Calligraphy and Five Elements

Five elements in calligraphy art and the promotion of calligraphy artistic taste

Huang Yongxing

Calligraphy, as a precious traditional culture in China, has far-reaching historical influence and artistic charm. Calligraphy itself is the condensation and externalization of China's excellent traditional culture. Therefore, the application of the "kinetic energy" of the five elements in calligraphy creation will be very helpful to improve the artistic taste of calligraphy. The author only makes a preliminary discussion on this aspect.

Basic explanation of five elements

Yin-Yang and Five Elements are the basic theories of China's traditional philosophy, which have had a far-reaching and extensive influence in the long-term historical development. The so-called "five elements" refer to five things and their interrelationships and laws of motion. "Five" are five things, including wood, fire, earth, gold and water. And "row" is their associated movement. Ancient sages often sum up the law of the development of things through simple representative words or symbols when studying the law of the development of things. Therefore, the five elements are also the generalization and expression of a philosophical theory. And these five words represent neither an action nor five simple substances. Because, if we follow the first two kinds of analysis, we can't explain the world of movement and development. Only by correctly understanding the connotation of the five elements and their laws of movement and change can we correctly understand the laws of movement of things and achieve good development, including the improvement of artistic level.

Let's try to make a brief analysis in this respect:

The specific meaning of the content of the five elements: wood: representing the function and root of life; Fire: stands for heat energy; Earth: represents the earth itself; Gold: all solid and solidified things are gold; Water: indicates the function of fluidity and infinite circulation.

Almost all of these five things have corresponding relationships with various things, such as the following groups of corresponding relationships:

Wood, fire, earth, gold and water.

Five elements of heaven: orientation: southeast, central and northwest.

Climate: wind, heat, humidity, dryness and cold.

Five elements of soil: five grains: wheat, millet, rice and beans.

Five flavors: sour, bitter, sweet and salty.

Man and Five Elements: Five Organs: Liver, Heart, Spleen, Lung and Kidney

Five bodies: tendons, veins, flesh, hair and bones.

There are many similar relationships. These five things are interrelated and interactive, that is, there is an obvious phenomenon of birth and punishment between them. Let's look at their mutual laws: wood makes a fire, fire makes soil, soil makes gold, gold makes water, aquatic wood. Let's look at the laws of mutual restraint: wood, earth, water, water, fire and Jin Kemu. It is in this case that they are constantly moving and changing, or they form a wonderful circular motion system through mutual resistance. Only by correctly understanding and understanding the law of motion can things keep moving and developing.

Five elements in calligraphy

Calligraphy is mainly composed of five elements: strokes of characters, forms of fonts, strokes of writing, strokes of writing and composition of calligraphy. Strangely, there are also things related to and corresponding to the five elements in calligraphy art. Moreover, it is precisely because calligraphers and calligraphers have different levels of knowledge and understanding that the artistic level of calligraphy works is different. Let's make a rough analysis of this situation:

Five elements of strokes.

It seems that the thickness of a character is very complicated. But careful analysis shows that there are five main strokes of a word, namely: horizontal, vertical, dot, left and right. If we analyze it again, there are many similarities with the traditional "five elements". The horizontal line is similar to the water in the "five elements", which represents fluency and plays a stable role in a word; Vertical has the characteristics of wood, tall and straight, vigorous and upward; Point seems to be the earth, because it plays the role of echoing connection and transmitting information in words; Belongs to gold, representing precious and gorgeous, showing a look; Division is a fire, with the characteristics of agility and publicity. Any good word is a scientific and reasonable combination of these strokes.

Five elements of font

Judging from the fonts, Chinese characters have formed five main fonts of real cursive script since ancient times. If analyzed according to the five elements, the real body belongs to the soil, because it combines the characteristics of other fonts, is the basis and basis of other characters, and has strict statutes; Cursive script is golden, because it is almost abstract, full of personality, expressive and rhythmic beauty; The pear tree circle rotates, with softness and rigidity, belonging to water; Seal script is heavy and steady, with the characteristics of ancient primitive, belonging to wood; Running script has a kind of beating yin and yang frustration, flowing charm, is fire.

Mohist five elements

Since ancient times, there has been a saying that ink is divided into five colors. There are several versions of this "five colors". One is called: the focus is thick and light; One is called dry, wet and black tones, and some are called dry, wet and dry tones. Let's take the third statement as an example. The dark color here belongs to earth and the basic color of ink, which has diversity and originality, and the other four colors are based on it; Pale color shows a kind of life, a kind of vitality, belonging to wood; Dry color, of course, belongs to the fire; Wet color is wet, which has a wettability and belongs to water; Plain, ethereal, tenacious, tall and straight, belonging to gold. Of course, this is only a rough analysis, which reveals the correlation between yin-yang, five elements and ink five colors.

Five elements of brush strokes

Writing brush is an important process of calligraphy creation. There are many methods of writing brush, among which there are five main ones, namely, forward stroke, reverse stroke, center stroke, side stroke and turning stroke. From the perspective of the five elements, these five fronts are also closely related to the five elements. The words written by SF are sharp and sharp, revealing a bright and vigorous, and naturally belong to gold; Against the front, hidden, stable and slow, belonging to water; The words written in the center are straight and upright, with a kind of masculinity, belonging to wood; The writing on the side is vigorous and powerful, and it is a fire. Turning the front, also known as Dunfeng, means that the words written are thick and steady and belong to the soil.

Five elements of amplitude

Generally speaking, when creating calligraphy, we should decide what to write and what font to use, and then consider what form to write, because this form is an important part of the art of calligraphy and an effective carrier to better express the art of calligraphy. There are various forms of calligraphy works, including nave, couplets, banners, long scrolls and fans. These five forms are also closely related to the five elements. Couplets are generally composed of two banners, which are divided into upper couplet and lower couplet. This is a traditional calligraphy form generally accepted by the public, which is solemn, enthusiastic and fire-fighting. The form of banners gives people a straight and complete feeling and should belong to wood; Long scrolls (including banners) often occupy a relatively spacious place, giving people a feeling of wide flow, especially water; This fan, small and exquisite, often concentrates the essence of calligraphy in one place, making the work more delicate and delicate, and it is a form of gold.

Generally speaking, if the paper is compared to the ground, then people's thinking should be the sky, and the ink left on the paper is the concrete reflection of Yin-Yang and Five Elements. At the same time, the sky is yang, the earth is yin, and the five elements move regularly in the meantime. Whoever understands or grasps this law can improve his understanding of calligraphy art. Huai Su's autobiography "Wild Grass" is "crazy and despising the world, really drunk". So its words are free flowing, flowing and ethereal. A closer look shows that there is generally more white and less black, and the words are like flowing clouds, which does have an ethereal and mysterious atmosphere.

Looking at Kang Youwei's calligraphy again, his words combine the northern monument, etiquette and the world, which makes the calligraphy present a vigorous, heavy and simple style. Looking closely, there are the steadiness of the earth, the heaviness of the water and the unrestrained fire in the text. Give people a sense of transcendence. From this perspective, calligraphy and the five elements of Yin and Yang are really mysterious.

The Promoting Effect of Five Elements on Calligraphy

Calligraphy, as the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, has a long history and is profound. If we want to carry forward and develop the art of calligraphy in the new era, we must strive to inherit the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation, innovate on the basis of inheritance and carry forward on the basis of innovation. The purpose of studying and understanding the relationship between calligraphy art and five elements is also here. Then, what role does the five elements in calligraphy play in promoting the art of calligraphy? We believe that there are at least the following points:

First of all, it helps to understand the profound connotation of China's calligraphy art. In the eyes of ordinary people, calligraphy is just a good word, that is, a good word. Actually, the problem is not that simple. A calligrapher with profound skill is not only good at handwriting, but also a person with high ideology, morality, accomplishment, realm and knowledge. In their eyes, every calligraphy. It is a cultural carrier and can convey a benign message. Through the study of Yin-Yang and Five Elements in calligraphy, people can have a deeper understanding of the spiritual core of China's calligraphy and its development law. When it comes to calligraphy, there has been a saying in China since ancient times, that is, seeking rhyme, emphasizing the degree of expression, and emphasizing structure and rules. Therefore, when we study and create calligraphy today, we must have a high degree of cognition, so that we can embark on a correct road of seeking.

China's ancient calligraphy art pays attention to the beauty of masculinity and femininity, and thinks that the main feature of masculine beauty of calligraphy is "extraordinary boldness, boldness and boldness", which is magnificent. The structure is open and closed, and the clouds are scattered; Extraordinary brushwork, strong inside and strong outside. He also praised Yan's "Sacrifice to a Nephew", which is full of energy, vigorous and powerful, and has a masculine beauty. The feminine beauty of calligraphy is soft inside and rigid outside, graceful and beautiful. There is no strong spirit, no surging and broad trend, and it tends to be harmonious and calm, and it is far away. It is believed that Tang Jing's small letters are soft, free and easy, beautiful, elegant but not flattering, elegant but not vulgar, showing a feminine beauty. In fact, a careful study of these traditional theories and classic calligraphy art can be said to contain or draw lessons from the laws of Yin-Yang and Five Elements.

Secondly, it helps to improve the creative ability of the author's calligraphy art.

Generally speaking, theory is produced in the process of things moving. Therefore, the theory of five elements in calligraphy is an inherent and fundamental law of calligraphy art, and it is undoubtedly a new and meaningful subject for calligraphers to study the theory of five elements in calligraphy creation. It not only enriches the traditional calligraphy theory, but also closely combines calligraphy with the ancient traditional culture and philosophy of China. Specifically, the five elements of strokes can enable calligraphers to grasp the essence of calligraphy practice; The five elements of fonts enable people to deepen their understanding of the essential conventions, characteristics and functions of characters when learning various fonts; The five elements of brushwork can make people combine meaning and pen more closely in calligraphy creation, bring pen with meaning, create momentum with pen, and convey the spirit with potential. Strengthening the study of form can make the calligrapher grasp the calligraphy creation as a whole earlier, so as to enter a more scientific creative state. It is also the in-depth study and unremitting exploration of the profound laws of calligraphy art that can make our calligraphy art have a new development. Most accomplished calligraphers are generous and knowledgeable, and they often have a deeper understanding of calligraphy. The so-called way of calligraphy is the way of enlightenment. Only when the heart is full of spirit can calligraphy become an art with both form and spirit, and it can be vividly expressed through books. Only by deeply understanding the internal laws of yin-yang and five elements in calligraphy art can the author's calligraphy creation ability be continuously improved.

Third, it helps to improve the cultural taste of calligraphy art.

The artistic taste of calligraphy is determined by many factors. There are at least three factors that determine the artistic taste of calligraphy: first, the author's own creative ability and level; One is people's correct understanding and evaluation of calligraphy art; The other is the scientific calligraphy theory. Among the three, calligraphy theory's role is very important, because if there is no scientific calligraphy theory, there will be no correct concept of calligraphy and no understanding and evaluation of calligraphy art. The discussion of the theory of five elements of calligraphy just strengthens the understanding of calligraphy art from a new angle, which is an improvement of artistic understanding and a new innovative guidance for the practice of calligraphy art. According to the theory of five elements of calligraphy, black and white of calligraphy is yin and yang, and,