When we are practicing brush calligraphy, in the primary stage, because we are completely unfamiliar with the performance of the brush, we can first write two or three inches long regular script by hanging our wrists. After a period of practice, we have a little grasp of brushwork, and our hands are getting used to it, so we can practice hanging our elbows. Of course, suddenly my arms are suspended, and it will be difficult to get up. Hands will be numb and sore, just stick to it and it will be solved. Fast is a week, slow is a month. If you are afraid of pain at first, or see that your handwriting is not as good as when your wrist is resting, and put your arm back on the table, it is likely that your arm will never hang up.
There was a calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty. Because I can't get through hanging my elbow, my wrist has been resting on the table when I write calligraphy, and I can't write big characters. So he hung a rope on the roof beam to form a rope loop and wrote his gloves in the loop. It can be seen that it is very troublesome not to hang your elbow.
The height of writing refers to the distance from the finger (ring finger) to the pen tip. Long distance means holding high, and vice versa. Hold it high and hold it in the middle or tail of the pen. When writing, if you move your wrist or finger by one minute, the pen will move one inch on the paper, which will easily produce unexpected effects and make the knot interesting. So this method is conducive to writing running script and cursive script. However, due to the height of the pen, the force in the hand is transmitted to the far tip, and the strokes are easy to slip. On the contrary, the pen is low, the pen power is easy to reach the tip, and the pen circle is more stable, which is conducive to writing seal script, official script and regular script. Of course, this is not absolute. Mr Lin Sanzhi still writes cursive with a pen. He did not rely on his fingers to gain unexpected interest in cursive writing, but on the coordinated movements of his wrists and arms to pursue that kind of calm and happy brushwork.
Beginners should practice block letters and write lower (about 1 inch from the root of the pen) to make the strokes more stable. Writing regular script is difficult to master because of its high writing level and great changes. There is also the problem of tight writing. If you hold it too tightly and exert too much force, your hands will tremble and your fingers will be sore. If you hold it too loosely, the pen will fall off without force. For beginners, they are nervous because they have never held a brush, so they can relax appropriately. Of course, writing is not powerless. The ancients said that "the force lies in the pen tip", which means that the force is transmitted to the pen tip through the hand holding the pen, rather than staying on the arm or finger. Writing is skillful and not fatal. Li Qiao comes from long-term practice, just like riding a bike. You can ride, get used to it, and don't feel like you're exerting yourself. If you don't feel that you are exerting yourself freely, you will pass the writing test.
Writing with a brush is accomplished through the coordinated movement of fingers, wrists or elbows. It is called "finger movement" to complete the writing of stippling purely by finger movement. Wrist movement is called "wrist movement" to complete stroke writing. Stroke writing is completed by the coordinated action of the arm and elbow, which is called "elbow movement".
When writing small or inch characters (one-inch square regular script characters), the wrist (the movable part where the root of the hand is connected with the lower end of the arm) is placed on the table, the thumb and forefinger of the pen stand obliquely beside the pen, and the palm of the hand is also erected as much as possible. The back of the hand forms an angle of 70 degrees or 80 degrees with the desktop, which was called "palm vertical from the horizontal" by the ancients, and an oblate shape similar to "phoenix eye" is formed between the index finger and thumb of the pen. You can't write two or three inches square with the wrist pillow method. One finger can't move on the big letters, and the other hand, if you move the pen too big, will fall down and a sick pen will appear. You should write by moving your wrist. In the wrist transport method, the wrist must be suspended, the palm of the hand should be relaxed naturally, and the angle between the back of the hand and the desktop is about 45 degrees (see Figure 2). If you write big words, use the hanging wrist method, because it is easy to write a vertical picture with your elbow on the table. Therefore, when you write big characters, you must hang your arms. Even if you write big characters two or three inches square, hanging your arms is quite beneficial. When writing big characters, people should not only hang their arms, but also stand up and write. At this time, the palm of your hand holding the pen will relax slightly, and the back of your hand and arms will be flat and parallel to the desktop. The ancients called it "flat cover". At this time, the wrist is completely relaxed, and you can move freely and flexibly from left to right and up and down. When writing Chinese characters, it is accomplished through the combination of elbow movement and wrist movement (see Figure 3).
Except for fine print, we don't approve of writing brush characters purely by finger movement. Some people practice hanging their elbows to write big letters. Although their arms and wrists were hung, they were still in a static and rigid state. When writing, they still use their fingers to do it, and the pen is badly thrown. This loses the meaning of hanging elbows. Try to use your fingers as little as possible when hanging your elbows, but it is mainly the movements of your wrists and elbows. It is worth mentioning that the pen holder does not always have to be perpendicular to the paper. In the process of writing, the pen holder can naturally tilt slightly, but the amplitude is small. Generally, when writing regular script, the pen should always be vertical.