Translation
A calligraphy critic said: "These four talented calligraphy masters can be said to be unique in ancient and modern times. But the modern people (the two kings) are not as good as the ancients (Zhong Zhong). , Zhang), the calligraphy style of the ancients was simple, while the calligraphy style of today's people is beautiful. "However, the simple style has emerged with the development of the times, and the beautiful style has also changed with the changes in the world. Although writing was originally created to record language, with the development of the times, calligraphy style will continue to change, from mellow to light, from simple to gorgeous; inheriting the former and innovating is the norm in the development of all things. The most valuable thing about calligraphy is that it can inherit the traditions of the past without deviating from the trend of the times; it can pursue today's fashion without being confused with other people's bad customs. The so-called "the combination of literary talent and simplicity is the elegant demeanor". Why idle the gorgeous palaces to live in the caves of the ancients, abandon the exquisite treasure chariots and ride primitive ox-carts? The commentator also said: "The reason why Xianzhi's calligraphy is not as good as that of Xi Zhi is just like that of Xi Zhi's is not as good as Zhong Yao and Zhang Zhi." I think this has commented on the key points of the problem, but it has not yet been able to explain in detail the origin and origin of it. . Zhong Yao specializes in regular script, and Zhang Zhi is proficient in cursive script. Wang Xizhi is good at both. Compared with Zhang Zhi's cursive style king, he is also good at regular script, and Zhong Yao's regular script king is better at cursive style. Although his specialization is slightly less, Wang Xizhi is able to cover a wide range of topics and learn from many talents. Overall, each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Commentary
Changes between ancient and modern times: The changes between ancient and modern times are a relative topic. What Sun Guoting said today is ancient to us today, and what he means is ancient. The word "research" can be said to be of the nature of "quality" for us today. The calligraphy of Zhong Zhang and Er Wang started the origin of small regular script, cursive script and running script respectively. For today's calligraphy students, they are all ancient methods.
In the era of King Zhong and Zhang, writing was the foundation of scholars and a lifelong practice. However, in our era, the mainstream writing methods are computer keyboards and mobile phone screens, and most of them are pinyin typing. , the writing of Chinese characters is getting farther and farther away from us, and the writing on paper is getting less and less. Although such writing is a part of our life, study and work that will never be lost, and the art of calligraphy will never leave us. However, the creative source of calligraphy is getting weaker and weaker, and it has gradually transformed into an art of calligraphy. This is also the characteristic of calligraphy in our era. It has evolved from daily writing to artistic expression. This belongs to today's "ancient quality and modern research". ” is a very serious topic.
, formalized, increasingly divorced from the daily life of scholars. There is a saying, "Fu, it is the heart that sees the heaven and the earth" ("Fu Gua·Yun Ci"). Things must be reversed at the extreme, and the quality of literature must be restored. The way of calligraphy has the general trend of returning to the daily life of scholars. In the Internet age, people's hearts are floating. , and as the essence of traditional culture - calligraphy, daily writing can calm people's minds and become a simple, feasible and meaningful self-cultivation skill.