What are the main aspects of the beauty of lines in Chinese calligraphy?

The beauty of lines in Chinese Calligraphy

Lines are the foundation and soul of calligraphy, the important medium on which calligraphy relies to continue its life, as well as the medium through which the calligrapher expresses his feelings and reveals his spirit, temperament and education. The emergence of the Han Clerical Script is an epoch-making milestone in the art of calligraphy, and there is no other style of calligraphy that can compete with it in terms of expressive power. Of course, more directly, the main contribution of Han Li lies in the liberation of lines, which has a decisive influence on our study of the beauty of lines. When we appreciate a piece of calligraphy, the first thing that the appreciator feels is the line, so it is also the bridge between the appreciator and the calligrapher. Through the lines, the appreciator can obtain spiritual beauty, comfort, purification and shock. The brush tool of Chinese calligraphy provides an ideal support for the high level shaping of line beauty. Appreciators can take the line as an aesthetic object and visually grasp the deeper connotation of the work, and calligraphers also regard the line as a symbol of life in their works. Kang Youwei, in his "Shuang oar in a wide range of art boat - tablet evaluation of the 18th", there is such a paragraph of discussion: "the book is like a person, must be prepared for the sinews, bones, flesh and blood. Blood thick bone old, sinews hidden meat Ying, coupled with the posture of the strange reverse, can be said to be beautiful. Here, "sinew", "bone", "blood", "flesh" four, are for calligraphy line. According to Kang Youwei, the beauty of calligraphic lines is like the beauty of a person's living body, which embodies the highest principle of calligraphic beauty. In the field of Chinese calligraphy, the aesthetic characteristics of calligraphic lines are mainly reflected in the following aspects.

(1) Sense of power

The sense of power here is a kind of skillful force in calligraphy, which is the natural movement of palm, finger, wrist and arm under the coordination and control of human consciousness and the integration of the writer's aesthetic concepts and writing experience. Chinese calligraphy has always emphasized the power of the brush, Mrs. Wei's "Brush Formation Diagram" has the following words: "The next brush stroke. Waves and bends, all have to do their best to send it". Cai Yong in the Eastern Han Dynasty pointed out in the "nine potential": "the pen force, the skin of the beautiful". Skin is the beauty of the form of line feeling. Generally speaking, the pen is strong, the line is beautiful, there is a rich skin connotation. "In the skill of the force still has a contrasting relationship between bright and dark: line head and tail of the staccato turn is called 'bright', line in the interception of the smooth movement of the seemingly unimpressive force is called 'dark'". This passage points out the true beauty of line strength. Rich strength of the calligraphy works of art is beautiful, because it can make the viewer in this kind of solid and static character form to appreciate the elegance of life, the rhythm of the heart. If the pen is weak, calligraphy beauty can not be fully expressed and play.

(II) three-dimensional sense

For calligraphy as a flat art form, three-dimensional sense is a contradiction in terms. Because the line itself is a flat existence, it is impossible to meet the physical standards of three-dimensional space. But a piece of calligraphy if there is a lack of three-dimensionality, the lines will be thin and boring, not enduring. The real three-dimensionality should be calm, thick and can make people feel the rich information hidden in the lines. Briefly speaking, the three-dimensionality emphasized by calligraphy is a kind of abstract and refined space. In the creation of specific works of calligraphy, according to different styles of calligraphy and the aesthetic interests of the writers are different and have their own forms. The emphasis on the three-dimensionality of lines is of course closely related to the traditional spirit of the Chinese people. Any kind of aesthetic consciousness can not be separated from the social content of the constraints, calligraphy is no exception. For example, the female calligrapher Mrs. Wei pointed out in the "Brush Formation Diagram": "The three ends of the wonderful, there is no precedent to the use of the pen, the six arts of the Olympic, there is no more important than the silver hook." The reasoning formula of this passage is: Calligraphy - the use of the pen is the first; the use of the pen - the center front is the most important; the line - to have a three-dimensional sense of beauty.

From the point of view of the beauty of calligraphy, the center-front technique is absolute. The side of the skill is relative, it can not be used independently, only with the center of the front of the alternating complement each other. And can not be in the main position. This is so, because the purpose of calligraphy brushwork is to pursue the beauty of the line, and the beauty of the line in the most important one is a strong sense of three-dimensionality, to have thickness. We can change the way we use the brush, but we can't cross this ultimate goal of calligraphy beauty. It is not a mere question of skill, but essentially a question of beauty.

(C) Rhythm

We can find a kind of vitality in the rhythm of calligraphy, and then experience the value of life in the vitality. The principle of rhythm is the intersection of contrasts. Implemented in the form of calligraphy, it is the ratio of blank and ink, the ratio of the size of the blank, the ratio of the shape of the blank, the ratio of the ink dots and lines, and even the ratio of the thickness of the ink, wet and dry, square and round, and the ratio of the twists and turns. All constitute a contrast, all contain the element of rhythm. "A Yin and a Yang is called Tao", "Yin and Yang" is the basis of rhythm. The characteristics of the movement of the pen in the process of composition - tightness, lightness, speed and slowness - are the specific content of the rhythm of the line. The nature and type of movement is different, but whatever the nature of the rhythm, it is in contrast to the existence. Calligraphy with brushstrokes expresses the individuality of many calligraphers. The vitality of each calligrapher's life reflects the aesthetic value of the rhythm of the lines. For example, the rhythm of space, the rhythm of the undulation of the brush, the rhythm of blankness, the rhythm of direction and so on.

The principle of rhythm seems to be simpler than the principle of strength and three-dimensionality. Because of the strength and the thickness of the line, we can start from a practical starting point, in the appearance of the form of the deep description. But as for rhythm, visible forms abound, and the invisible depth is not only calligraphic, but also involves physical and psychological aspects. The sense of three-dimensionality, the sense of power and the sense of rhythm basically encompasses all the contents of the aesthetic sense of line. Not only that, even in the calligraphy skills, the existence of the "three senses" has also included all the spatial content of the skills.

The composition of the sense of power relies on lift, press, pause, frustration, turn, fold, square, round, emphasizing a kind of undulation of the brush - up and down movement; the composition of the sense of three-dimensionality, relies on the main stroke of the brush, and the penmanship is implemented to the specific scope of the line of the beauty of the pursuit of the line is not only drawn on a flat paper, but to shape the three-dimensional effect; the rhythmic sense of the composition, relies on the main stroke, and the penmanship is implemented to the specific scope of the line of the beauty of the pursuit of not only drawing lines, but also to shape a flat paper, and the three-dimensional effect. Three-dimensional effect; the composition of the sense of rhythm is dependent on the speed of control, intermittent coherence, light and heavy Xu Dai, there is a process of transfer, and therefore has the property of time. Three-dimensional sense and power, plane movement and up and down movement, constituting a three-dimensional action space, plus a sense of rhythm, and constitute a time and space contrast, the three intersect each other, mutual penetration, the formation of the calligraphy skills of the most extensive art world.