a cup of tea and some introspection. Tell yourself that it takes several years for anyone to succeed in a career and practice a little Kung Fu.
A curtain of clear dreams, a few pestles and clocks, and many years.
Let’s conclude with this sentence.