The history of China's calligraphy can be divided into several stages. Generally speaking, Yan Zhenqing in the Tang Dynasty can be regarded as a dividing point, which was called "the evolution period of calligraphy style" before and "the evolution period of style" later. In the evolution of calligraphy style, the main trend of calligraphy development is the evolution of calligraphy style, and the display of calligrapher's artistic style is often linked with calligraphy style. When the style changes, there is no need to create a new font. So calligraphers put forward the idea of "respecting meaning". The "style of writing" is fixed, while the "meaning" is alive, further strengthening the author's main role.
China's calligraphy art began in the generation stage of Chinese characters. "Voice can't spread in different places, but stay in different times, so words were born. Therefore, the author is the trace of meaning and sound. " As a result, words came into being. The earliest works of calligraphy art are not words, but some descriptive symbols-hieroglyphics or picture words.
Symbols depicting Chinese characters first appeared on pottery. The primitive depiction symbol only represents a rough concept of chaos and has no exact meaning.
More than 8,000 years ago, magnetic mountain culture, Fiji and Khan Lee cultures appeared in the Yellow River Basin. There are many symbols on the handmade ceramics unearthed in Fiji and Khan Lee, which are the chaotic combination of the communication function, note-taking function and pattern decoration function of the ancestors. Although these are not real Chinese characters, they are indeed the embryonic forms of Chinese characters.
Immediately after the Banpo site of Yangshao culture about 6000 years ago, some painted pottery with similar characters were unearthed. These symbols are distinguished from patterns, which promotes the development of Chinese characters. This can be said to be the origin of China characters.
Then Erlitou culture and Erligang culture. In the archaeological excavation of Erlitou culture, there are 24 kinds of marked pottery pieces, some of which are similar to Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins, and all of them are single independent characters. Erligang culture was found to have a writing system. Three bones with words were found here, two with words and a cross, which seemed to be carved for practicing lettering. This has made civilization take another big step forward.
The origin of primitive characters is an imitation instinct, which is used to visualize a specific thing. Although it is simple and chaotic, it already has a certain aesthetic taste. This simple writing can therefore be called prehistoric calligraphy.
From the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, through the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the historical development of more than 2,000 years also promoted the development of calligraphy art. During this period, various calligraphy styles appeared one after another, including the handwriting of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, bronze inscriptions, stone carvings, bamboo slips and Zhu Mo. Among them, the fonts such as seal script, official script, cursive script and regular script were stereotyped in the screening and elimination of hundreds of miscellaneous characters, and the calligraphy art began to develop in an orderly manner.
Oracle Bone Inscriptions: The name of an ancient script in China and the oldest existing script in China. Oracle Bone Inscriptions's knot is shaped with the body, so let it be. Its composition varies in size, Fiona Fang is varied, long and flat in shape, patchwork and harmonious. The writing principles of Chinese characters have been generally established in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, such as rugged, evasive, bow-echoing, unstoppable and so on.
Another monument in the history of China's calligraphy. Attached to the bronze ware, the tripod was cast to "make people know God's treachery", so it was a ritual vessel for religious sacrifice. Bronze inscriptions are also called Zhong Dingwen, Wen Qi and ancient prose. Compared with Oracle Bone Inscriptions, the lines of inscriptions cast together with bronzes are stronger and more pictographic.
After Qin Shihuang unified the whole country, Minister Li Si presided over the unification of the national characters, which was a great achievement in the cultural history of China. After the unification of Qin Dynasty, this script was called Qin Zhuan, also known as Xiao Zhuan, which was simplified on the basis of Jin Wen and Shi Guwen. Li Si, a famous calligrapher, presided over the compilation of Xiao Zhuan. Li Si wrote the stone carvings of Mount Li, Mount Tai, Langya and Huiji. All previous dynasties have a very high evaluation. Qin is a period of change of inheritance and innovation. The preface to Shuo Wen Jie Zi says: "Shu Qin has eight styles, namely, big seal, small seal, seal, worm, kai, official script and official script." It basically summarizes the face of the font at this time. Li's seal script was harsh and inconvenient to write, so official script appeared. Official script is also a great victory of seal script. Its purpose is to facilitate writing. During the Western Han Dynasty, official script changed from seal script to official script, and its structure changed from vertical to horizontal, with more obvious lines and waves. The appearance of official script is a great progress of China characters and a revolution in the history of calligraphy, which not only makes Chinese characters tend to be square, but also breaks through a single center in brushwork, laying the foundation for various calligraphy schools in the future. In addition to the above calligraphy masterpieces, there are also handwriting such as imperial edict, weight, tile and coin. In the Qin dynasty, the style was very different.
Calligraphy in Qin Dynasty left a brilliant page in the history of calligraphy in China, which is a pioneering work.