On the relationship between couplet art and calligraphy art

Both couplet art and calligraphy art are traditional arts with national characteristics based on the particularity of China language. Because couplets are mainly written in the form of calligraphy and hung in front of pillars between corridors and hall walls, people can appreciate both writing and calligraphy, so the relationship between them is extremely close. As written in "A Dream of Red Mansions", "There are many pavilions and pavilions, but if it is a landscape of flowers and willows, it will be difficult to be colorful." The "no-word title" here refers to the writing and calligraphy of couplets and plaques. As soon as couplets came into being, they had an indissoluble bond with calligraphy. China's calligraphy has a long history, which can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and developed to a mature artistic level through the Han, Wei, Sui and Tang Dynasties. At present, it is recognized as an early written record that a couplet "New Year's greetings, the number of which is Changchun" came into being during this period, and was inscribed on the board by Meng Chang, a master of the post-Shu Dynasty. Meng Chang himself is not a calligrapher, but at least he loves calligraphy. Since then, couplets have been closely related to calligraphy for more than a thousand years. Most of the authors of ancient and modern couplets have calligraphy artistic accomplishment, and many excellent couplets are written by calligraphers themselves. Su Dongpo and Huang Tingjian, famous calligraphers in the Song Dynasty, and Zhao Mengfu, a great calligrapher in the Yuan Dynasty, were all good at this. They wrote couplets for Zhenwu Temple in Guangzhou, Moonlight Jiangsheng Building in Mufu Mountain in Jiangxi and Lingyin Temple in West Lake. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, couplets reached its peak, and a large number of calligraphers emerged: Dong Qichang, Zhu Shilu, Yang Shen, Jie Jin, Wang Duo, Ji Yun, Weng Fanggang, Ding Jing, Yong Banqiao, Yu Yue, Deng, Gao, Jin Nong, Huang Shen, Yi Bingshou, Weng Tonghe and Wu Changshuo.

Many masters of couplets are from calligraphers, and many couplets are closely related to calligraphy art in content. Some calligraphers use couplets to talk about calligraphy. For example, Weng Tonghe, a modern calligrapher, once wrote a couplet:

Such as a knife, such as a lacquer note;

Write stone with gold, and enter the monument with posts.

On the first couplet, the pen is like a pebble with a knife, and the letters are written in ink. On the second couplet, Yun Jiashu should take the advantages of Zhong Ding and Shigu, and melt the inscription into one furnace.

Feng Guifen, an ancient philologist and calligrapher in Qing Dynasty, has a pair of couplets:

Qin seal is divided into internal and external customs;

Shaanxi Eastern Han Dynasty tablet school.

This pair of couplets summarizes the relationship between the seal cutting style of calligraphy in Qin and Han dynasties and the region.

There are also many couplets that are simply composed of words in inscriptions, and the causal relationship with calligraphy is more obvious. For example, Wu Zifu, a calligrapher in Lingnan, is full of peaches and plums, but he lamented: "There are too many Wu Zifu now." In order to make disciples understand that there is no future in sticking to his legacy, he gave them a collection of words from the monument to a good king of Thailand:

If words violate the law first, it is illegal;

One way is to learn from the teacher first, and then learn from him.

The collection of rubbings not only keeps the calligraphy style of the original rubbings, but also easily conforms to the contents related to calligraphy. This is the perfect combination of couplets and calligraphy. This also shows that they are mutual contents and forms of expression.

The emergence and development of couplets have also added fresh and colorful writing forms to the art of calligraphy. The main forms of calligraphy are banners, long scrolls, banners, album pages, fans and couplets. Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, couplets have been particularly popular among calligraphers. It is not limited by the writing style, and can be used to write couplets of various styles, such as Zhen, Cao, Zhuan, Li, Kai, Xing and Bafen. The writing format is also flexible, generally divided into upper and lower couplets, upper and lower vertical lines, and can also be written as banners, horizontal batches, sectors and so on.

The most common way to write couplets is that the upper and lower couplets are equal, symmetrical and coordinated, and the thickness and structure of stippling are symmetrical and unified in the front. This writing form is mostly seal script, official script, running script and regular script. There are also antithetical couplets. This kind of writing format is mostly lines and cursive scripts, especially the couplets of big grass and crazy grass with continuous structure, which emphasize momentum and change in style and composition, not one word, but alternating size and density. Although the forms of this kind of couplets are not equal, the overall sense of the upper and lower couplets is harmonious and unified. The pens are light and heavy, pointing and pitching, the structure is telescopic and broken, and the layout is uneven. The upper and lower couplets should be independent and take care of each other, change and unify.

Since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the writing of couplets has become a unique art of calligraphy, which has attracted more and more attention from calligraphers. Looking at the calligraphers since the Qing Dynasty, the writing of couplets has its own style. Like Fu Shan's cursive script, Wang Duo's cursive script is vigorous and heroic, Zheng Banqiao's running script is connected with official script, official script and official script, and Wu Changshuo's seal script is composed of Bo and Shen Xiong. Modern couplets by Shen, Ma, Zeng Nongzuo, Yu Youren and Wang Fuchang also have their own characteristics. Without the special literary form of couplets, the treasures of calligraphy art would not be so colorful.

Couplets and calligraphy are two unique national flowers and artistic treasures that complement each other. The relationship between them, there are still many places worthy of study, this article is just to attract jade.