The first period can be called the embryonic period of calligraphy art or the period of ancient Chinese characters. It started with the creation of characters by Cangjie, a historian of the Yellow Emperor, and ended with Qin Shihuang unifying the six countries, and the seal script became the unified standard writing in China. During this period, the characters generally included carved symbols, Oracle Bone Inscriptions, Hu Tou Wen, Tadao Wen, Bird and Insect Seal, Shu Wen, Shi Guwen and so on, up to Xiao Zhuan. The writing in this period was mainly practical, which was used by the king to declare enlightenment to the court, and the princes and officials to record the virtues and stipulate taboos. Characters are roughly drawn into shapes according to objects, which was called "Wen" at that time. Later, the combination of shapes and sounds was called "Zi", and writing characters on bamboo slips and silks was called "Book". The ancients said, "A writer is like a scholar.". If is similar. Similarity contains artistic elements. Xiao Zhuan expresses the unity of national will and the systematization of social governance with the characteristics of put in order. Further, it can also be explained that it embodies the dignity of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, and at the same time it also expresses the legalist idea of managing the world. Although the writing at that time was not artificially artistic for him, it was uniform, dignified and generous, noble and gorgeous, and inadvertently formed the characteristics of the times. Judging by the aesthetic standards of modern people, the beauty of that period is a kind of primitive beauty, simple beauty and naive beauty. This kind of beauty can even be said to be as lovely as a child's innocence.
The second period, from the birth of Lishu to the Han, Wei and Six Dynasties, is the awakening and formation period of China's calligraphy from practicality to art. Speaking of official script, it is necessary to explain to the Qin Dynasty that after the unification of the six countries, the Qin Dynasty adopted the seal script and used official script as an assistant, that is, official documents were copied down with official script for future reference. From the perspective of the history of calligraphy, Qin is a watershed of writing. The appearance of Xiao Zhuan ended the era of ancient Chinese characters in China, and the appearance of Lishu opened the era of modern Chinese characters. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty that the art of calligraphy really entered the awakening era. The so-called artistic awakening means that people find beauty in abstract lines, feel beauty, understand beauty, and apply their own understanding of beauty to the creative practice of calligraphy. The appearance of official script broke the square and inflexible pattern of Xiao Zhuan, increased strokes and waves, and began to use calligraphy techniques such as hanging needles, hanging dew, hiding the head and protecting the tail. Calligraphy in Wei and Jin Dynasties has become an artistic necessity in people's lives. For example, Cao Cao often hangs Liang Huan's calligraphy works in the military account, and enjoys it while he is in a military position. Wang Xizhi wrote words on the fan of the old lady in Lushan, and the fan could be raised from 2 yuan to 1 yuan. In addition, from the perspective of calligraphy theory's creation, Cui Yuan wrote the first calligraphy paper "Cursive Script" in the history of China in the period of Emperor An of the Eastern Han Dynasty. And caused Zhao Yi's criticism, and immediately wrote an article against it. His Non-cursive script put forward his own different views from the perspective of pragmatism and utilitarianism. This shows that cursive script was very popular in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the most famous one was Zhang Zhi, the sage of grass. In Zhuanshi, Bilun and Jiushi, Cai Yong theoretically expounded the artistic characteristics and values of Cao, Zhuanshi and Lishu, and put forward that "Fu Shu originated from nature, and nature was established, and Yin and Yang were born; Yin and yang are born, and the situation is out. " Among them, the word "situation" has three meanings, one is structure, the other is pen method, and the third is artistic effect. He also put forward in "On the Pen" that "if you want to write, you should let go of your arms first, and then write". Aesthetic views such as "for the body of a book, it is necessary to enter its shape ... before it can be called a book". Under his influence, Wei Shuo put forward in "Pen Chen Tu"; "Every word is like its shape, and it is wonderful, and the book is finished." This is to link calligraphy with artistic image, completely get rid of the note-keeping function of words, and become an independent art and exist in the world.
The third period is the mature period of calligraphy, which can also be called the heyday of calligraphy-Tang and Five Dynasties. Due to the unstable political situation and frequent wars in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people were tired of the precarious life from the bottom of their hearts and tended to pursue the Taoist view of personal bliss from the bottom of their hearts. The "Shang Yun" shown by calligraphy is the pursuit of personality characteristics divorced from reality, but in the Tang Dynasty, its appearance changed. With great aesthetic tolerance, the people of the Tang Dynasty accepted everything from the ancient calligraphy art of the former dynasty and developed them to the extreme. As a result, when future generations talk about calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, they call it "respecting the law". What is Dharma? Law is the basic law summed up in various complicated artistic personalities. This law is the rationality summed up in many feelings, and the * * * extracted from many personalities. It is a universal law. In the Tang Dynasty, the art of calligraphy, which was diverse, antagonistic and blended with each other, formed a unique landscape in the cultural history of China. During this period, there appeared European-style calligraphy with dangerous brushwork, and there appeared a style of Yan-style calligraphy that embodied the spirit of Confucianism. The Dionysian romanticism Zhang Xu Mad Grass appeared, and the Liu Gongquan regular script, which used the regular script method to the extreme, also appeared. The application of techniques is more colorful, and new techniques such as "Yin Yinni", "Folding Chaiku", "Tapping Sand", "Leaking" and "Wall Demolition" have appeared. In calligraphy theory, it is no longer limited to writing skills, and the first monograph on calligraphy has appeared. Sun Guoting, the author of the book, put forward in his book that the process of learning books from little to old developed spirally through "three times", which is a philosophical proposition of negation and negation, and jumped out of the closed circle of Yi. His argument that "emotional expression, coquettish meaning, gloomy, depends on the heart of heaven and earth" has raised calligraphy creation to a new level.
The fourth period is the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and this period is the period when the calligraphy art grew and developed in the struggle. Why is it called the period of growth and development in the struggle? Because they are struggling to grow up in a special environment. First of all, in the Song Dynasty, there were two profound and strongest social reasons that influenced literati doctors at that time. First, the foreign invasion is serious. Not only is the invasion frequent, but it takes a long time. He was heavily invaded in Xia, Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, until the second emperor was captured, and Zhao Gou settled in a corner, and finally died in the Yuan Dynasty. Second, the internal strife is fierce, and the party struggles and factions are constantly fighting, so that outstanding figures like Su Dongpo have been repeatedly relegated. Many literati feel hopeless for the country and the people and turn to Buddhism and Taoism in order to be broad-minded and adaptive. No wonder Xin Qiji shouted in "Ugly Slave": "Now I know the taste of sorrow". Although the emperors of the Song Dynasty were addicted to the art of calligraphy and painting, it was just a sign that they were not doing their job properly. It is the environment created by these unscrupulous emperors that distorts the soul of literati. Huang Tingjian's style of writing with a spear and a halberd is an outlet of his inner depression. Mi Fei's book style, which turns it into a song and into a truth, is a typical expression of world-weariness. Later generations were called "Shang Yi" in Song Dynasty. In fact, "Shang Yi" echoes the "Shang Yun" of the Jin Dynasty from a distance, and it is the cry of those distorted souls in repression. The Yuan Dynasty was a society dominated by foreigners, and the old and young people in the Song Dynasty were just decorations for the Yuan people to whitewash peace and win people's hearts. Zhao Mengfu's heart is full of deep hatred for the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty. As a scholar, he can only express his silent resistance with the help of the calligraphy of the two kings full of Taoist colors. On the contrary, saying that Yuan people were "looking up" was just a pose. The Zhu Dynasty in the Ming Dynasty was an era of savage contempt for literati. The emperors of past dynasties were murderous and regarded human life as dirt. Imagine that under such historical conditions, can you expect a calligrapher with reform and innovation? Therefore, it shows that people's "attitude" is just a sigh in helplessness. Yangzhou eight eccentrics are normal. The Qing Dynasty was a special dynasty, especially in the Kanggan period, when the rulers wisely promoted the integration of Manchu and Chinese cultures. Han Chen was given the opportunity to display his political ambitions, which led to the emergence of Wang Duo's unique calligraphy, which was handed down to later generations. Even the paintings and calligraphy works of Fu Shan, Badashanren and others who are hostile to the Qing court can be widely circulated in the society. Fu Shan's calligraphy idea of "Ning Zhuo is not clever, rather ugly than flattering, rather fragmented than smooth, rather straightforward and not arranged" has also caused the sudden emergence of calligraphy and become a wonderful flower in the garden of calligraphy art. Due to the enlightened cultural policy of the Qing Dynasty, Zheng Banqiao's "six-and-a-half" calligraphy, which is neither true nor grass nor seal script nor official script, and Liu Yong's calligraphy, which is full of scroll culture, also appeared.
another feature of the calligraphy style in Qing dynasty is the prosperity of stele study. Because the steles were unearthed many days at that time, they gradually developed from learning Han steles to learning North steles, which included inscriptions and statues. As a result, the style of calligraphy changed in the middle of Qing Dynasty, and it became popular in the world with its simplicity and simplicity. Kang Youwei's "North-South Calligraphy Theory" also came into being at the right time and became the calligraphy guide at that time. In the Qing Dynasty, calligraphy theory was also very active, and calligraphy theory, such as Da Zhongguang, Bao Shichen, Liu Xizai, Kang Youwei and Deng Shiru, appeared successively. In particular, calligraphers such as He Shaoji, Zhao Zhichen, Wu Changshuo, Shen Cengzhi and Zhang Binglin in the late Qing Dynasty left valuable wealth for modern calligraphy. Therefore, while inheriting the study of calligraphy, the Qing Dynasty opened up a new world of epigraphy, which became an important period in the history of calligraphy in China. It is another new period after the Song Dynasty, when calligraphy was neglected and depressed for hundreds of years.