Development of Chinese Calligraphy?

(I) Pre-Qin Calligraphy, which laid the foundation for Chinese Calligraphy

While the self-realization of the art of calligraphy did not take place until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the art of calligraphy was born at the same time as the formation of Chinese characters. The formation of Chinese characters took place over a long historical period. The data on primitive Chinese characters found so far are mainly the symbols left on pottery in primitive societies, but they are not yet words, and they only played a role in triggering the emergence of primitive characters.

The earliest ancient Chinese character materials in China recognized by academics are the oracle bone inscriptions and gold inscriptions from the middle and late Shang Dynasty (about 14th to 11th centuries before the Shang Dynasty).

The oracle bone inscriptions were discovered in 1899 (the 25th year of the Qing Dynasty). It was written on tortoise bones, animal bones, and human bones during the Yin and Shang dynasties to record activities such as divination and rituals. Strictly speaking, only when it comes to oracle bone writing can it be called calligraphy. Because the oracle bone has the three basic elements of Chinese calligraphy: brush, character, chapter. The previous pictorial symbols did not have all three elements.

Jinwen refers to the ancient bronze cast or engraved text (also known as inscriptions), the main representative of the Western Zhou Dynasty "Maogong Ding Inscription", the structure of its proportionality and accuracy, robust and steady lines, the layout of the appropriate, full of rational colors, showing that the Jinwen has been developed to the extreme maturity of the situation.

From the point of view of calligraphy, these earliest Chinese characters have already possessed many elements of the formal beauty of calligraphy, such as the beauty of lines, the symmetry of the shape of a single character, the beauty of change, and the beauty of chapter and style. From the late Shang dynasty to the unification of China by the Qin (221 BC), the general trend of the evolution of Chinese characters was from complexity to simplicity. This evolution was specifically reflected in the transmutation of fonts and character shapes. The tendency of Jinwen (金文) to become linear in the late Western Zhou Dynasty, and the development of folk cursive seal scripts to ancient scribes in the Warring States Period, greatly weakened the pictorial nature of the characters. However, the artistry of calligraphy was enriched with the transmutation of calligraphic styles.

(2) The pioneering calligraphy of the Qin Dynasty

The Qin Emperor annexed the world, and the prime minister Li Si presided over the unification of the national script, making it neat and tidy, which was a great achievement in the history of Chinese culture.

The Qin seal script, also known as the Small Seal Script, is a simplified version of the Golden Script and the Stone Drum Script. The preface to the Shuowen Jiezi said: "the Qin book has eight styles, one is said to be the Great Seal, two is said to be the Small Seal, three is said to be engraved, four is said to be the worm book, five is said to be a copy of the seal, the sixth is said to sign the book, seven is said to be the book, and eight is said to be the book of scribes." Basically summarizes the face of the font at this time.

The emergence of the scribe is a major step forward in the writing of Chinese characters, is a revolution in the history of calligraphy, not only to make the Chinese characters tend to square regular model, but also in the penmanship also breaks through a single in the center of the pen, for the future of a variety of schools of calligraphy has laid the foundation. Calligraphy of the Qin Dynasty has left a brilliant page in the history of Chinese calligraphy, as grand as the majestic Great Wall of China and the spectacular Terracotta Warriors and Horses, which can be said to be a precedent, and is the crystallization of the infinite wisdom of the Chinese nation.

(3) The calligraphy of the Han Dynasty in which the official script flourished

The Han Dynasty was a crucial generation in the history of the development of Chinese calligraphy. During the three hundred years between the two Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, calligraphy changed from seal script to clerical script, and from clerical script to zhangcao, zhenshu, and xingshu, and by the end of the Han Dynasty, the calligraphic styles of Chinese characters in our country had basically become complete. Not only did the brushwork become more and more pure, but also there were various styles of calligraphy. At the same time in the maturity of the Clerical Script, but also appeared to break the body of the Clerical Change, the development of the Zhang Cao, Running Script, the true book has also sprouted. The continuous change and development of the art of calligraphy opened the way for the later Jin Dynasty's fluent running cursive and flying wild cursive. In addition, the golden script and the small seal script declined because of their diminishing utility, but they were still used in the two Han seals, wadangs, and jiaolongs, and gave the seal script a new face.

The main representative works of this period are the Mawangdui Palindrome, which was unearthed in 1973 in the No. 3 Han Tomb of Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan Province. It is the first-hand information for the study of Western Han Calligraphy, which solved the problem of whether there was any official script in Western Han, which was debated by the previous generation. The Mawangdui Palindrome is composed and robust, giving a sense of contentment and roundness. Its chapter is also unique, both different from the simple book, also different from the stone carving, vertical line, horizontal without grid, the length is very free. There is a strong sense of jumping rhythm. Overall, it reflects the characterization of the script in the stage of change from seal script to clerical script.

(4) Completion of the evolution of the calligraphic style of the Wei and Jin dynasties

From the perspective of the development of the calligraphy of Chinese characters, the Wei and Jin dynasties are an important historical stage for the completion of the evolution of the calligraphic style, and it is a generation in which the seal and official script, the real, the running and the grass, are all ready and perfected. The Han Clerical Script has standardized the basic form of the square Chinese character to date. The process of creation, development and maturation of the official script gave birth to the true script (regular script), while the cursive script sprouted almost simultaneously with the creation of the official script. True Script, Running Script, and Cursive Script were finalized during the two hundred years of the Wei and Jin dynasties. Their stereotyping and beautification was undoubtedly another great change in the history of Chinese calligraphy.

This marvelous era in the history of calligraphy created two great calligraphic innovators, Zhong Yao and Wang Xizhi, who were the first and the last, and who stood tall.

(5) The Calligraphy of the North and South Dynasties, in which Folk Calligraphers Showed Their Skills

Calligraphy of the North and South Dynasties was also inherited from the East Jin Dynasty, and was very much favored by the emperors and the common people. They inherited the fine tradition of calligraphy in the previous generation, created an excellent work worthy of predecessors, but also for the formation of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, a hundred flowers competing with the stars to create the necessary conditions for the flourishing situation.

The North and South Dynasties calligraphy to the Wei monument is the most winning. Wei, is the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Northern Wei style of calligraphy similar to the North and South Dynasties of the general name of the calligraphy, is the Han Dynasty to the development of the Regular Script of the Tang Dynasty Script of the transitional period. In the early Tang Dynasty, several great masters of Regular Script, such as Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang, etc., were directly inherited from Zhi Yong's brushwork of the Six Dynasties.

Zhi Yong (Southern Dynasty - Sui and Tang dynasties) was the main calligrapher of this period, who was the seventh-generation grandson of Wang Xizhi, and whose major works include: Thousand Character Essay.

(F) The Tang Dynasty, the heyday of calligraphy

The Tang culture was profound and brilliant, reaching the highest peak of China's feudal culture, and it can be said that "the book to the early Tang Dynasty and the most flourishing." The whole Tang Dynasty calligraphy, both inheritance and innovation of the previous generation. Early Tang calligrapher Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang, etc., and then creative Li Yong, Zhang Xu, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Shi Huaisu. The Tang Emperor Li Shimin and the poet Li Bai are also noteworthy great calligraphers. The development of Regular Script, Running Script, and Cursive Script in the Tang Dynasty crossed into a new realm, and the characteristics of the era were so prominent that the influence on future generations far exceeded that of any previous era.

(7) The Calligraphy of the Five Dynasties in the Tang Dynasty

The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was characterized by a series of wars. Although the art of calligraphy from the end of the Tang Dynasty, but because of the impact of war, the formation of the general tendency of decline. At the time of the Five Dynasties, in calligraphy worthy of praise, when pushed Yang Ningshi. His calligraphy in the decline of the Five Dynasties, can be called the mainstay. In addition to Yang, there were other accomplished calligraphers such as Li Yu and Yanxiu. By this time, the Tang Dynasty's solemn and rigorous style of calligraphy had died down, gradually changed into the interjection and unrestrained, and then the Northern Song Dynasty's "Four Schools" followed, and set off a new wave of the era.

(VIII) Song Dynasty calligraphy of the Thessalonian School

The two Song Dynasty, more than 300 years, the development of calligraphy is relatively slow. Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi pay attention to ink, purchasing and collecting ancient emperors and ministers ink, the order of the book of Wang Zuyi copy engraved in the forbidden, ci for ten volumes, which is the "Chunhua Pavilion post". The calligraphy of the early Song Dynasty, more from the "Chunhua Pavilion Post" engraving. This kind of transfer engraved post, and the difference between the original trace will be more and more after the bigger. The post school and to the emperor's good and bad, powerful ministers for the transfer of the situation, affect and limit the development of calligraphy in the song dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, the four great masters, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Cai Xiang, were revered by later generations. In addition to the four, Zhao Ji, the Song emperor, was unique and commendable.

(IX) ZongTangZongJin Yuan dynasty calligraphy

Yuan early economic and cultural development is not big, calligraphy is the general situation is the reverence for retro, ZongFaJin, Tang and less innovation. Emperor Wenzong Tianli early built Kui Zhangge, specializing in the secret of the antiquities. Yuan Emperor Wenzong often honored Kui Zhangge to appreciate the calligraphy and paintings, and once there was a flourishing situation in calligraphy. Zhao Mengfu, Xian Yushu and other famous artists were the representatives of calligraphy in this period. They advocated the same method of calligraphy and painting, focusing on the physical form of the characters. However, the calligraphy of the Yuan Dynasty was purely inherited from the Jin and Tang dynasties, and did not have its own style of the era.

(10) by the Song and Yuan on the pursuit of Jin and Tang Ming calligraphy

Ming Dynasty nearly three centuries, the court emperors are very fond of calligraphy. After the Ming Emperor Chengdu after the capital of Beijing, that is to start the rule of literature, the edict of the four sides of the book of the good, enrich the court, write the edicts and other documents. Ming emperors such as Emperor Renzong, Emperor Xuanzong and Emperor Shenzong were also very fond of calligraphy. Therefore, the court and the general public attached great importance to the Thessalonies, and all of them were fond of the elegant and graceful Regular Script and Running Script, which were almost completely inherited from Zhao Mengfu. The Ming Dynasty, like the Song Dynasty, was also a generation in which postal learning flourished. The calligraphy posters were passed on and engraved with great vigor. Because of the prevalence of the scholarly culture and the Thessalonian school, which affected the creation of calligraphy, the entire Ming Dynasty was dominated by the Regular Script, failing to go back to the Qin, Han and Northern Dynasties, and the Seal Script, Clerical Script, Bastille Script and Wei Script works were almost extinct, while the Regular Script was characterized by the beauty of its slenderness and elegance. During the Ming Dynasty in the past three hundred years, although there were some great masters with attainments, there were no major breakthroughs and innovations throughout the dynasty. Its representative calligraphers are Wen Zhengming, Tang Bohu and so on.