Wang Anshi's calligraphy has been praised and criticized differently since ancient times. In order to attack Wang Anshi, the conservatives in the Northern Song Dynasty tried their best to vilify or even ban his calligraphy when they were in power, which did have a certain negative impact and blow in some periods. But even so, there are many people who admire Wang Anshi's calligraphy, and they are not all reformists in the party struggle, but the so-called conservatives. For example, Su Shi and Huang Tingjian are famous people who are very influential in culture. Why do they appreciate Wang Anshi's calligraphy and strongly admire it? Moreover, Wang Anshi's calligraphy was not lost in the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhu also saw his calligraphy in the Southern Song Dynasty, and many of his titles still exist in later generations. His calligraphy was lost in the long historical process. This shows that the influence of the party struggle at that time and the controversy over historical figures caused by it were only one aspect of the problem.
I think the more important reason lies in the culture itself. The spread history of many ancient art treasures proves that the spread of calligraphy and painting is not completely influenced by political factors, nor can it be prohibited by power. To a great extent, it has to be recovered and eliminated by historical aesthetic concepts and public appreciation habits, and far-sighted collectors of calligraphy and painting will also weigh political security and market appreciation. It should be said that Wang Anshi's calligraphy was degraded and vilified not only because it was not juxtaposed with Su Huang's camouflage in the history of calligraphy, but also because it was not widely collected and circulated among the people. In fact, it has a lot to do with the traditional concept of calligraphy art appreciation and the level of secular appreciation.
Wang Anshi's calligraphy is rarely handed down from generation to generation. There are only two recognized original calligraphy works, one is Guo Congtie in the National Palace Museum, and the other is Leng Yan Jing Yao in the Shanghai Museum. Judging from these two original works, different appreciation concepts will lead to diametrically opposite evaluations. It is really difficult to get respect and love if you appreciate it with traditional calligraphy art or secular appreciation.
For example, some people use "words like oblique wind and drizzle" to ridicule the indecent and neat calligraphy of Wang Anshi. On the surface, the volume of Leng Yan's surprise to Zhi Yao seems to be real. Amin scholar Zhao Yiguang said that Wang Anshi's calligraphy seems to be in a busy era. I wonder if this public will be so busy? Then Wang Anshi's reply to a general sentence and the running script "Guo Congtie" really looks like a hasty chapter sentence, and Wang Anshi's calligraphy is also very fast. Ye Mengde's "Misty Rain in Shilin" said, "Wang gambles on stone symbols, the first horizontal painting, the left pin, and the circle in the middle. The public is in a hurry, the circle is not round, and there are often horizontal plaques. People often secretly talk about the public and swear. " He said that Wang Anshi actually wrote the word "stone" like the word "bad", which made people feel extremely ugly and slanderous, but it was also the expression of Wang Anshi's cadence in writing.
But if we look at it from another angle, get rid of the traditional conservative thinking and appreciate it with an open and elegant aesthetic concept, we will see its uniqueness and draw the opposite conclusion: Wang Anshi's calligraphy is actually very individual and unique in art.
Take the Rough and Short Classics, which has been handed down from generation to generation. Appreciators believe that the overall layout does have the trend of "oblique wind and drizzle", but if you carefully taste the author's pen, it seems to be casual, but in fact it is elegant and charming. The font is close to regular script with a little running script, the ink color is elegant and the stippling is clear. Although the lines are very close, there are few blank places, but there is no dazzling feeling, from which we can see Wang Anshi's mentality of retiring from nymphs. Although "Guo Cong Tie" is an urgent chapter, the pen is calm and powerful, and the pen is in place. Its text center of gravity generally falls on the lower right, stable and powerful, which is obvious.
Since ancient times, some intellectuals with conservative ideas and relatively open artistic concepts have greatly appreciated Wang Anshi's calligraphy. For example, Su Dongpo said that Wang Anshi's calligraphy is impossible, which means that he does not stick to the ancient method and emphasizes originality. Huang Gugu said: "Gong Jing does whatever he wants, without seeking merit, but Xiao Sanjian is like an expert, dressed in rags, walking between high chariots and horses, and his eyes are no longer concerned about the back of cattle." Huang Gu also studied the origin of Wang Anshi's calligraphy and imitated it. Later, Zhu of the Southern Song Dynasty and some calligraphers of the Ming and Qing Dynasties also spoke highly of Wang Anshi's calligraphy. Their views can be summarized as three points: first, they are casual, the bottom of the pen grows naturally, and they do it more attentively; Second, it is strange and ancient, with the pen and ink of people in Jin and Song Dynasties, elegant and elegant, with high style; Third, originality, non-compliance, the origin of calligraphy is difficult to follow. They think that his calligraphy also shows his independent personality because of his independent behavior. "Wang Wengong's Collection" contains "doubting the skill of nature, and there is no need to insist on knowing God", which can be said to be the self-expression of Wang Anshi's calligraphy art view. What he pursues is that kind of free state, that kind of elegant and super-advanced realm.
Some commentators believe that the calligraphy circle in the Northern Song Dynasty inherited the banner of "dancing high and elegant" from the Tang and Jin Dynasties and established a completely different style of "respecting meaning". Su Huang Camo's calligraphy actually has the characteristics of "respecting meaning". Although there are many reasons for the emergence of the "Shang Yi" book style in the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi, as a politician with unique opinions, is also a pioneer of this book style. He condensed his stubborn and elegant temperament at the end of his pen and spilled it on silk, forming an extraordinary and refined personalized calligraphy style. It was Wang Anshi's pioneering work that made Su Huang Camouflage famous.
It can be seen that conservative and open ideas will form different or even diametrically opposite views in artistic creation and appreciation. Personalized calligraphy, such as Wang Anshi's, which is particularly outstanding in art, is difficult to be recognized by most conservative traditional forces and liked by the secular except for a few open-minded literary and art circles. On the contrary, his arrogant and independent personality and his calligraphy art are often vilified, strangled and annihilated by tradition and secularism, which seriously affects the evaluation of his artistic value and social circulation. The experience of Wang Anshi's calligraphy is mainly caused by the conservative forces and concepts that have long dominated the traditional culture of China. This is not only the sorrow of Wang Anshi and his calligraphy, but also the sorrow of culture.