The sensibility and rationality of calligraphic linesPan Jiafeng.
Since the birth of calligraphy, lines have always been the soul of calligraphy. The lines of calligraphy go hand in hand with human emotion. In the course of the historical development of calligraphy, due to the continuous injection of calligraphers or literati feelings, lines have evolved into the emotional carrier and core element of calligraphy art. Only the perceptual lines can release the essential characteristics of calligraphy, make calligraphy full of the beauty of the connotation of life, and be filled with the inner spirit of humanity.
1. Where does the sensibility of calligraphy lines come from?
Calligraphy is the art of lines, and as a unique element of Chinese calligraphy, lines have undergone a long evolution in the process of historical development and formation. Brushwork is born from lines, and chapters are born from brushwork, so the development of calligraphy is inseparable from lines. **The strip contains the natural sensibility and the rationality of literati thinking, which is the essence of Chinese calligraphy.
Looking back at the ancient times, when human beings first created Chinese characters, Chinese characters were just simple symbols to express their meaning, because the combination and change of lines constituted the basic unit of pictures. This line of initial shape is not yet a line in the sense of calligraphy. Later, with the invention of the brush and the development of social productive forces, calligraphy as a cultural form gradually became a tool for people's communication and expression. From then on, calligraphy in the literal sense of the word was born.
With the development and gradual maturity of Chinese characters, the standardization and unification of lines, and the aesthetic significance of lines have begun to become a key element in the overall aesthetics of calligraphy. In particular, the production of seal script represents the purification of calligraphy lines and the formation of norms, and the calligraphy brushwork in the true sense can be matured. However, the aesthetics of the lines of the seal script advocate symmetry and neatness of the form, advocate the Tibetan front, the natural attributes of the lines have not been released, the brushwork can not form a systematization, from a purely aesthetic point of view, the calligraphy lines of the seal script era have not yet fully matured.
In the development of calligraphic lines, it was the emergence of Han Li that really promoted its maturity. The use of the techniques of "mentioning" and "pressing" in Han Lizhong has released the expressiveness of the lines to the greatest extent, which has greatly improved the expression system of brushwork. That is to say, starting from the Han Dynasty, the aesthetic of calligraphy lines has essential characteristics, so that the development of calligraphy has entered the era of consciousness and consciousness. The main difference between the line, cursive and seal, official script is that the lines of the line are mainly "moving", and the lines of the seal and the official script are mainly "static", and this difference promotes the standardization of the calligraphy lines of different calligraphy styles. However, there is one thing that is common to all kinds of book systems: to strengthen the expressiveness, complexity and tension of the lines.
The continuous development of calligraphy creation techniques, such as from the three-finger pen to the five-finger pen, so that the development of the line tends to be conscious from the unconscious, while the brush technique is rich in use, the establishment of the technical norms such as the middle, side, hidden, exposed, square folding, and turning, the beauty of the calligraphy line is reflected in the existence of the trinity of force, pen and ink, as Zhao Mengfu said: "The knot is passed down from time to time, and it is not easy to use the pen through the ages." On the surface, this view seems to be contrary to dialectics, but in fact it contains profound philosophical implications. The ancients emphasized the sensibility of calligraphy, where did this sensibility come from?One is the sense of power of the line, the second is the three-dimensional sense of the line, and the third is the rhythm of the line. The sense of power is a common feature of the line, because the sense of power and three-dimensionality constitute the spatial beauty of calligraphy, and the sense of power and rhythm constitute another kind of temporal beauty. The sensibility of the lines determines the overall sensibility of calligraphy. When we further analyze where the sensibility of calligraphic lines comes from, we will find that the sensibility of the lines is brought by the calligrapher, and when natural objects enter the human brain to form impressions or memories of objects, the symbols of such objects will leave traces in the writing and attach perceptual consciousness. It's the nature of the lines**. Ancient calligraphers were good at using perceptual thinking mode to understand the dynamic sense of art and the rhythm of life from the natural order, comparing and tasting the momentum of calligraphy strokes with natural images, reproducing the vitality of nature with lines, and restoring the "perceptual world solidified by calligraphy lines" in calligraphy creation.
The development of calligraphy in the Wei and Jin dynasties really matured, and the Jin Dynasty was the era of the most perceptual expression in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Taking Wang Xizhi's "Orchid Pavilion Preface" as an example, this calligraphy work is Wang Xizhi's improvised creation in the "Lanting Yaji", which is accidental, random and natural, the work is completed in one go, and the personal temperament naturally emerges from the pen end, without pretentiousness, with the artistic effect of "natural carving", although there are countless imitations and Xi in later generations, but it can no longer reach or exceed the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" written by Wang Xizhi. Perceptual creation is unconscious writing, the personal thoughts, feelings, aesthetic pursuit and highly technical creation into one, people, things, environment in one, pen, ink, paper body, human emotional expression has become the core of writing, everywhere is full of perceptual brilliance, calligraphy through the ages, is actually the calligrapher's great realm caused. People in the Jin and Tang dynasties often cherished the heart of Lin Quan, looked at nature, and felt the true meaning of calligraphy in the embrace of nature, which is not comparable to today's people. When people draw one or two lines, they may write unconsciously, but when these lines are consciously combined together to construct Chinese characters, people and strokes have formed a fitting relationship, and people's spirit and spirit have been swimming with the strokes, so it is inevitable to reflect the vitality and breath of people in the strokes of calligraphy. Ouyang Xiu of the Song Dynasty said when talking about this kind of creative experience: "Those who taste the Dharma are given to their families and friends in the Wei and Jin dynasties. It is really ridiculous that future generations abandon Pepsi and take learning as a profession, and end up old and poor, tired and exhausted, and do not think that they are suffering. Ouyang Xiu believes that the calligraphy masterpieces are not intentionally refined, but are unintentionally done by the writers, which seems to be a common view of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties" on the creation of calligraphy, which completely changed the natural view of calligraphy lines in the Wei and Jin dynasties. Ouyang Xiu advocated learning into the book, advocating the interest of calligraphy lines, and increasing the cultural nature of calligraphy lines. Therefore, the calligraphic lines since the Tang and Song dynasties began to have a cultural texture. This is a landmark advance in the development of calligraphic lines.
Sensual calligraphic lines, based on emotion. Since calligraphy got rid of simple memorization symbols and evolved into people's language tools and communication arts, calligraphic lines have accompanied human emotions. "The Book of Rites and Rites" records: "What is human affection?Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, evil, and desire are all learned. "Because human emotions are innate and originate from people's hearts, calligraphic lines have become one of the manifestations of people's inner feelings. Feng Wu's "True Biography of Calligraphy" recorded "Zhong Xuan's Brushwork" said: "Those who write are also boundary;Those who flow beautifully, people too. "From this, it can be seen that the line is the emotion, and the emotion is the person, because the brush and ink line is the trajectory of emotion and the trace of life of calligraphy art. As one of the "Eight Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties", Han Yu commented on Zhang Xu, a famous ** master of this dynasty, in "Preface to Sending High and Idle Masters": "Joy, anger, embarrassment, sorrow, happiness, resentment, longing, drunkenness and boredom, unevenness and emotion, must be written in cursive." From this review, it can be seen that the emotions of the calligrapher are closely related to the works, and it can be said that emotions are the source of artistic creation. Sensual lines are used as a form of expression of calligraphy, and Su Shi's "Huangzhou Cold Food Poems" is such a classic masterpiece. The poems are desolate and melancholy, the calligraphy strokes run with the mood, and the emotions and lines rise and fall together. In the first few lines of the work, Su Shi's pen is still steady and calm, but with the burst of emotions in the poems, the rhythm of his pen has changed greatly, becoming spontaneous and rapid, and the lines are broken or connected, and you can see the changes in the human atmosphere when writing. The sparseness and weight of the strokes, the positive and oblique gestures of the characters, the jagged and staggered, and the unbridled wonders. The lines are ever-changing, unrestrained and agitated. In particular, the three characters "crying and painting poverty" at the end of the text, the glyph is suddenly enlarged, and it is abruptly presented in front of the reader's eyes, giving birth to an amazing artistic impact, and then to "can't afford to blow the ashes", and the whole text comes to an abrupt end. Su Shi embodied the infinite changes of emotions in the dotted lines, highlighting the sensual image of the calligraphy lines, which became a classic in the history of calligraphy.
Therefore, the sensibility of calligraphy lines is not that Chinese characters have existed since the birth of memographic symbols, but that with the development of calligraphy in history, due to the continuous injection of calligraphers or literati feelings, they evolved into an art and then became the emotional carrier and core element of calligraphy art. Only the sensual lines can release the essential characteristics of calligraphy, so that calligraphy is full of the beauty of the connotation of life.
2. Perceptual lines and rational thinking
The sensibility of calligraphic lines is not infinite creativity in actual creation, and in addition to the expression of sensibility, there must also be a rational scale. Only when sensibility and rationality are blended and harmoniously coexisted can a true masterpiece of art be produced. Anything that is sensual, if it lacks rational restraint, is like a river that lacks a dam and is prone to flooding. The same is true for the sensual expression of calligraphic lines. Expressing emotions is one of the motivations for artistic creation, but the essence of art is by no means the spontaneous flow of emotions. In this regard, Confucius once said that "poetry can be complained", and at the same time, elsewhere it is required to "be affectionate, stop to be courteous and righteous", and affirm that the "Book of Songs" is "happy but not lewd", "sad but not sad", and "resentful but not angry". Confucius's view of the "mean" in expressing the emotions of literary works is actually to put forward constraints and norms. Cai Yong's "Pen Theory" cloud: "Husband, sit silently and meditate, do what you want, can't speak, don't breathe, calm and radiant, if you are to the Supreme, you are all good." Wang Xizhi's "Book Theory" said: "All books are precious and quiet, so that the intention is in front of the pen, the words are in the heart, and the beginning of the work is not done, and the thinking is completed." Xiang Mu's "Calligraphy Yayan" said: "The heart of the book, advocating the calculation of cloth, imaginary tailoring, is intended at the end of the pen, and the appearance of the unformed is also." It can be seen that the ancients were sensitive to the unity of the sensibility and rationality of the line.
As the peak of calligraphy, how did the Eastern Jin Dynasty deal with the unity of line sensibility and rationality?From the birth and formation of calligraphy to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it has always been dominated by sensibility. In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, people generally began to advocate nature, emphasize lightness, and pay attention to the graceful demeanor of the image, and the same is true for the creation of calligraphy. The calligraphy of the Jin Dynasty attached great importance to the subtlety and delicacy of the law, and the people of the time used "no death" to describe the precision of the pen and the knot. At this point, we can try to analyze the writing of the word "poison" in Wang Xizhi's "Funeral Post". In fact, the accuracy of the writing of "Funeral Post" is not only reflected in a "poison" word, but also in every stroke of its entire layout, the strokes are exquisite and delicate, and the arrangement of each word is exquisite and appropriate, aiming to find a balance between the unbalanced dot paintings. The word "head" in the first sentence is beautifully drawn between the first stroke and the second stroke, and the two strokes are infinitely close, leaving enough space to accommodate a strand of hair, which is the secret of the writing of "no death", and it is also where the success lies. These two words in Wang Xizhi's "Funeral Post" are the best annotations on the relationship between "sensibility" and "rationality".
Among the famous artists of the past dynasties, Wen Zhengming Xiaokai is a model of love and reason. When Wen Zhengming wrote these regular scripts, his emotions were extremely focused and delicate, but he always mastered the degree of rationality not to give up all these emotions, and while people admired his strokes and lines, he felt that thinking and skillful skills were closely combined. In "Intention in the Pen First", it expresses the beauty of human feelings and human nature. In Wen Zhengming's works, he entered the state of writing with calm and rational thoughts and emotions, and this state of writing was also respected by calligraphers throughout the ages. How do we grasp the rationality of the lines when actually writing?Because any calligrapher has his or her own unique life and social experiences, calligraphy is often done in improvisational lyricism. Some may be sensual improvisational lyricism, while others are rational conceptions for a long time, but a person's perception and feelings, once dominated by dominant emotions in his heart, should have a primary and a secondary, a first and a last, and a mixed drive of different lines. Therefore, if the calligrapher wants to rationally control these lines, he must rationally control the sensibility, as well as the pen and ink controlled by the sensibility, let go of his hands and feet when he should move and jump, and concentrate and hold his breath when he should be calm and soft, so that the content of the writing is integrated with the person in the operation, forming a high degree of consistency between the content of the poem, the writing and the emotional expression of the person.
In the creation of calligraphy, those who have experienced it know that when people write works, they have always been under the dual domination of perceptual consciousness and rational thinking. Rational thinking dominates the larger formal aspects of calligraphy, such as calligraphy, knots, chapters, and cloth, and focuses on the expression and control of formThe perceptual consciousness is particularly important for the expression of the spiritual connotation of the work, such as style, breath, meaning, taste, etc. When a piece of calligraphy is written, whether it has vigor and charm or not, the perceptual factor is decisive, and it is the source of creation. For example, people who specialize in Ou Kai, their works need a dignified and clear, solemn and neat aesthetic sense, and for the calligraphers who are about to write "Recommended Seasons Straight Table", the real performance should be ancient and simple, super wonderful, and there is no Jin and Tang Dynasty flower arrangement beauties, reflecting the aesthetic style of the works that are broad and quiet, clear and elegant. As Liu Xizai said in "Art Overview: Book Overview": "Scholars, such as also, such as their learning, such as their talents, such as their aspirations, in short, just like their people." From this, it can be seen that perceptual consciousness plays a decisive role in the temperament of calligraphy, and what kind of perceptual consciousness you have, what kind of calligraphy works will be written, and vice versa.
An excellent calligraphy work will take you into an elegant artistic realm that can resonate with the heart. This is due to the writer's conscious observation, and it is also because of the transmission of the calligrapher's perceptual consciousness. Although the sensibility of the line is based on the creative consciousness of the calligrapher, it is the most important psychological characteristic in creation. When calligraphers write works, they capture a certain feeling with the emotional movement of the lines one stroke at a time, which is the original material that people often say is the inspiration that constitutes the spiritual connotation of the calligraphy work. When the calligrapher is not satisfied with these original materials, he will reshape or combine them, strengthen or weaken a certain feature of the original materials, and integrate personal emotional factors, so as to form a work with a unique style, which is the process of interweaving sensibility and rationality to produce excellent works. The rationality of the line is the basis of sensibility, which in turn is the further deepening of sensibility and becomes a new thinking with a logical form. Through this rational way, some irrational sensibilities in the lines have been deepened, transformed, processed and organized, and a new calligraphy and ink language has been reshaped, producing a moving artistic effect.
3. Return to natural sensibility and reshape the spirit of calligraphy
When we sort out the perceptual issues of calligraphy lines along the historical development of calligraphy, new issues of the times will be put in front of us. Calligraphy has undergone a new development from the mid-to-late 80s to the late 90s of the 20th century, and many works have overflowed the boundaries of calligraphy in the traditional sense, overemphasizing visual forms and personal tastes, and causing the essence of tradition to continue to retreat. Therefore, after entering the new century, how to start from the traditional line, reshape the traditional spirit, and return to the natural sensibility has become a common proposition facing the current calligraphy industry.
Due to the development of modern science and technology, calligraphers can dismember, analyze and experiment with the formal elements and line characteristics of traditional calligraphy in the same way as medical anatomy techniques. In particular, some contemporary young and middle-aged calligraphers have become the subject of these experiments. Their calligraphy works have a strong tendency towards technology and rationalism. In the context of these technical rationalities, the lines of contemporary calligraphy have taken on the characteristics of a holistic program, lacking the sensual color and individual charm of the ancients. While modern technology has brought convenience to contemporary calligraphers, it has also made the methods and methods of line training increasingly "rigid" or "rigid", and the stylized characteristics have become more obvious. The calligraphy of the ancients paid attention to the delicacy of the pen and the neatness of the lines, and the pen of the beginning and fall paid attention to the "clear beginning and end", especially some classic representative works, when the pen was inadvertently brought into the form of "millet beads" or "micro curves", the strokes brought into the three-dimensional sense, richness and personal emotions in the delicateness, which is distinct from the neatness, smoothness and gloss of today's calligraphers' pursuit of writing effect. Compared with traditional classical calligraphy, today's calligraphy works show the traces of "patterning" of stroke training and line structure, and the works cannot get rid of the "track" attribute of mechanization, which is also the reason for the lack of sensibility and aesthetic weakness of contemporary calligraphy lines.
Contemporary calligraphy, in the context of emphasizing professional context, inevitably ignores the natural attributes of traditional calligraphy. The ancients liked to feel the dynamic beauty of calligraphy lines in the process of paying attention to nature, appreciating nature, and tasting nature, such as "cone painting sand" and "house leakage", and were good at understanding the mystery of lines in natural forms. This is different from today's reliance on the anatomy and patterning of calligraphy training of the ancients to complete the creation of calligraphy. Behind too much formal analysis and technique training, the rules and rules in calligraphy creation will hinder the presentation of artistic interest, and then lose the deep meaning and value of artistic creation. Liu Chengji once said in the book "The Philosophical Basis of Natural Beauty": "The progress of mankind is marked by the awakening of reason. From an eschatological point of view, this awakening is causing the loss and escape of the aesthetic attributes of the material world. ......From the perspective of aesthetics, the development of science not only fails to promote the progress of human aesthetic activities, but instead constitutes an increasingly serious plundering of the realistic aesthetic resources that human beings rely on, and gradually dims the aesthetic light of natural objects in the search for the authenticity of the world. In the meantime, the change of science to people's worldview, especially the existence of the beauty of objects, poses a direct threat. It dissolves a poetic world and presents a 'real' world. This incisive quote is also instructive for understanding contemporary calligraphy.
Still take the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the peak of calligraphy in history, as an example. The reason why people worship the two kings is because the biggest feature of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is "poor change" and "collection of great achievements", which is the best embodiment of natural characteristics in calligraphy. "Poor change" means to exhaust natural changes and create the infinite charm of the calligraphy image. Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is the most taboo penmanship, knots and chapters of the single arrangement, in the font of the oblique, size, the distance of the word spacing, the width of the line spacing or straight, the changes are endless, all kinds of stroke contradictions, line movements, are played by him harmoniously, the whole text is like a shocking symphony. No matter how the future generations imitate it, it will be difficult to achieve the wonderful realm and cannot be surpassed. It's the natural beauty of the lines. But the beauty of the lines of contemporary calligraphy lies mainly in the kung fu training. Since ancient times, there has been a difference between "natural" and "kung fu", which also reflects the fundamental difference between calligraphy. Tang Zhang Huaijun once clearly pointed out the order from nature to the seal and then to Zhong and Wang: "The book is repeated in the original, the upper is noted in nature, and the second is attributed to the seal, and the second is taught by Zhong and Wang." It can be seen that he has also made new discoveries on the basis of his theories of "learning from creation" and "gaining the posture of creation". Only by constructing the spiritual relationship between calligraphy and all things in nature can calligraphy works produce "divine works" (Figs. 1-Fig. 3), rather than just "fine works".
Fig.1 There must be strange (Huaisu's natural and sensual lines).
Fig.2 Tibetan Zhen (Huaisu's natural and sensual lines).
Fig.3 Xiongyi (Huaisu's natural and sensual lines).
Since the Jin Dynasty, the level of development of calligraphy has almost been synchronized with the rise and fall of the concept of nature, which has given us a kind of silent enlightenment: the natural beauty of calligraphy lines is an insurmountable gap, and the development of contemporary calligraphy should rebuild the relationship between man and nature. People often say that "learning from the ancients" and "learning from the ancients", "learning from the ancients" is borrowing the methods of the ancients, and "learning from the ancients" is to grasp the creation of the natural world. In the face of the classic works of the ancients, we should use the individual mental experience of calligraphers and the physical feelings of nature to stimulate the imagination of the aesthetic of calligraphy lines, show the original aesthetic realm of calligraphy, and re-enjoy calligraphy in poetry. Compared with the Dharma of the ancients, natural sensibility is the original beauty of calligraphy, which has natural originality and richness. Observing calligraphy from the perspective of traditional culture, the sensibility and rationality born from the lines are unified in the font and structure of calligraphy, as well as in the opposition between tradition and the times. In the creation of calligraphy in the new era, it is natural that we should fully grasp and apply the traditional brush and ink procedures and rules, and at the same time, we also need to be brave in innovation on the basis of tradition, so that the line can be used as a "perceptual form medium", so that calligraphy has its own soul and charm. Lines should not only be regarded as emotionless concepts and symbols at the level of cognition, but should truly evoke the inner spirit and existing emotions of calligraphy, so that calligraphy can maintain its due vitality and charm. Since ancient times, traditional Chinese culture has emphasized the "emotional life", and the art of calligraphy is the embodiment of this "emotional life", and the burst of emotions in the creation can greatly promote the lively sensibility of calligraphers. On the premise of mastering the rules of brush and ink, we can complete the expression of calligraphy through the injection of artistic imagination and the emotions of the subject, which is an important way for calligraphy creators to innovate on the basis of inheriting traditional laws. This process is definitely not simply imitating and copying the existing understanding, just staying at the technical level, and will become a craftsman without artistic imagination and emotional injection. After calligraphy inherits the traditional foundation, it is still the sensual thing that plays a leading role in innovation, and a kind of "divine thought" creates a truth connection between calligraphy and the viewer.
Calligraphy is a flying line with its own sense of rhythm and rhyme. Chinese calligraphy is extremely rich in connotation because of the emotional injection of sensibility. The line is the perceptual medium between the calligrapher and the reader, showing the process of calligraphy art from the "reproduction" of the calligraphy of the ancients to the "expression" of the creation of outstanding personality, in this process, a free spirit with a noble mentality in calligraphy is activated, and transformed from the inside to the outside into the human power of calligraphy. Sensibility and rationality communicate with each other, truly reaching the realm of the unity of nature and man in the ancients, achieving "body and matter", and expanding the space of calligraphy sensibility in "returning to nature". Facing the rational existence with perceptual experience, the artistic spirit of calligraphy enjoys the sublime in the profound, and the profound in the sublime, which is the real writing in which calligraphy finds the perceptual characteristics.