Su Xiaoping
First, the concept and development history of calligraphy.
Calligraphy, in a broad sense, refers to the writing rules of language symbols. In other words, calligraphy refers to writing with its brushwork, structure and composition according to the characteristics and significance of words, making it a beautiful work of art.
The origin of calligraphy
Originally, Chinese characters had an artistic flavor in the Yin and Zhou Dynasties. Inscriptions on Oracle bones in the Yin Dynasty were not only carved with a knife, but also written with a pen. The inscriptions on bronzes in the Western Zhou Dynasty should be written first and then cast. Many of these works have beautiful fonts, which can be said to have come from unknown calligraphers at that time. And consciously using words as works of art, the artistry of words began at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, countries such as Wu, Yue, Cai and Chu often carved (or mispronounced) artistic fonts on ceremonial weapons. Just contrary to the scribbled fonts at that time, we tried to be neat and beautiful, or added some dots to the strokes, or pretended to be tortuous, or added bird-shaped decoration to the strokes. This is the origin of "bird print", "insect print" or "seedling print". During the Warring States period, in addition to the widely used grass seal script, many important bronze inscriptions used neat seal script, paying attention to beauty. For example, the chimes made in South Korea in the early Warring States period were all marked with squares, and neat seal characters were written in the squares, which were very beautiful. The bronze inscriptions unearthed from the tomb of King Zhongshan in Pingshan, Hebei Province are also neat seal scripts. This is the origin of calligraphy.