Why are Chinese characters square? The ancients pursued the beauty of Zhou Zheng, which was steady and dignified.

[Introduction] The square writing of Chinese characters is the objective beauty pursued by ancient people in China-steadiness, solemnity, balance and symmetry, with a geometric beauty. Although his writing styles are different, Zhou Zheng's pursuit of balance, symmetry and beauty has not changed. Pictures come from the Internet. Pictures come from the Internet. Why are Chinese characters square? Although there is no clear textual research, we can get a glimpse of the way the ancients observed the world. "Huainanzi Lan Mingxun" said: "There were four poles in ancient times, and Kyushu was split. The sky is not repeated, the land is underdeveloped, the fire is not extinguished, the water is endless, and the animals are endless ... So Nuwa refined the five-color stone to make up the sky, and the broken stone stood on four pillars. " In the eyes of the ancients, "the sky is round" and the ground is square. At the end of this square ground, there are supporting pillars. The same is true when creating a position. The word "Zhong" is one of the earliest Chinese characters, and it is also the word that best represents the way of thinking of the ancients. Although the ancients had the concept of four squares, all four squares were contained in one square. In the center of this square, it is on the "middle" side. In Shang Dynasty, there were concepts of "five parties" and "China", and "zhong" refers to the businessmen in the central position; The four directions are east, west, north and south. This four-way way of thinking is even reflected in the combination of time and space-the combination of east and spring, presided over by wood, the combination of south and summer, presided over by fire; Xiqiu combination is presided over by Jin; North and winter are in harmony, water is the master, soil is the master of the center and the quartet. As can be seen from Oracle Bone Inscriptions, it is basically square. By the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the characteristics of Chinese characters were fully formed. Since then, in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, from seal script to official script, Chinese characters have made a leap, which is manifested in the shape, that is, from round and slender to square characters. According to Professor Tamia Liu of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, who specializes in the history of calligraphy, this square writing style is exactly the objective beauty pursued by the ancient people in China-sedate, dignified, balanced and symmetrical, with a geometric beauty. Although there was a cursive script of "Dragon and Phoenix Dance" later, the orthography of each dynasty still followed the neat writing face. The earliest bronze inscriptions were written in a proper way, and writing was an extremely serious matter at that time. In the late Zhou Dynasty, countries disputed and the characters were opposite. However, the orthography of Qin State, which is closest to Zhou State, is still a formal seal script. Qin destroyed the six countries, and after the establishment of Qin, Xiao Zhuan was officially established as orthography. However, in addition to block letters, an auxiliary script, the later official script, appeared on Qin bamboo slips. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, official script gradually replaced seal script as the standard writing. Since then, during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, regular script prevailed and became an officially recognized regular script, which has been passed down to this day. Although his writing styles are different, Zhou Zheng's pursuit of balance, symmetry and beauty has not changed. Tamia Liu said that there were many literati in the Tang Dynasty, and the country needed all kinds of talents, so it set up various examination subjects and used the imperial examination system to select talents. Calligraphy is one of them. However, no matter which subject is tested, it is required that the font of regular script should be accurate and meticulous, and both writing and writing should be paid equal attention to. When selecting (selecting and appointing) officials, the official department also has to pass the examination. The contents of the examination are "body (figure and appearance), speech (oral expression ability), calligraphy (calligraphy) and judgment (official document)". The "book" in the four items requires "the beauty of law". Because the quality of calligraphy is related to personal fame and life, the so-called "ups and downs are the department", so officials attach great importance to it. Yan's "Manna Zi Shu" had a great influence at that time. This calligraphy book was written on the basis of Yan Shigu's "Yan's Characters", and the characters are divided into three ways: vulgar, complete and correct. Imperial examinations, official documents and writing should follow the correct style. Later, Yan's nephew, Yan Zhenqing, became an official in Huzhou, and wrote "Manna Zi Shu" on the stone tablet. If you want to seek official promotion through the imperial examination, you must learn such a word. Later, the regular script of manna was correct and beautiful, and it became a stylized way of writing, with thousands of words unchanged. Shen Du, the most famous court calligrapher who wrote letters to the emperor in Ming Dynasty, was good at this kind of font, which was called "Pavilion Style" in Qing Dynasty. "The vitality of calligraphy lies in writing, and the charm of Chinese characters can be displayed through writing. In addition to the technique, every word is very expressive. " Professor Tamia Liu said. When he went to the museum, he carefully read the Yongle Grand Ceremony written in pavilion style in Qing Dynasty. Although it looks the same on the surface, careful study will reveal the subtle differences of everyone. However, this overly unified writing style has destroyed the soul of calligraphy-the pursuit of "potential". When the ancients wrote, they emphasized the word "potential", which not only refers to the momentum of the whole article, but also refers to the pen gesture of each stroke. It is for this reason that words are written "vividly", and the spirit between the lines can only be revealed with a breath. This is the meaning of "seeing words like seeing people". The writing action is coherent, so that you don't regret writing in one go. Classic works in the history of China's calligraphy, such as Preface to the Lanting Pavilion by Wang Xizhi, Sacrifice to a Nephew by Yan Zhenqing, and Cold Food Poetry in Huangzhou by Su Shi, were not originally written to complete the so-called classics, but were all immortal works inadvertently. Su Shi's explanation is "it is better not to be interested in books". To achieve this skill, it is essential to accumulate training so that muscles can also form memories. Sun Zhiyong, the seventh generation of Wang Xizhi, lived in Wang Xizhi's pen for 30 years. The returned waste pen is fully loaded with five bamboo poles, and each bamboo pole is the volume of a stone, which shows the great kung fu. In Tamia Liu's view, it is this day-to-day copying and writing that cultivated the earliest aesthetic taste of the ancient people in China, and even became a kind of personality training. The so-called "words are like people", although later interpreted from the moral level, its original intention is still to emphasize a serious spirit, such as writing and being a man. Writing is also the embodiment of the comprehensive appearance of an era. Judging from the writing posture alone, ancient people used their thumb and forefinger to write, which is a single hook "oblique grip" method, similar to the usual grip method of modern people. Later, it became a double-bag "straight grip" method. The index finger and middle finger were wrapped up, and the thumb and ring finger (the little finger depends on the ring finger) extended into it. This is because the desk used for writing has changed. From Shang Dynasty to Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ancients all sat on the floor, kneeling in front of low cases, holding bamboo slips in their left hands and writing with pens in their right hands. By the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it had become popular to sit in a high chair with feet hanging in front of you, toes touching the ground and heels not touching the ground, but the posture of holding the pen did not change. It can still be seen from the figure paintings in the Tang and Song Dynasties that writing was on a high table at that time, and it was still inclined to write. After the Song Dynasty, direct law enforcement became popular. The uniformity, symmetry, balance, back-to-back, pitching and stability of Chinese characters, as well as concavo-convex, heavy, Fiona Fang and hidden dew, make the artist's spirit and emotion "harmoniously" unified. Tamia Liu analyzed that the symmetry of Chinese characters is not absolute, which is reflected in calligraphy. Even if a word is not well written, it can be "supplemented" by the next word or "saved" by the next word. Dynamic balance is China's traditional political wisdom.