The brush is the main writing tool for traditional Chinese calligraphy. Writing with a brush is like using chopsticks to eat or shoveling soil. If the method is not correct, it will be laborious and difficult to achieve the goal. Therefore, beginners of calligraphy should first learn to hold the pen correctly. Regarding the method of writing, there have always been many names, and calligraphers have different opinions. Here we mainly introduce to you a method that we think is more scientific and is used by most calligraphers. This is the traditional writing method that the predecessors called the "orange picking method" (see Figure 1). Lu Xisheng in the Tang Dynasty once described this method. The essentials of this writing method can be summed up in five words: push, push, hook, lift, and hold. The following is a brief explanation:
Push means to press, that is, press with the rib of the thumb. Hold the pen barrel and push forward with your index finger.
Bend the index finger downward and press the pen barrel with the first joint of the thumb, pressing against the thumb. The vibration of the pen and the pressing of the index finger mainly play a role in fixing the pen. It is important to pay special attention to the fact that the middle section of the index finger cannot be used to hold the pen barrel. It will be firm, but it will not be able to move flexibly. Bend your middle finger, point your fingertips downward and inward, use the ribbed center to hold the pen barrel, hook the outside of the pen barrel and apply force towards the palm of your hand.
Jie, also called grid. , the ring finger is bent, and the joint between the nail and the flesh is pressed against the pen barrel, and the force is applied outward and upward, that is, in the opposite direction to the force of the middle finger.
The little finger is bent like the ring finger and is close to the ring finger.
The advantage of this way of holding the pen is that the five fingers can be bent and extended naturally, and the pen can be used evenly. It is not only stable in the hand, but also makes it easy to rotate back and forth when writing. There are two points that need special attention when holding the pen: first, the fingers should not be stuck together, and the fingertips of the ring finger and little finger should not be buckled into the palm of the hand, otherwise it will be difficult to hold the pen when writing. The ancients said that when writing, you should "finger the real palm". The so-called "finger real" means that the fingers should be used when writing, so that the five brothers can work together and perform their respective responsibilities effectively. Do your best, the so-called "palm empty" means don't press the five fingers tightly, let the fingers, pen barrel and palm naturally maintain a certain distance, forming a certain gap. Both "finger solid" and "palm deficiency" are to ensure the "flexibility" of the pen. Some people understand "finger solid" as squeezing the pen barrel hard, and "palm deficiency" means that the palm of the hand must be able to move when writing. Holding an egg (that is, your fingers should always maintain a certain posture when writing, and you should not bend or stretch, otherwise the egg will fall to the ground). This is a comment that cannot be believed. Second, don't hold the pen too tightly. At that time, a story began to spread that when Wang Xianzhi was practicing calligraphy when he was six or seven years old, his father Wang Xizhi pulled out his pen from behind, but it was not pulled out. As a result, Wang Xianzhi became a great calligrapher, but he could not pull out his pen. A pen in the hand of a child, unless the child is a genius and strong man. Even if this story is true, it only shows that Wang Xianzhi in his childhood was not only focused, but also very alert. He first "sneak attack" to draw the pen , he immediately discovered that he deliberately tightened the pen barrel without pulling it out. Source Calligraphy House, Calligraphy House Chinese Calligraphy Learning Network Later people misunderstood that Wang Xianzhi used the A pen barrel when writing, so he deduced it based on this story. This sentence means that when you hold the pen, you must intend to "crush the tube." If you want to crush the pen tube, you must use force to hold the pen so tightly that the bowl will be dead and the arm will be damaged. Dead, completely stiff, how can we make the pen move freely in our hands and write the pen lines vividly? If we want to "crush this chopsticks and knife when eating, we will definitely not be able to hold the peanuts in our mouths." If the bicycle also intends to "crush this handle", it will inevitably fall into the road ditch. Isn't it "the same reason" when holding a pen to write? Of course, holding a pen requires a certain amount of strength, but the amount of force must be moderate. It must be held firmly and loosely, sometimes loosely and sometimes tightly, according to the size of the writing. The strokes will change naturally depending on the strength of the strokes. Don't blindly keep it tight.
The story of Wang Xizhi drawing a pen has been spread throughout the ages and has been passed down to this day. It is not only a household name, but also a "good story" that many parents and teachers must tell in their first lesson of enlightenment. It can be said that it is widely circulated. This fallacy should have been refuted long ago.
There have always been many magical and mythical sayings about holding a pen, such as using three fingers to hold a pen, placing the tips of the index finger and middle finger in front of the pen barrel, and pressing the thumb inside the pen barrel to make an arc. Hold the pen barrel in a shape to make the tiger's mouth into a round shape, which is called the "dragon eye method"; if the tiger's mouth becomes a flat circle, it is called the "phoenix eye method"; and twist the wrist inward, the "phoenix eye method" ; There are also twisting the wrists inward, which is also called the "wrist-turning method" (Picture 2), etc. Holding the pen in this way is both difficult and inconvenient to write. It is really asking for trouble. "There is no fixed method for holding the pen." , (Su Dongpo language). Pens vary in size, weight, and shape, and there are also differences in size, calligraphy style, and writing location. Calligraphers can naturally use different writing methods according to different situations and their own habits. There is no need to stick to one type, but they must always It shall be based on the flexibility of the brush strokes to facilitate the expression of the artistic effect of pointillism.