What exactly is calligraphy? Zhou Huijun

What exactly is calligraphy? Zhou Huijun wrote an article My Painting. This paper introduces her process of learning calligraphy and her mental journey. Here, we borrow some contents from his articles, analyze the hard course of his calligraphy and the role of calligraphy in different stages, and answer the question of what calligraphy is. We almost quoted his original text in large paragraphs, not to copy it, but to understand his mind more accurately and prove with facts what calligraphy is in different periods, with different functions and different answers. Zhou Huijun was born in 1938. She studied calligraphy with her father when she was young. At that time, Zhou Huijun, like many children, studied calligraphy just to write beautiful handwriting. Calligraphy is a course at this time. In 1950s and 1960s, due to the blow to her father and unbearable mental stimulation, she was seriously ill. These fatal blows made Zhou Huijun regard calligraphy as the pillar of her life in despair. "The pen is a silent relative." (Li Henian) This black and white is her world. Zhou Huijun began her long calligraphy career, which is also her life journey. 1962, with her book about rice winning the prize, her calligraphy became professional. Under the guidance of many famous calligraphers, her calligraphy is getting better and better. In the past, Zhou Huijun was stubborn and refused to give in to fate because he was seriously ill and had a hard life. Her pen is vigorous and powerful, and her book style is bold and lively. In this way, I revealed to the world my will not to be outdone. Calligraphy objectively became a tool for her fame. Across the country, Zhou Huijun became a celebrity in calligraphy. Finally, he became the vice chairman of China Calligraphers Association and the chairman of Shanghai Calligraphers Association. Apart from the chairman of China Calligraphers Association, this is almost the highest position and peak that a calligrapher can reach. Being famous is a good thing. Although Zhou Huijun is not a money worshipper, she has benefited a lot from the fame of calligraphy. For example, the title of a first-class artist and the treatment of a first-class artist. Encourage inscriptions everywhere. Calligraphy has objectively become a tool for her profit. However, times have changed. With the gradual passing of the twentieth century and the arrival of the twenty-first century, the whole society and its own destiny have changed. Zhou Huijun has also entered the age of destiny. The views on people and things have also changed with time, and the understanding, pursuit and appreciation of calligraphy have also changed. Ten years ago, with the passage of time, Zhou Huijun began to rethink calligraphy. And began to deny myself. The question in my heart began to appear: what should I do in the future? At this time, Zhou Huijun was confused about himself and lost his mind about calligraphy. Now, Zhou Huijun asks himself every day: What exactly is calligraphy? What is the true meaning of calligraphy? Is it Zen? Is this the right way? What do you want to express to people? What do you want to show? Calligraphy will not be a simple beautification of words, nor a pictographic painting, nor will it be a symbol. It's powerful! Then, calligraphy should be a kind of spirit, which exists between tangible and intangible. Zhou Huijun thought, from now on, she will continue this self-questioning, day after day. Who would have thought that decades of time passed between the pens? At this time, Zhou Huijun couldn't say clearly what calligraphy was. Therefore, I can only imagine myself as a passer-by looking for the road of calligraphy, which is a difficult road, just like the difficulty of Shu Road. Fifty years ago, under the careless guidance of her father, she set out carefree. Fifty years later, she was worried: where is the destination? It's a long road in Xiu Yuan, and I'm going to explore it from top to bottom. "Although this is a bumpy journey, it is doomed that Zhou Huijun must continue on this road. She realized that she was on a road of no return, but she had no regrets! Fifty years, with a flick of a finger, fifty years of calligraphy is like a dream ... calligraphy is a hard journey. As a person, Zhou Huijun is undoubtedly a successful representative of calligraphy. However, as the vice chairman of China Calligraphers Association and the chairman of Shanghai Calligraphers Association, Zhou Huijun said that he didn't know what calligraphy was and where it would go. This is an extremely important revelation for young calligraphers in their thirties and forties. Young people who think they know everything are still in the primary stage of calligraphy. This is a very representative question and a higher level of thinking. What exactly is calligraphy? Mr. Wang Xuezhong hopes that China's calligraphy can become the representative of China's concentrated aesthetics. Xiong Bingming, a late scholar studying in, said that China's calligraphy is the core of China culture. We don't argue whether their views are correct or profound. We only say that there is something deeper behind the appearance of calligraphy. Here we quote some comments on Zhou Huijun's calligraphy as evidence. First: "Zhou Huijun's calligraphy skills (including techniques) are first-class in the contemporary era, and the living calligraphers in Zhejiang have unparalleled skills. Her words, Miffy's traces are heavy, but they are not scattered enough, so they can't be scattered. Therefore, although I am the chairman of our Shanghai Calligraphy Association and I respect her fighting spirit and personality, I can't call her a great man in the history of calligraphy. " Second: "When Shanghai's calligraphy, literature and art books spread all over the country with these books, the reputation of Zhou Huijun, the signatory of these books, disappeared, especially when the names of later writers were added to the books. As an excellent traditional inheritor and female calligrapher, Mr. Zhou played a leading role. However, on the road of innovation, calligraphy has become more self-expressive. Zhou Lao is facing the problem of plastic surgery. Finally, it may be the reason for borrowing the official seal, and the strokes have become horizontal, but he just can't take the position up and down, the font is monotonous, and the inscription is not obvious. However, writing nave is too dull, and it is difficult to shake "Zhongzheng" under such a "historical problem". Only by cutting off some fonts alive can we respond at the font level. In order to solve the flat and rigid situation, the structure of the good end is cut open. This kind of man-made destruction makes the whole feeling worse. " Third: "The eldest sister in the book world is a heroine among women. Although a face has a unique style, tying a knot with a pen is too exaggerated and almost artificial, especially in old age. Can it be regarded as a habit? " Fourth: "Zhou was a leading figure in the 1980s, but now he has become a bit neither fish nor fowl. Ten years ago, when I read Zhou's works, I sighed as heaven and man. Ten years later, it was like chewing wax. Why is it not better than before? It seems that I have read too few books. I'm afraid Yu Youren's running script and cursive script are second to none in the past two hundred years. The key is that his atmosphere, sparseness, naturalness, literature and history are all sufficient. Just look at his poems. "When Zhou Huijun doesn't know what calligraphy is, her calligraphy will be in a confused stage. As a woman, Zhou Huijun abandoned many women's shortcomings, such as weakness, lingering, stingy and so on. But she still can't be completely like a man. She also studied the North Monument. However, some people say that Zhou Huijun learns from the North Monument. For example, women singing blackheads are always restricted by gender. Zhou Huijun's calligraphy model is hard to get rid of the habit of "Mizi", or the limitation of women. I can't write the majesty, roughness and toughness of the North Monument and Gu Zhuo. Her official script and seal script are also obviously engraved with traces of her running script. As a lady, she is the first woman. The ancient Mrs Wei didn't go that far in calligraphy. But in the whole history of calligraphy, she is not as good as some great calligraphers. For example, Yu Youren mentioned above. Her narrow knowledge is another limitation. She has a heart of gold. A precious maternal love. An unknown girl is terminally ill. She took out 20,000 yuan for free and organized a donation from the Shanghai Book Association to help the girl tide over the difficulties. I'm confused about calligraphy. Although she doesn't know me, she can encourage me to continue to explore on the road of calligraphy with examples of her struggle with illness. And a rich man who thought he was rich gave her 10 thousand yuan to write a word, but she flatly refused. What a precious spirit this is. However, Rainbow, Yan Zhenqing and Yu Youren didn't go into politics, and this narrow career bound her to develop on a broader road. The narrowness of knowledge also fetters the deeper connotation of her writing. Temperament changes, learning is deep. Including reading social books. A Japanese said, "The real calligrapher started at the age of fifty. "That is to say, after 50 years of life, people have a deeper understanding of the world around them after knowing their own destiny. Only in this way can someone ask Zhou Huijun such a question: "What is calligraphy? "Only in this way can we find out," What is the true meaning of calligraphy? Is it Zen? Is this the right way? What do you want to express to people? What do you want to show? Calligraphy will not be a simple beautification of words, nor a pictographic painting, nor will it be a symbol. It's powerful! Then, calligraphy should be a kind of spirit, which exists between tangible and intangible. "Only when you find that calligraphy has such endless profound connotations can you know how to continue writing your own words. Some people may not be real calligraphers. Because after he became famous, he was busy dealing with an endless stream of word seekers every day, and he had no time to think about what calligraphy was. This is still the case after fifty years old. His handwriting is not shocking, just like a walking corpse. The most precious period of a real calligrapher is after sixty, seventy or even eighty or ninety. Because at this time, if the mind is still alive, the body allows, and the spirit of others has entered the realm, then the fonts he created will also enter the realm. This is a fairyland that people often say that "people and books are old". Yu Youren has reached this state, so people say that "Yu Youren's running script and cursive script are probably second to none in the past two hundred years. The key is that he is atmospheric, simple, natural and rich in literature and history. Just look at his poems. "On the surface, his handwriting is very simple and straightforward. But insiders can't see endless beauty and endless meaning. This is the real calligraphy. Yu Youren can do this because he knows politics, society and the world besides his profound knowledge in calligraphy and literature. His extensive knowledge and broad mind have made his language broad. He is confined to his post, so he can't give directions and reprimand Fang Qiu, but he has the idea that silence is golden. He turned the waves in his chest into inspiring writing power and calligraphy waves with surging emotions. The still water is deep, the words are like people, the clever thinking is poor, and the kung fu is outside the poem. This is the eternal truth. In this sense, calligraphy is to write about the depth of one's understanding of life and the waves of one's soul. It is about my extensive thinking about the world and my persistent pursuit of the good wishes of mankind. The quality of writing depends on the level of talent, acquired education, ability, depth of experience and perfection of personality. It's called practice in Buddhism. Zhou Huijun is a hero among women. Her handwriting is not feminine. This is the atmospheric side of her words. When she first appeared in the book world, people were shocked by her vivid cursive style. When people's appreciation level changes to a three-dimensional and changeable realm, Zhou Huijun is also trying to keep up with people's visual needs. Looking at the part of Chairman Mao's "Sixteen Characters and Three Songs" recently written by her, we can see that her pen and ink, pen, style and composition are changing as much as possible to enhance the visual impact. But people have not stopped appreciating this progress. They hope that Zhou Huijun's calligraphy can be as famous as by going up one flight of stairs's, along with Wang Xizhi, Yan Zhenqing, Yu Youren and other outstanding calligraphers in China's calligraphy history. This is the biggest problem that Zhou Huijun thinks about every day now. Look at her handwriting, "Kuai", "Li" and the last stroke of the second word "Shan" are quite similar, but the pen is still monotonous. Can she break through her own barriers again and approach the new peak of calligraphy? It's too difficult. It is very difficult. The trouble after becoming famous is that she must continue to climb on the road full of thorns and no one has ever walked. And the probability of success is hundreds of years, and one or two people can succeed. This is the cruel fact. And Zhou Huijun has no way out. People just want to see her success and don't want to see her failure, because stagnation is failure, and small progress is also failure. This is cruel and painful. But she is limited by her own life. Can she make her calligraphy by going up one flight of stairs in her lifetime? Go to Wan Li Road and read social books. How deep she can understand is written on the font. This is Zhou Huijun's arduous journey of calligraphy. Just like the 1 10 meter hurdles in Liu Xiang. Liu Xiang practices every day, but can he still set a new record? Maybe not forever. Liu Bingsen once said to me with emotion: "On this rugged road near the peak, the competition is extremely fierce. Everyone is struggling to climb up. If you don't move forward, you will be thrown into thorns by others and endure stinging and psychological suffering. If you want to move on, you must have many factors, such as body, spirit, knowledge, experience, skills, courage, environment, talent, opportunities and so on, all of which are indispensable. Maybe it hasn't worked yet. This painful ordeal tells you that the book road is really harder than the Shu road. "In the final analysis, calligraphy is to write a capital word" person ". Now, Zhou Huijun asks himself every day: What exactly is calligraphy? This is a good thing. Born in sorrow, died in happiness. Now, Zhou Huijun's brain is still awake. People are old and old. Although you are ill, you can still work hard. Of course, she can also write what she has formed and write a mature weekly script. But if so, Zhou Huijun wouldn't ask himself what calligraphy is every day. Zhou Huijun, as a great calligrapher and master, will never stop. As she said, she must continue to trudge along this road. She realized that she was on a road of no return, but she had no regrets. We hope that she can further understand the true meaning of calligraphy and improve her weekly calligraphy for most of her life. I will create more glory for my life, add more glory to the rapid development of China calligraphy, and strive to add another master of history to the calligraphy circle in China. We look forward to and sincerely wish her all the best.