What is China's calligraphy?

The Development of China's Calligraphy

Calligraphy is a unique traditional art in China. The ideographic and unique structure of Chinese characters provide a prerequisite for calligraphy art. The development order of calligraphy fonts is seal script, official script, cursive script, regular script and running script.

First, the emergence of calligraphy art

Oracle Bone Inscriptions, born in the middle and late Shang Dynasty, painted a single line, thin and powerful, showing his edge at times. The layout is mostly vertical, the lines are scattered, the size changes, and the density is good. These earliest remains of Chinese characters have three elements of calligraphy: brushwork, composition and structure. Especially from Oracle Bone Inscriptions's writing, it embodies the beauty of lines and the symmetry of word modeling. Therefore, the appearance of Oracle Bone Inscriptions laid the foundation of China's calligraphy art and marked the appearance of China's calligraphy art. Bronze inscriptions, or "Zhong Dingwen", appeared in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, and their strokes are neat and thick, more round than Oracle Bone Inscriptions's beginning, receiving and flowing, with rich changes in form and tone. Mature bronze inscriptions are long in shape, symmetrical in size, and each department pays attention to coordination. Mao and Pan is his masterpiece. Judging from the bronze inscriptions left behind, the artistry of calligraphy is gradually enriched.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the country was divided and the society was in turmoil. Under different artistic pursuits, the vassal States developed towards their own aesthetic trends, forming a colorful situation of calligraphy art. For example, the mainstream of Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinwen always developed along the road of carving; Then in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the brush began to be widely used in calligraphy. The expressive force of the brush is rich, especially the inherent brushwork, which constitutes an important element of China's calligraphy in the future ── calligrapher's emotion, aesthetic taste and brushwork. From the rubbings of "Stone Drum" preserved in this period, it can be seen that the structure writing is more regular than the bronze inscriptions, with vigorous strokes and dense structure. "Shi Guwen" began to transform into Xiao Zhuan. It is not only the basis of unified writing in Qin dynasty, but also has a great influence on the calligraphy style of later generations.

Second, the development of calligraphy art.

After the reunification of Qin, Qin Shihuang ordered that "cars should be on the same track and books should be in the same language", and Prime Minister Li Si popularized Xiao Zhuan, which became an official script. The unity of characters laid the foundation for the maturity of calligraphy art. As can be seen from Li Si's Taishan Stone Carving, Xiao Zhuan has the characteristics of flat shape, eccentric strokes and complex structure, which makes it difficult to sketch as a text. As a result, Li Shu came into being with simple structure, rounded square and convenient for fast writing. Regarding the emergence of official script, Zhang Huaiguan, a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, said in the Book End: "Official script was written by Cheng Miao, a Qin native." Cheng Miao went to prison for his crimes. He compiled 3,000-word official script in prison, which was appreciated by Qin Shihuang. His crimes were pardoned and made imperial history. This is a rumor, although it is not credible, but the emergence of official script in Qin dynasty has become a conclusion, but official script in Qin dynasty still has many meanings of seal script. In the Han dynasty, official script gradually occupied a dominant position, became the official standard font, and entered the stereotypes period. The strokes of the official script in Han Dynasty are relatively straight, with simple structure and obvious twists and turns, especially the inscriptions, which are exquisite. At the same time, in order to make the characters neat and easy to write, the official script provides a special form for the single word used as the radical. For example, when the word "Dao" is on the right, it is written as "Xian", which makes the official script easier to remember and write than the seal script and meets the requirements of the development of the times. The style formed by writing with a pen is both solemn and changeable. This font inherits the seal script and the ancient official script, with regular script at the bottom and a brush. Therefore, official script plays an important role in calligraphy art.

When people use words, they always want them to be easier to recognize and write, especially when things are urgent and busy. At the same time, in the evolution from seal script to official script, cursive script came into being due to the rapid writing of brush and the development of brushwork. Zhang Huaiguan in the Tang Dynasty said in "The End of the Story": "In the Han and Yuan Dynasties, You made a hasty chapter ... This is a provincial character outline, which broke the rules of official script and made you flee in haste. Because of the meaning of grass, it was called cursive script." The cursive script in this period contains official meanings, and the strokes are often wavy, and there is no attachment between words, which is called "Cao Zhang". Its representatives are Du Du and Cai Yong. "Xuan He Shu Pu" said: "Sweeping the floor by self-moving method is really a matter of detention, and grass is a matter of release. There is something in between." That is to say, after the disintegration of the official law, what is written more accurately becomes a real book (regular script), what is written more closely becomes a cursive script, and what is between the real grass is a running script. At this point, several writing forms of Chinese characters have emerged. Writing is not only practical, but also aesthetic feeling and enjoyment have become the driving force for development, and calligraphy art has entered a mature stage.

Third, the maturity of calligraphy art.

The Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties is an important period in the history of China's calligraphy. In the course of its development, the art of calligraphy has formed the following characteristics: First, cursive script, seal script and lines are fully mature, and the technique system of China's calligraphy has basically taken shape. Although the techniques of later generations have been enriched and changed on this basis, there is no essential breakthrough. During the Three Kingdoms period, the writing of Chinese characters developed into a real book, which is a kind of calligraphy with practical value. Generally, it is considered to be a positive body and a "model" in the history of Chinese character development, so it has been passed down to this day. The straightness of words is gradually dominant, horizontal strokes are used as little as possible or not, strokes are not picked, and the length is shortened. Zhong You is honored as "the father of Kaifa". Wang Xizhi in the Eastern Jin Dynasty was excellent in character, behavior and cursive script, and Wang Xianzhi's Thirteen Lines of Ode to Luoshen was the representative work of this period. Secondly, calligraphy is moving towards a completely conscious stage, and calligraphy has generally become the conscious appreciation object of all social strata. Shi Zai: Shi Yi once wrote a book on the wall of the hotel, which attracted many tourists and made the hotel business prosperous. Thirdly, literati consciously pursue the beauty of calligraphy, regard calligraphy as an artistic practice, and pursue it diligently in skills and aesthetic style. Calligraphy has two different styles, paste and tablet, which show graceful, romantic, magnificent and simple artistic realm, especially regular script and running script, which have reached a mature stage. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a war in the Yellow River Basin, and a large number of literati gathered in Jiangdong. The beautiful and rich scenery in the south of the Yangtze River makes calligraphers more artistic.

The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal society. At that time, the unprecedented prosperity of social economy provided material conditions for the development of literature and art, and the vigorous mind and mentality of the Tang people formed by the vast weather in the Tang Dynasty were embodied in the art of calligraphy as free and easy, grand and broad momentum. The highest achievement of calligraphy in Tang Dynasty was regular script. Today, there is still a saying that "learning regular script began in the Tang Dynasty". Representative works include Yan Zhenqing's Pagoda Monument and Liu Gongquan's Mysterious Pagoda Monument. They are majestic, solemn, tall and straight, reflecting the depressed and prosperous Tang Dynasty; Or vigorous, even and fine, which embodies the calligraphy thought of the Tang Dynasty calligraphers, and China's calligraphy entered its heyday.

Fourthly, the art of calligraphy has entered the era of individuality.

After the Song Dynasty, the fonts did not make great achievements and breakthroughs, but only incorporated their own styles on the original basis, focusing on individuality. In the Song Dynasty, due to the relatively relaxed political environment and the rulers' emphasis on literature over martial arts, calligraphy became an art that scholars generally liked, especially prose. Song Sijia is famous: Su Dongpo's calligraphy is very bookish, giving people a feeling of detachment from the world; Huang Tingjian's calligraphy style is unusually open, with clever contrast between particularly tight and particularly loose, showing charm from time to time in arrogance; Miffy, because of her charming nature, takes frustration as the implication, with refined structure and vivid expression; Cai Xiang's calligraphy is also innovative. There were many painters and calligraphers in the Yuan Dynasty. Calligraphers were particularly good at painting, while painters had to learn calligraphy. China's poems on paintings began in Yuan Dynasty, which had a far-reaching influence on the art of calligraphy and painting in later generations. In the early Ming Dynasty, several emperors liked calligraphy, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Judy. There is a China calligraphy department in this state. Anyone who can write a book will be given official calligraphy and documents will be filed in the cabinet. However, the calligraphy of the Ming Dynasty is basically a continuation of the calligraphy of the Yuan Dynasty, and there is no big breakthrough. The Qing Dynasty was an important turning point in the history of China's calligraphy. Calligraphy gradually formed a situation of "sticking to learning" and "inscription and postscript", and calligraphy schools showed unprecedented differentiation. At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, the four masters, He Chao, Chen and Jiang were famous for their calligraphy, which had a great influence on the literati at that time, including many court calligraphers. At the same time, because they are polluted too much by the habits of restaurants and pavilions, they will inevitably go downhill. Zheng Xie, one of the Eight Eccentrics in Yangzhou, is a calligrapher who wandered between stone tablets. He has a good reputation for poetry, painting and calligraphy. Beginners in Europe, accustomed to pavilions, and later imitated the Yellow Valley. Influenced by Shi Tao's official script, he mixed the brushwork of painting orchids and bamboos, formed his own unique style, and embodied the characteristics of Qianbei School.

However, the calligraphers in Qing Dynasty completely developed the two traditions of China's calligraphy art, which played an inheritance role in the development of modern calligraphy art in China. For example, Kang Youwei, a representative of the Reformists, wrote the book Generalized Ship and Double Ship, which is an important theoretical work of stele study and greatly promoted the development of stele study and theory.