Chen Chao's Calligraphy Achievements

Chen Chao was also a famous seal writer in the art world during Daoguang period. At that time, people thought his seal script was "simple and elegant, superior to" (Li, a famous seal script writer in the Tang Dynasty), and there was a saying: "Li Shang (Wu Cunyi) wrote seal script in the east, and Mr. (He Longwen, nephew He Xuan) wrote seven-character poems." In the Qing Dynasty, primary schools flourished, and with the legacy of Jiang Zuo, scholars learned more about seal writing brushes. However, in the era of Chen Chao, advocating the North Monument became more popular. At that time, Bao strongly advocated stele study, and Yangzhou became the center of stele study for a while. For example, friends Yang Liang, Wu Xizai, Mei, etc. They all studied under the package, but they didn't like to follow the fashion and studied seal cutting alone. He intensively read six books, not only studying Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi, but also making a detailed evaluation of the similarities and differences among Xu Xuan, Xu Kai, Qian Daxin and Duan Yucai. He studied all night and explored the reasons, so that he knew the source of the words in his heart. At the same time, he took Li and Li Si directly and made hundreds of seal characters every morning, and the cold and heat never stopped. Chen Chao's friends, How, Wu Cunyi, He Longwen and Li Zhaoluo, were all heroes at that time. They exchange ideas and learn from each other. In this way, with superhuman talent, knowledge and diligence, Chen Chao set sail in the sea of books and obtained the seal method. His seal script got rid of the blunt habits of his predecessors. On the basis of Deng's taking sheep's hair as seal script, he combined the ancient method to seek novelty, focused on roundness, and often took the edge pen as beauty. His structure and composition are full of originality and variety, and his brushwork is open and lively. Mr. Wang commented: "Mr. Dongzhi is a master of seal cutting, superior to Cai (Lisi) and second to." It can be described as rave reviews. We can see that Chen Chao's iron-line seal script is beautiful and round, and won the charm of a mountain, while the jade-tendon seal script is round and smooth, flowing down, which is almost equal to Yang Bing. Critics believe that his seal script is better than that of Wang Shu, He, and later.

Chen Chao's seal script occupies a place in the history of China calligraphy with its unique aesthetic features. Zeng Nong wrote an inscription on the seal-cutting couplet "Sao Zuo Si Qi Enemy, Fu Liu You": "Mr. Dongzhi and Daozhou (He) are friends of the same year, and Daozhou's seal-cutting method takes more from the east, which is different from day to year. It is also rare to spread and fatal. This connection is ancient and thick, and it is the first connection you can see. " "Ancient and thick" is the aesthetic feature of Dongzhi seal script. The so-called "ancient" is to abide by the traditional brushwork, that is, to raise the pen at the center, and to stick to the brushwork of drawing two circles at both ends except for the vertical pen, such as Li Si, Li and Deng. The so-called "thick" means that the strokes are full, full of strength, not fine, not light and not floating. Mr. Dongzhi can come here, which shows that he has embarked on the right track of seal script and pursued his own style on the basis of inheriting tradition. Later, Wu Changshuo "learned from the good book" Stone Drum "and changed it into a proper body, with a good density and a pen." Stone Drum "is like a cloud! After learning it, it became famous and regarded as a standard. Very poisonous, can win a sigh! " (Shang Chengzuo's Shuo Zhuan) Another feature of Dongzhi Zhuan is "leisure". Modern Ma Zonghuo said, "The seal script in the East is powerful, and God is quite idle. I regret his early death and cannot make up for it." Qin people are ambitious, galloping, sweeping Liuhe and unifying the world. Qin Zhuan is also driven by power, but his thoughts are idle. Different from Sun Xingyan, Mr. Dongzhi didn't underestimate him and was fascinated by the Party's dream English. On the contrary, he learns directly from Qin Zhuan, and he can learn from Qin Zhuan's method. He didn't realize this truth until his later years in Ji Shao, but his seal script seems to be inferior to that of the East. This is the inspiration of the Eastern Seal for people to adopt laws. Kang Youwei commented on Dongzhi's seal script, saying that "his thoughts are quite strange", but he also accused him of being "like a wild fan in the mountains, fierce and ignorant of people". In fact, Kang Shu is not as far as the East, and the momentum of seal script in the East is beyond the reach of ordinary people. Kang's pen, sloppy, reveals a fierce and arrogant taste, and if it is lacking, it is "idle". In fact, the formation of the characteristics of Kang books is not surprising. When the country is strong or relatively stable, the book style is always elegant and full of calm self-confidence. Mr Rudong was in Chengping at that time, so seal script was better than official script, and God was quite free. In troubled times, some calligraphers always reveal an uneasy desolation in their pen and ink. Therefore, Kang's writing has this kind of emotion, which is the result of the times.