What is the history of the evolution of Chinese calligraphy

Calligraphy, in the course of its long history, has formed a unique national art with distinctive features and profound traditions, and is a rare cultural treasure of the Chinese nation.

Generally speaking, calligraphy is divided into five styles of calligraphy: seal, official, regular, running and cursive, each of which can be subdivided.

A detailed understanding of the differences and inheritance between the various styles of calligraphy helps to understand the deep and broad connotations of the art of calligraphy, helps beginners to gain a concrete understanding of the evolution and development of calligraphy, and lays a solid foundation for future calligraphic creation.

(1) Seal Script

The seal characters are divided into two types: the Big Seal and the Small Seal.

Big Seal Script

(1) Oracle Bone Script

is the earliest script, which was carved on tortoise bones and animal bones during the Yin and Shang Dynasties (3,000 years ago), when the ancestors predicted good fortune and misfortune, and recorded activities such as divination and sacrifices.

(2) Zhong Dingwen

It is an inscription cast on bronze vessels during the Bronze Age of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, also known as Jinwen, with the bell representing musical instruments and the tripod representing ceremonial vessels. At the time of King Xuan of the Zhou Dynasty, there was a tai shi surnamed 籀, who organized the writing of that time. The seal script refers to the bell and tripod script, which is the real Big Seal Script.

(3) Stone Drum Script

It is a stone carved in Qin during the Warring States period. The stone drums*** ten, shaped like drums, are now hidden in the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing.

2. Small Seal Script

Early writing was in its infancy, especially the oracle bone inscriptions were not standardized, there were many ways to write a character, and there were more pictograms in the characters, such as the character for "horse".

After Qin Shi Huang unified the script, the writing style of the characters was unified. The structure of the characters in the Small Seal is longitudinal, with a symmetrical and proportional pattern, a rounded stroke, and little variation in the thickness of the lines, giving them a robust and rounded appearance, and they are known as the Jade Chopsticks Seal Characters, which resemble jade chopsticks.

It is said that there were several kinds of seal characters in the Qin Dynasty. There were bird, insect and snakehead seals, which were seal scripts with the shapes of birds, insects and snakeheads drawn at the beginning of the brushstrokes. The art of calligraphy is not a figurative reproduction of objective things, but an abstract art. Therefore, these types of scripts can only be short-lived in history and cannot be a real calligraphy art. As far as the art of seal script is concerned, Zhong Ding Wen and Shi Gu Wen have a strange and ancient structure, incorporating the simple beauty of the ancestors, and are more popular among the descendants. The Maogong Ding (毛公鼎) of King Xuan of the Zhou Dynasty*** has an inscription of 32 lines and 497 characters, which is the best among the works of Jinwen (金文). In addition, the Dabu Ding and the Sanshi Disk are also among the finest works of jinwen.

(2) Clerical Script

It is also called "Clerical Characters" and "Ancient Script". It is a script based on the seal script, which was developed to meet the need for easy writing. It is a simplified version of the Small Seal Script, with the rounded lines of the Small Seal Script turned into straight and square strokes, making it easier to write. There are two types of scripts: Qin Li (also known as "ancient Li") and Han Li (also known as "modern Li"), and the emergence of Li Script is a major change in ancient writing and calligraphy. The emergence of the official script is a major change in ancient writing and calligraphy.

Li Shu is a solemn script commonly found in Chinese characters, written in a slightly broad and flat style, with long horizontal strokes and short straight strokes, emphasizing "silkworm head and goose tail" and "one wave and three twists".

Clerical script originated in the Qin Dynasty, reached its peak in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the calligraphy industry has "Han Li Tang Kai". It is also said that it originated in the Warring States period.

Origin of Scribal Script--Qin Clerical Script

After ordering Li Si to create the Small Seal Script in the process of "writing in the same script", Qin Shi Huang also adopted the Scribal Script organized by Cheng Miao. Xu Shen of the Han Dynasty recorded this history in his Shuo Wen Jie Zi (说文解字):"...... Qin burned the scriptures, purged the old codes, issued large numbers of mandarins and soldiers, raised the army and garrisons, and complicated the duties of the officials and prisons, which were initially written in the official script, so as to tend to be more or less easy. As the official script of the small seal script writing speed is slow, and the official script into a round square fold, improve the efficiency of writing. Guo Moruo commented on the importance of the official script by saying that "the greater merit of Qin Shi Huang's reform of the script was the adoption of the official script" ("The Age of Slavery - The Development of Ancient Scripts")

The official script is basically an evolution from the seal script, and it mainly changed the rounded strokes of the seal script into square folds, which made the writing speed faster, and made it difficult to draw rounded strokes on the wood on the wood. It is difficult to draw the rounded strokes on wooden slips with lacquer.

The flourish of the official script--Han Li

The early Western Han Dynasty still followed the style of the Qin Li, but in the Xinmang period, a major change began to occur, resulting in the creation of the writing style of the end of the wave of dots and strokes. By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the official script produced numerous styles and left a large number of stone inscriptions. The Zhang Qian Stele and the Cao Quan Stele are representative of this period.

The Second Peak of the Official Script

In calligraphy after the Wei and Jin dynasties, the cursive, running and regular scripts were rapidly formed and developed, and although the Official Script was not discarded, there were not many changes and there was a long period of silence.

To the Qing Dynasty, in the revival of monumental science in the official script again, the emergence of Zheng Xie, Jin Nong and other famous calligraphers, in the inheritance of the Han Clerical Script on the basis of innovation.

The Evolution of the Clerical Script--Clerical Transformation

The evolution of the clerical script is called "Clerical Transformation", which takes the lead from the past and plays an important role in the formation of the cursive and regular scripts.

Nouns of Li Shu: Ancient Clerical Script, Modern Clerical Script, Qin Clerical Script, Han Clerical Script, Zuoshu, Bafen, Cursive Script, Wei Clerical Script

Clerical Script is relative to Seal Script, and the name of Clerical Script originated from the Eastern Han Dynasty. The emergence of the official script was another major reform of the Chinese script, which brought the art of Chinese calligraphy into a new realm, and was a turning point in the history of the evolution of Chinese characters, laying the foundation for the Regular Script. The Regular Script is flat, neat and delicate. By the time of the Eastern Han Dynasty, points such as the apostrophe and the downward stroke were embellished to be upwardly picked up, with variations of lightness and heaviness, and with the beauty of calligraphic art. The style also tends to be diversified, very valuable for artistic appreciation.

Han Li is beautifully represented in silk paintings, lacquer ware, portraits and uranium mirrors. And in the monument carving more obvious its broad momentum and unique flavor. Han Li has two main forms of existence: stone carving and documents. Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties, most of the official script mixed with regular brushwork; Tang Dynasty, there is no lack of official script, such as Xu Hao and other calligraphers. Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties of the official script is also difficult to revitalize the Han Clerical style. Until the Qing dynasty. Han Clerical Script was revived. Deng Shiru, He Shaoji, etc., have made a difference.

The representative works of the official script mainly include: Han "Zhang Qian Stele", "Cao Quan Stele", "Ritual Stele", "Shi Chen before and after the Stele", "Yi Ying Stele", "Ode to the Stone Gate" and so on. As early as in the bamboo slips before Qin Dynasty, there was the first form of the official script, after a long period of evolution, when paper was invented and used in the Han Dynasty, the writing was no longer limited by the long and narrow bamboo slips, and the performance of the brushes was fully utilized, the official script broke through the Qin Seal Script with a single center-front strokes, and the strokes are very rich, with center-front and side-front strokes, square strokes and round strokes, and the hidden strokes and exposed strokes showing their own abilities. The strokes have the beauty of waves and limbs, and the most representative ones are the "silkworm head" and "swallow tail" strokes, which indicate that the calligraphers at that time wanted to get rid of the monotonousness of neatness and seek for the variety of vividness and liveliness. In terms of character structure, the trend of the Small Seal Script, which was to be horizontal and vertical, was changed, and the characters were extended horizontally. The mature Han Clerical Script was an important turning point in the history of calligraphy, which established the basic shape of the Chinese characters. The overall style of the scribe's writing is strict and magnificent, but also stretching and dynamic.

(3) Cursive Script

Cursive Script: a type of script produced for the convenience of writing. It began in the early Han Dynasty. At that time, the common is "cursive scribe", that is, the scribble scribe, and later gradually developed, forming a kind of artistic value of the "Zhang Cao". Before the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhi changed "Zhang Cao" into "Jin Cao", and the momentum of the word was made by one stroke. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Xu and Huaisu developed the "Wild Cursive", which is characterized by continuous and winding strokes and many changes in the shape of the characters. Cursive writing is characterized by simple structure and continuous strokes. "Cursive" and "small grass" as opposed to the grass, grass, pure grass method, difficult to recognize, Zhang Xu, Huaisu good at this, the word from a stroke, occasionally not even, but the bloodline is continuous.

Cursive writing is divided into chapter grass, grass, wild grass.

1. The masterpieces of Zhang Cao are Wu Huangxiang's "Rush Chapter", "Wenwu Generals Post", and Jin Suo Jing's "Monthly Instrumental Post"

Cursive script is a style of writing that predates the Regular Script, and it began in the process of evolution of the Seal Script to the Clerical Script, and the Clerical Script had a greater influence on Zhang Cao, and the font has the form of the Clerical Script, with the difference between the words and the words, which do not entangled with each other; that is why Zhang Cao is called "Clerical Script" in the Grass Script. Zhangcao representatives: the Han Dynasty, Shi You, Du Du, Cui Yuan, Zhang Zhi, Zhang Xu, and others, the Three Kingdoms, Huang Xiang, Suo Jing and others.

2. present grass from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, a variety of styles, beautiful strokes, present grass of many masterpieces, the most famous are, Jin Wang Xizhi, "seventeen posters", the Tang Dynasty Sun Touting, "the book spectrum" and so on.

The present grass from the chapter of grass reproduction. Zhang Zhi of the Han Dynasty played a great role in the creation of this grass, known as the "Sage of Grass". Unfortunately, there is no trace of his ink. The name of "present grass" was given in the Jin Dynasty to distinguish it from Zhang Cao. Many calligraphers throughout the ages are good at grass, Huang Tingjian, Zhao Meng, XianYuShu, ZhuYunMing, WenZhengMing, XuWei, ZhangRuiTu, FuShan, WangFeng and other masters of calligraphy have left a lot of ink.

Cursive strokes are omitted, haunting each other to facilitate quick writing, replacing radicals with symbols, which is both standardized and flexible. It is the best way to express the emotions of the writer.

3. The most famous wild cursive is Zhang Xu's "Four Posts of Ancient Poetry" from the Tang Dynasty, and Huaisu's "Self-Recounting Post" from the Tang Dynasty

The writing method of wild cursive characters is the same as that of present cursive characters, but the difference is that they are written in a wild manner, and there is more linkage and omission, which can best reflect the writer's wild and unrestrained temperament. Historically known as "upside down Zhang drunken Su", is to say that Zhang Xu, Huai Su often drunken, pen flying ink dance, its wild grass lines flow away flying, the knotting of the body of the dangerous, peculiar, especially as the summer clouds unpredictable, painfully dripping.

Feng Ban of the Qing Dynasty, "the blunt seal of the book to" talk about learning grass calligraphy cloud: small grass learning Xianzhi, grass learning Xizhi, wild grass learning Zhang Xu as well as learning Huaisu. Huai Su's cursive characters are easy to recognize, the handwriting is thin to see the shape of the words connected to the word is also clear and easy to pro. Zhang Xu character shape changes a lot, often a number of figures, between the lines of momentum, not easy to recognize, forming a unique style.

Recently, the common scribal brushwork in the grass pen floating body, called scribal grass, some like Zhang Cao, which is usually good at writing scribal familiar, so the book can be a unique style of scribal grass. It is also a technique of writing performance.

Running cursive has "grass line" said, the style of the book with a lot of regular law, that is, close to the cursive running script. Strokes are more fluid, the Qing Dynasty Liu Xizai "book" cloud: the line has "real line", "grass line". The "real line" is similar to the real script and is more vertical than the real, while the "cursive line" is close to the cursive script and converges on the cursive.

(4) Running Script

Between the Regular Script and Cursive Script. It was created to make up for the slow writing speed of Regular Script and the difficulty of recognizing Cursive Script. The strokes are not as scribbly as those of cursive, nor do they require the regular script to be as upright. The Regular Script is more than the Cursive Script is called "Xing Kai". Those with more cursive than regular script are called "Xingcao".

Running Script was created around the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Running Script is a type of script between Cursive Script and Regular Script, and it can be said to be the grassification of Regular Script or the regularization of Cursive Script. The most famous masterpiece is the Lanting Preface by Wang Xizhi, a calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, whose words are described as "the dragon jumping over the heavenly gate, the tiger lying in the phoenix pavilion", and praised as "the first running script in the world". In the Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing's "Draft of Offering to a Nephew" was written in a strong and unrestrained style, which was recognized by the ancients as the "Second Running Script in the World". Running Script with Regular Script or close to Regular Script is called "Running Regular Script", and with Cursive Script or close to Cursive Script is called "Running Cursive Script". The famous representative work of the Regular Script is Li Yong's Lushan Temple Stele of the Tang Dynasty, which is smooth and rich. In the Song Dynasty, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang, in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu, Xian Yushu, and Kang Li, in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming, Dong Qichang, and Wang Duoduo, and in the Qing Dynasty, He Shaoji, etc., all excelled in the running script or cursive script, and a number of their works have been handed down to the world.

Categorized into Running Script and Running Cursive.

Running script, such as: Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "Lanting Preface," many of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy tablets seen in modern times are not his original works, mostly copied by later generations or set of words and become. Most of Wang Xizhi's original works were buried in the tomb of Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. Tang Li Yong "Lushan Temple Stele", Song Huang Tingjian "Pine Wind Pavilion Poetry", Song Mi Fu "Campsis Poetry Scroll", Yuan Zhao Mengfu "Luoshen Fu", Ming Wen Zhengming "Drunken Master Pavilion Records" and so on.

2. Running Cursive

For example, Wang Xianzhi's "Duck Head Maru Post" and "Mid-Autumn Post" in Jin, and Yan Zhenqing's "Rituals for Nephews and Nephews" in Tang, Running Script is one of the most applicable styles of writing between Regular and Cursive Scripts, and those close to Regular Scripts are called Running Regulars and those close to Cursive Scripts are called Running Cursive Scripts. Running script is the style of writing created by Wang Xianzhi, and the Duck's Head Pill Post is his masterpiece of running script. The authentic copy is now in the Shanghai Museum. There are many monuments and posters of running script.

(E) Regular Script

Regular Script is also known as Zhengshu, or True Script. It is characterized by its square shape and straight strokes, which can be used as a model, hence its name. It began in the Eastern Han Dynasty. There are many famous writers of Regular Script, such as "Ou Style" (Ouyang Xun), "Yu Style" (Yu Shinan), "Yan Style" (Yan Zhenqing), "Liu Style " (Liu Gongquan), "Zhao Style" (Zhao Mengfu) and so on.

Song Xuanhe Shubuan: "In the early Han Dynasty, there was Wang Zizhong, who began to use the official script for the Regular Script," arguing that the Regular Script evolved from the ancient official script. According to legend: "On the tomb of Confucius, a Regular Script tree planted by Zigong has straight branches without bending." The Regular Script, with its simple strokes, must be like the branches of a Regular Tree.

In the early period of the Regular Script, there were still very few scribes left, and the form was slightly wider, with longer horizontal strokes and shorter straight strokes. In the Wei and Jin Dynasty posters that have been handed down to the present day, such as Zhong Yao's Declaration Table, Recommendation of Jizhi Table, and Wang Xizhi's Leyi Lun and the Huangting Jing can be taken as representative of this style. The characteristics of the posters are as Weng Fangzang said: "The wave painting of the clerical script is changed, and the points and pecks are added, while the horizontal and straight lines of the ancient clerical script are still preserved".

After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the north and south were divided, and calligraphy was also divided into two schools. The northern school of calligraphy, with the remains of the Han Clerical, the calligraphy is ancient and strong, and the style is simple and square, long in the list of books, which is said to be the Weibei. The southern school of calligraphy, more sparse and elegant, long in shakuji. North and South Dynasties, because of regional differences, personal habits, book style is very different. North book is strong, south book is not, each to achieve its wonderful, no distinction between up and down, and bao shichen and kang youwei, but highly respected two dynasty book, especially the northern wei monumental. Kang cited ten beauty, to emphasize the merits of the Wei monument.

The Tang Dynasty Regular Script, as in the Tang Dynasty, the country's prosperous situation, so-called unprecedented. In the Regular Script, Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang in the early Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing in the Middle Tang Dynasty, and Liu Gongquan in the Late Tang Dynasty, all of their works in Regular Script were highly regarded by the later generations, and were regarded as the models for character practice.

The ancients had this to say about learning calligraphy: "Learning to write must be preceded by the Regular Script, and writing must be preceded by the Big Script. Large characters to Yan for the law, the middle case to Europe for the law, the middle case is familiar, and then converge for the lower case, to Chung Wang for the law. However, according to the results of years of experimental research, it is not suitable for beginners to learn how to write too big a word, and the middle case is more suitable.

The regular scripts of the three major calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty, Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang, are the most suitable models for copying the lower case.

Small Regular Script: As its name implies, it is the smallest of the Regular Scripts, which was founded in the time of the Three Kingdoms and the Wei Dynasty by Zhong Cao, who was originally the most outstanding authority on clerical scribes, and whose penmanship was also derived from that of the Han Clerical Scribes, and whose strokes were as vivid as those of the flying hongs playing with the sea. However, the form is broad and flat, the horizontal painting is long and the straight painting is short, the legacy of the scribal division still exists, but it has been prepared to exhaust the regular script, which is the ancestor of the regular script. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, the lower case calligraphy, more careful study, so that it has reached the realm of perfection, but also established the standard of appreciation of the beauty of the Chinese lower case calligraphy.

Generally speaking, writing small characters is very different from writing large characters, the principle is: to write large characters to be tight, while writing small characters necessary to make it more than enough.

The center of gravity of writing small characters and the coordination of strokes, and large characters are not very different. As for the stroke, it is slightly different. Small strokes should be rounded, beautiful, straight and neat; large characters should be strong and heavy. When writing large characters, you should use a backward strokes (hidden strokes), and when closing the brush, you should use a backward strokes; when writing small characters, you don't need to use a backward strokes, you should use a pointed strokes, and when closing the brush, you should use a stuttering or lifting strokes. For example, if you write a horizontal stroke, the starting stroke or pointed and the closing stroke is round; if you write a vertical stroke, the starting stroke or slightly pause, the closing stroke is pointed; the apostrophe stroke is fat and the closing stroke is thin: the down stroke is thin and the closing stroke is fat, but also to the left and right to make a slight arc, the strokes are vivid and emotional; the point wants to be sharp and round, the pick wants to be sharp and sharp, the curved wants to be inside the square and outside the round, the hook is half-curved and half-straight. The strokes are flexible and changeable, and there is no limit to them. Especially the whole word, to pen different, but also coordinated, a line of words written out, staggered, but has been in a line, such as the line of natural gas string, look at it as a string of pearl necklaces, the spirit of the fly.

There are a lot of small-capital letters, and among the ink tops that have been handed down to the world, the small-cap letters of the Jin and Tang dynasties are the most famous. Which usually includes the Wei ZhongCao's "declaration post" "recommended JiZhi straight table", the east Jin WangXiZhi's "LeYi theory" "CaoE stele" "HuangTingJing" Wang XianZhi's "LuoShenFu thirteen rows", the TangZhongShaoJing's "LingFeiJing", and so on. There are also excellent models of ink photocopies of lowercase works by Zhao Mengfu of Yuan, Wang Favored of Ming, and Zhu Yunming.

Chung's calligraphy has an ancient and simple style, but none of his heirloom works, such as the "Declaration Table" and the "Recommendation of Ji Zhi Table," is true, and most of them are modeled or made by later generations. Appreciating a good copy of the topography, one can imagine his elegant style of writing.

Large Regular Script: Generally speaking, people call the large regular script which is more than one inch and less than several inches square. The larger genuine characters are called "Pangshu" and "Breaking Script". According to the experience accumulated by calligraphers through the ages, calligraphy should be learned by first writing the large regular script as a basic practice. Master the dots and drawings, structure, cloth white, to achieve accurate and precise dots and drawings, the structure of the appropriate density, then retreat to write the lowercase can be done to achieve a wide open body, dots and drawings rules clear; and then learn the list of books will be able to knot density between and the spirit of the grand, not lax and godless.

The Regular Script is the latest typeface to be formed, starting at the end of the Han Dynasty. Han Zhongxiao's "Declaration Table", Zhongxiao's "Recommendation of Ji Zhi Table", Northern Wei Dynasty's "Zhang Manglong Stele", Jin's "Cuanbaozi Stele", Jin's Wang Xizhi's "Leyi Theory", and Jin's Wang Xizhi's "Huangting Jing". About Huangting Jing, there is a legend: a Taoist priest in Shanyin knew that Wang Xizhi loved geese and exchanged white geese for Huangting Jing, so this post is also known as the "goose exchange post". Wang Xianzhi's Thirteen Lines of Luoshen Fu from the Jin Dynasty, the Cuan Longyan Stele from the Southern Dynasty, Ouyang Xun's Sweet Spring Inscription of the Jucheng Palace from the Tang Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing's Qinli Stele from the Tang Dynasty, and Liu Gongquan's Divine Counselor's Stele of the Xuanxiao Pagoda from the Tang Dynasty. Zhong Yao played an extremely important role in the creation of the Regular Script, and Zhong's authentic works, long lost, were copied by the Jin and Tang dynasties. The brushwork is simple and thick, graceful and natural. The body of the potential still exists in the meaning of subordinate.

Wei monument and "Cuan Baozi monument", "Cuan Long Yan monument" are the early regular script, square pen-based, open strong and simple wind.

The Regular Script was perfected in the Jin Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty standardized the Regular Script, and the Tang Regular Script was strict and dignified. The solemnity is not the dullness of horizontal and vertical, the careful admirer can see the subtle but coordinated changes of the writer. Such as Ouyang Xun "Jucheng Palace sweet spring inscription" hidden rich connotations.