How has China's traditional artistic calligraphy been handed down?

Some people say that calligraphy is just writing a few words. What does it have to do with China's traditional cultural thought? This is a point that we must pay attention to. In recent years, the author has discussed with many friends in China, such as Taipei, Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, Seoul and Los Angeles. Many friends are talking about the art of calligraphy, but even some basic concepts of calligraphy are ignored. Some friends, when writing the word "horse", have to draw four hooves. When writing the word "water", they want to draw a curved flowing water shape, and when writing the word "turtle", they want to draw a little turtle. What's more, a few ink balls with brush strokes can also be "shortlisted", "selected" and "awarded" and praised by "critics", also called "calligraphy". It seems that "avantgarde" must belong to this. These, I am afraid that friends who really study China's calligraphy dare not agree that it is calligraphy. So, what exactly is calligraphy? We think that China's calligraphy is the art of writing Chinese characters with a brush specially made by China people. In the words of Pan Shou, an older Singaporean calligrapher, calligraphy is the art of beautifying Chinese characters.

Let's study it in layers.

1. Use a brush

Sometimes tools determine the nature of things. Brush is a unique tool for writing China's calligraphy. Brush has four virtues: "sharp, neat, round and healthy", which is the virtue of brush. Only when the brush has "four virtues" can it produce rich expressive force. Brush is divided into hard hair, both brush hair and soft hair, and because of the different strokes, the expressive force can be varied. If there is no soft brush, it is impossible to produce the strange changes of China's calligraphy. The earliest brush we can see now should have been used in the Neolithic Age 5800 years ago. At that time, the paintings on painted pottery were obviously painted with animal hair. Unfortunately, the brush didn't stay at this time. The earliest brush we can see now is the one unearthed in Inner Mongolia during the Warring States Period. Its structure is exactly the same as the current brush, with a bamboo pole at one end and animal hair at the other. Westerners write with goose feather tubes and pay attention to the "style" of books, such as Goethe's style. But compared with China's calligraphy written in Chinese brush, I'm afraid the gap is too big. At the same time, China used special ink to write. Ink has existed since the Neolithic Age, but at that time it was graphite and mineral ink. There were inkstones in the Neolithic Age. Shaanxi History Museum shows a Neolithic inkstone, which is a polished stone with residual graphite in the middle. The "Four Treasures of the Study" three treasures existed in the Neolithic Age 6000 years ago, and paper only appeared in the Western Han Dynasty. Later, calligraphy, ink, paper and inkstone became an independent art. There are too many sayings about using ink in China, such as "cherishing ink as gold" and "multicolored ink". The ink painting in the Tang Dynasty was very excellent, with cultural relics visible, and there were many famous ink painting masters in the Song Dynasty. The fame of Hu Bi, Hui Mo, Duan Yan, She Yan and Xuan Paper is still praised by cultural people at home and abroad.

Write Chinese characters

Chinese characters are the carrier of China's calligraphy. Among all ethnic groups in the world, it is our Chinese nation that turns the writing of applied characters into an independent ornamental art. Some friends say that there is calligraphy in Japan. Where did Japanese calligraphy come from? Chinese characters spread to Japan in the Han Dynasty, and calligraphy naturally spread to Japan. Calligraphy and Chinese characters go hand in hand. Korean China calligraphy was also introduced from China. Chinese in Singapore account for more than 70% of the total population, and they also attach great importance to China's calligraphy. Chinese in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Brunei all regard calligraphy as soul of china. The root of calligraphy culture connects the descendants of Chinese people all over the world. China's calligraphy has now rushed out of the cultural circle of Chinese characters and gone to the world, and China has become the hometown of world calligraphy. Taking Chinese characters as the only carrier of China's calligraphy has been recognized by Chinese people all over the world and foreign friends who love China culture. This is a trend, and this is also an indisputable fact. Then, the destruction of Chinese characters, scribbled ink lines and ink balls can't pretend to be calligraphy with Chinese characters as the only carrier. The most basic requirement of China traditional culture for calligraphy is to write correct Chinese characters and beautiful Chinese characters. Feng, Li, Kai, Xing and Cao are all exceptions.

Calligraphy is an art.

When we study calligraphy, we should pay attention to two points, which are the basic points of our research: (1) typical calligraphy works recognized by cultural people in past dynasties, which are the objects and focuses of our study and research. For example, Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion is a model. Just because Han Yu and others said that "Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is very good, although beautiful", we can't think that Wang Xizhi's works are not good. (2) The Chinese nation's calligraphy aesthetics embodied in excellent calligraphy works of past dynasties have been brilliantly expounded in a large number of ancient calligraphy theory in China. When we learn calligraphy and grasp these two points, we will find calligraphy learning more and more interesting. Earlier, we talked about China's traditional cultural thought and what calligraphy is. It is time to study the relationship between calligraphy and China's traditional cultural thought, and to interpret calligraphy with China's traditional cultural thought. Calligraphy is the art of writing Chinese characters with a brush specially made by China people. The characteristic of this art is "image". It is neither concrete nor absolutely abstract. Liu Xizai in Qing Dynasty put this concept most clearly. He wrote an artistic outline, which is very concise. The first sentence of "The Outline of Arts and Books" is: "When the sage writes" Yi ",he tries his best to set up an image with his heart, mind and nature, which is the foundation of the book; If the day after tomorrow, the use of books is also. " Images are a very good idea. For example, in the history of painting in China, Mr. Qi Baishi painted shrimp best. We looked at the shrimp in his fence and said it was grass shrimp with two big clips; It is said that it is a lobster, and its waist is not as thick as that of a lobster. The shrimp described by Mr. Qi comes from real life, and it cannot be accurately referred to in real life. This is an image. Look at the bamboo in life, the leaves are long on both sides, and the bamboo tips are mostly curved. When a painter paints bamboo, the bamboo tip is rarely bent, and the leaves are mostly drooping, which is purely an image processing method. Mr. Qi Baishi said: "The beauty of painting lies in the similarity and dissimilarity. Not like deceiving the world, too like kitsch. " "Similarity and dissimilarity" is also called figurative.