The state of the grass is discussed
Xu Hongbin. In the 20th century, cursive calligraphers have considerable historical significance in terms of spirituality, purity, and classic pursuit, but in the last 40 years of calligraphy, more pursuit of a kind of superficial stimulation and form change, revealing a kind of manic mood, in the state of pen and ink and in-depth portrayal, etc., due to the intervention of fame and fortune, almost all are chasing popular calligraphy styles and award-winning calligraphy, to a certain extent, the superficial pursuit of calligraphy has been inevitable. The reason why cursive writing has become the most expressive style of writing in contemporary times is that it is highly in tune with the background of the development of the whole era, that is, with the large exhibition hall, the high-density gathering of viewers, and the rapid circulation of information, a book body can reflect people's thoughts and emotions in an unpredictable way, so Xingcao script plays this role. It can be said that it has been fermenting quickly and effectively with today's selection and exhibition system, and has become one of the most widely used and popular calligraphy, which has also made Xingcao one of the main benchmarks for measuring the development of calligraphy today. The first "Popular Calligraphy" exhibition kicked off a critique of traditional calligraphy. In fact, this exhibition is based on some accidental events, because some calligraphers want to seek a breakthrough outside the tradition, so they start to confront the so-called traditional theology by introducing folk calligraphy and Dongying calligraphy as means and themes in art. At that time, the general environment was dominated by tradition, so a great deal of attention was paid to some classic and exploratory calligraphers of the previous era. First of all, Lin Sanzhi from Jiangsu, his cursive writing not only pays attention to the rhythm of writing, but also carefully tidies up in the details, and the ink method is changeable, but the lines do not change much. Lin Sanzhi inherited the cursive style of Huaisu, but it was much more restrained than Huaisu. The second is Sha Menghai of Zhejiang, whose works are majestic and vigorous, sweeping thousands of armies, and blending the spirit of stele learning into the study of the post, the disadvantage is that the writing is a bit dull. What he inherited was the writing style of epigraphy. Again, it is Shanghai's white banana, with small characters, euphemistic and natural, delicate and rich penmanship inherits the tradition of the two kings, and the defect is not good at writing large characters. Baijiao follows the path of an authentic theology tradition. Finally, there is Wang Yuchang in Shanghai, who is a thick coiled and depressed dantian, inheriting Shen Zengzhi's writing style. All of the above show a tendency towards diversified inheritance. These paths for the development of calligraphy are still the mainstream of calligraphy development, that is, the normal development of calligraphy according to normal methods and means. However, there will always be some deviations in history, and here is the example of Zhao Lengyue, who was the most exploratory among Shanghai calligraphers at that time, whose calligraphy and inscriptions are integrated, and there is a "great ingenuity" style of simplicity and tranquility. He directly inspired Wo Xinghua's passion for calligraphy exploration. Wo Xinghua was influenced by Zhou Huijun in the early days, and put a lot of effort into the study of Tixue, since he came into contact with Zhao Lengyue, he turned to stele learning, and together with Wang Yong, Liu Zhengcheng, Shi Kai, etc., began to criticize the tradition. This critique is carried out with a frustration with the state of mainstream calligraphy. The popular style of writing began by subverting the classic way of expression, and these authors criticized the deliberateness of the traditional and step-by-step manner, and pursued the randomness of writing. Essentially, works in the style of pop books are reproductions of pop culture. For example, Wang Yong uses official books to enter the grass, casual and natural, as if he is wearing casual clothes and sunbathing, writing big characters with a small pen, dry and wet, and natural. Wo Xinghua abandoned the original writing method of posting, and incorporated a large number of stele elements, and the theme of "ugliness" in his works was magnified. Coupled with the introduction of art and design awareness in the works, the formal elements of calligraphy works have been strengthened. This is called cross-border awareness. For another example, Shi Kai's understanding and excavation of the connotation of calligraphy lines strengthened the symbolism of his calligraphy. At the same time, the chapter method of his works also introduces the layout method of seals, and the full of seal script lines can be said to enrich the expressiveness of calligraphy. In addition, these people's identification with Japanese calligraphy also injected a kind of vitality into the development of Xingcao at that time, and innovative calligraphers were particularly sensitive to Japanese calligraphers such as Tejima Uki's work "Honkai". Wo Xinghua, Zeng Xiang and others pursued iconographic effects, and at the same time transferred some modern design concepts to the reform of ink and chapter law. The development of modern consciousness is also divided into two parts: the traditional part is the inheritance of the "three strokes" and "three traces";The modern improvement part is a high degree of recognition of the works of Ryokuan and Inoue Ichi. At the same time of creation, the popular calligraphy master Wo Xinghua also attaches great importance to theoretical construction, and writes a large number of creative guidance books, which has influenced a large number of young people and has a huge impact on the concept of traditional calligraphy. Of course, this also caused a lot of dissatisfaction and caused widespread controversy. Today, let's look at the value and significance of the popular calligraphy exhibition, first of all, this exhibition has opened a hole in understanding, people suddenly found that calligraphy can be written like this, when people see Cai Mengxia's works, they almost don't believe that it is written by women, and it is a doctor of calligraphy from the **Academy of Fine Arts. In addition, the significance of this subversion of tradition lies in gradually shifting our focus and vision to some folk works, and designing and artistizing the elements therein, shifting the scope of cursive expression from the center to the periphery, and expanding the horizon of the law. This is the greatest significance of the popular style of calligraphy, and its spirit of exploration has made an immeasurable contribution to the world of calligraphy. However, all of this has only paved the way for the 40-year revolution of today's calligraphy, and most of the calligraphers who have devoted themselves to it belong to the collective unconscious participation, and rarely have a dual construction of creation and theory like Wo Xinghua. Therefore, it is a flash in the pan in the history of contemporary calligraphy, and it is also inevitable. Over the past 40 years, thanks to the amplification effect of the exhibition and the catalytic effect of the award, the development of calligraphy has surpassed almost any other period in history. Exhibitions of various titles emerge in an endless stream, the exhibition hall has a large number of visitors, and a number of award-winning professional households have also been produced. These award-winning calligraphers have gone to various "calligraphy battlefields" to add one stroke after another to their resumes. The exhibition has also given birth to all kinds of sprint classes, strengthening classes, etc., everyone is eager to try, and the benefits of selling words and transferring to work after winning the award motivate every exhibitor. Of course, there are also relatively calm people like Bai Li and Chen Zhongkang, who are immersed in tradition and build themselves in a deep place. In the context of the exhibition, a group of relatively older calligraphers are actively forging their own artistic language. Of course, the oldest generation doesn't need to participate in the exhibition anymore, although they also came from the first mass calligraphy competition. They have one eye on the game, watching the young people explore;The other eye is on his peers to see whose artistic language is most in line with the spirit of the times. Contemporary calligraphy exhibitions have played a positive role in stimulating creativity, and at the same time, the perspectives of young and middle-aged calligraphers have begun to extend to all corners, such as Liu Yanhu's contribution in the literal sense. Although people like Xu Bing and others have done a lot of work on the variation of characters a long time ago, it is Liu Yanhu who has been more successful in applying it to calligraphy. He borrowed from the writing of some Han monuments to give people new ideas, and also added some elements of folk culture. Of course, the excessive ornamentation also weakens the naturalness of its calligraphy. It is also necessary to pay attention to Bai To, who reflects the single-mindedness of a calligrapher in terms of the fineness of the pen or the layout of the chapter, and he generally does not participate in exhibitions at will, nor sells words at will, and to a certain extent maintains his calligraphy character to the greatest extent, which is very valuable in the past 40 years. At a time when exhibitions were all the rage, Bao Xianlun was probably one of the few calligraphers who could establish his own style, and his calligraphy distilled the essence of silk calligraphy and transformed it into his own unique language. In terms of the personality of calligraphy, no one can stand out. Of course, in today's generation, Liu Yunquan is also able to write freely about himself, he turns tradition into blood, no longer a simulation of external appearance, but shows a kind of self-realm and artistic image at ease. It melts into the post, swaying at will, relaxed, natural, unrestrained, reflecting the pursuit of freedom in one's own mind. There are also some calligraphers who focus on modern calligraphy, structure glyphs, let go of pen and ink, and although their traditional skills are very good, they still play pure pen and ink games, such as Zeng Xiang and Zeng Laide. In addition, the "knife meeting" on the seal carving had a certain impetus for the creation of calligraphy and seal carving at that time. It can be seen that in the situation of exhibitions and associations, the exploration is still multi-dimensional. Looking back at the calligraphy exhibition in the past 40 years from today's perspective, its significance is as follows: first, it has changed the way people view, allowing the works to move from the desk to the space, greatly expanding the visual aesthetic perception, and also having a certain deterrent effect on the psyche. In addition, it has also greatly changed the way people communicate information, from the original dissemination of works in the region or individually or in a small group to the dissemination across regions, time and space. Of course, the change in the size of the work also determines the value orientation of the work. It is often said that Wang Xizhi's works may not be selected if they are submitted today, and here the so-called literati calligraphers and ruler calligraphers have lost their advantages, and calligraphy has changed from the traditional static appreciation to dynamic appreciation. More importantly, the exhibition stimulates the psychology of fame and fortune, inviting celebrities to attend the opening ceremony, holding discussions, and printing collections, so that the true meaning of calligraphy is displaced. The more you write the words, the bigger they become, the more impetuous. The exhibition is a double-edged sword, both stimulating the passion of contemporary people to devote themselves to the cause of calligraphy, while at the same time destroying some of the best in traditional calligraphy. If we compare the classic calligraphers to the benchmark of the times, we should be recognized by everyone, such as Sha Menghai, Lin Sanzhi, Shen Yinmo, Baijiao, Lai Chusheng, etc. But in modern times, if we take Qigong as the benchmark of the times, then there will still be some controversy. Cursive writing itself is characterized by swaying the spirit and writing spontaneously. However, I think that the freedom and relaxation of the creative state, and the works of calligraphers with an introverted and reflective type, may be the most needed in this era. Of course, in the process of modern and contemporary cursive writing, some characteristics of formal expression are also crucial, such as the texture of calligraphy lines, the change of writing rhythm, the free state of writing mood, and even the unrestrained self-realm when waving the paper, as if entering the realm of no one, which is actually what we usually call the unhindered state of mind of writing. That's what I write about my heart. We can select some of the works that are active in today's book world, or they can be regarded as representative of the works of calligraphers. In the field of contemporary cursive writing, Mr. Shen Peng is unavoidable. His calligraphy is unwitting, and his calligraphy is arbitrary, and it is all interesting. His writing style originates from Huaisu's "Xiaocao Thousand Character Text", which gives people a simple, natural, vivid and smooth aesthetic. At the same time, it can also be seen that the characteristics of his literati calligraphy are very strong. It's a pity that Mr. Shen Peng is not very good at writing large characters. This is also the weakness of literati calligraphy. Mr. Shen Peng's large-scale cursive writing is much less technical than that of his small works, and his grasp of the shape of the characters is much weaker than that of his predecessors. This kind of situation does not exist among calligraphers in the ** period, for example, Yu Youren also wrote "Xiaocao Thousand Character Text", but his grasp of the shape is quite accurate. The second is Wo Xinghua, his inscription fusion of cursive writing can be said to be an alternative, full of writing, smoke and clouds, unpredictable, large-scale works are breathtaking, small works are charming. In fact, this has overflowed the scope of traditional creation, and has been working towards some modern art such as image, modeling, and composition. To some extent, he borrowed more elements of Japanese avant-garde calligraphy. It doesn't make much sense to say that his work is just a very personal exploration, and that it accepts the public nature. In our opinion, his creation is just a result of seeking immortals and demons, but as an exploration, it is still worthy of encouragement and affirmation. In fact, the trend of keeping success is more obvious in the field of calligraphy, such as Cao Baolin and Sun Xiaoyun. The former writes rigorously, meticulously, after decades of writing, its style of writing all the way to Mi Fu has been well understood, its degree of refinement and the works of the ancients can also be a long and short, but his work is actually not of high value, because, he has almost no sense of innovation. As for Sun Xiaoyun's writings, they still have their own unique appearance, which is graceful, graceful and free and easy, and has a unique style from the "Holy Order". Although it is not far from tradition, compared with Cao Baolin's approach, Sun Xiaoyun still has his own face. As for Sun Boxiang and Liu Yunquan, who integrated the grass into the North Monument, the former is thick and simple, intriguing to chew, and because the lines are from the Wei Monument, it is particularly textured. If it is insufficient, it is too strong, and the traces of deliberate artificiality in his later works are very heavy. The latter's line of grass pays special attention to the brushwork, mentioning the ups and downs, turning and changing, writing along the way, ups and downs, especially rich in rhythm and connotation. Of course, he is also suspected of being at the mercy of others. Why is it that there are no contemporary classical calligraphers who have produced real meaning?Because of the major changes in the environment and knowledge of calligraphy, cultural people in the true sense of the word have become very rare. In the past, the literati were all rooted in Chinese studies, but now the current generation of calligraphers grew up in a different environment, although they have a high degree of impulse when creating "great works", but sometimes the pen work is not as delicate and natural as the older generation of calligraphers. You can look at some of today's most famous calligraphers, their so-called self-created poems are actually very poor, and their pen skills are also very poor, but they are very fond of acting, and there are not many people who have really worked tradition. There are also a large number of people who are swayed by the proposition of "pseudo-creation", advocating writing personality and appearance, blindly pursuing a style that is very different from others, but there is no cultivator who "sits on the bench for ten years", and the impetuousness of chasing fame and fortune has ruined a large number of people. In all the historical stages of calligraphy, the vitality of the development of calligraphy is actually reflected in the middle-aged calligrapher. In the 40 years of calligraphy development, young and middle-aged people are at the best time to analyze and digest new ideas in their own unique way, and their creativity should not be underestimated. For example, Wang Dongling's cursive writing has the characteristics of wild and uninhibited, and the book is like entering a no-man's land, which is particularly skillful and free, reflecting the free and unrestrained state of cursive. In particular, it is worth mentioning the large characters he writes, which are particularly shocking, and looking at his creations, there is a feeling of reverberation. The characteristic of his cursive writing is to win with big, to win with full, and to win with familiarity. His way of writing like mopping the floor has influenced many people, so much so that calligraphy like Zhou Huijun and Han Tianheng have also been imitated, and even Chen Zhenlian, Bao Xianlun, and Bai Li have followed suit, sitting cross-legged on the ground after writing, which has become a standard. Xu Qinghua, who arrived in Shanghai, was even more exaggerated to write about Dunhuang, Shanghai's Bund, etc., accompanied by piano, and almost fainted after writing for more than three hours. This way of writing eventually became almost a performance, losing the meaning of calligraphy. In fact, the biggest deficiency of Wang Dongling's calligraphy lies in his skillfulness, which makes his writing have a program, which is fatal. When we look at his entire work, we feel that the rhythm is almost the same. As for his modern calligraphy, I won't comment on it. In addition, as the leader of today's exhibition cursive style, Zhang Xuguang's cursive script has its own strong style, and he has a unique understanding and interpretation of the classics, especially the efforts he has put into the "Seventeen Posts", coupled with his skillful brushwork, which makes him handy in swiveling. It can be said that his calligraphy schema has strong characteristics of the times: although his works are skillful in brushwork, unique in knots, and changeable in chapters, they give people the feeling of being broken, with a large number of sideways and jumping brushes, lacking a sense of unity and the beauty of calligraphy inherited from the classics. In addition, he put forward some opinions and slogans that he thought were very unique, such as "activating Tang Kai", which was actually very inexplicable. Similarly, Liu Hongbiao's calligraphy also has obvious epochal characteristics, but it is rare to see ancient meanings. He writes very skillfully and elegantly, and at the same time he "creatively" dresses his works in beautiful clothes, that is, he emphasizes the sense of form in his works. It can be said that his works are very vigorous, the lines also have a strong tablet interest, and the grasp of the chapter is also quite good. In addition, he borrowed from the ancient method of red annotation, which increased the color of his works, and even provided a paradigm for the diversity of forms. He also put forward the slogan of improving the sense of form of his works, which may also be in line with the characteristics of the development of cursive writing in this era. Liu Hongbiao's calligraphy rarely comes from tradition, just a free-form skillful writing. It can be seen in him that the pursuit of culture is still a remedial lesson for this generation of calligraphers. From this point of view, Hu Kangmei, Liu Hongbiao, Zhang Xuguang, and Wang Houxiang held the "** Four People Exhibition", and the modernity of their calligraphy is very obvious: torn strokes, crazy swaying, and jumping dots and lines, completely subverting the understanding brought by traditional calligraphy, giving up the interpretiveness, and singing and dancing and even screaming and shouting. They profoundly portray the modern background of **. Contemporary young and middle-aged calligraphers or award-winning authors have a sense of indifference that stands out from the crowd, and each occupies an advantageous position. These young and middle-aged calligraphers have a very wide range of social contacts, and it has become a standard to walk, speak, and write everywhere, and some people have just won an award, and they immediately mark the bid code, give lectures everywhere, and talk about the way to success in life......But in fact, the understanding of creation is only superficial, and I don't even know that creation actually comes from the depths of people's hearts, and it takes years of cultural accumulation and immersion to reach a certain height. They regard the creation of calligraphy as a pure form game, and simply consider the creation of calligraphy from some formal elements such as fast and slow rhythm, dry and wet, and contrast between virtual and real, rather than sorting out the logic of calligraphy innovation according to the internal logic of the development of calligraphy. Unlike previous calligraphers, there is an orderly mechanism for inheritance. In the past 40 years of calligraphy, there is no doubt that the passion for learning calligraphy has been fermented and unprecedentedly improved with the help of exhibitions. Of course, the exhibition has also spawned a large number of calligraphy talents. Almost all famous calligraphers today became famous in this way. This form is actually very similar to the ancient scientific examination system, and the selection of talents has to be interviewed at the end (similar to the ancient palace examination) to stand out. Some of them, because they were young and diligent, quickly developed their own understanding of the technique and mastered the unique skills of writing. Once their work is appreciated by the judges, their writing style quickly becomes fashionable and emulated. This is also the fundamental reason why the book world is popular "Mi Fu style", "He Shaoji style", "Zhao Zhiqian style" and "Huang Tingjian style". Of course, at the beginning, the positive significance of this kind of competition was still very strong, and many talents were produced in these "calligraphy champions", such as Chen Hailiang began to start with Xie Zhiliu, and then worked Sun Guoting's "Book Spectrum", and then turned to Yang Weizhen and Xu Wei, and finally worked Dongying calligraphy, and finally achieved positive results;And Li Shuangyang began to like white bananas, and later specialized in Huaisu's "Xiaocao Thousand Character Text";There are also things like Wang Houxiang's study of "Four Posts of Ancient Poems", etc., all of which are based on one or several copies of the law as the object of the post. However, from a cultural point of view or from a theoretical point of view, their cultivation needs to be further improved. It's hard to stand out from the competition right now. This is a reversal of the fluctuating calligraphy competitions, and it is also a manifestation of the current imbalance in the calligraphy ecology. Today's calligraphy ecology is very abnormal, that is, the competition.
1. Winning awards first and disdainful of criticism has led to the loss of culture and the lack of justice. The fundamental reason for this is the stimulus brought by the huge benefits of winning the award, and the strong driving force to change the fate of the award-winning calligraphers has made them the idols of many calligraphy authors. Of course, award-winning calligraphers sometimes accidentally reveal their backgrounds, for example, Lu Jinguang will actually take a modern person's poem as Tao Yuanming's poem, if there is a little literary accumulation, a little recitation, the difference between modern poetry and ancient poetry should be huge. However, this work even won the "Taishan Literature and Art Award" (which was finally canceled by the organizer), which shows that the overall level of literature and calligraphy in this era is in a low state. It should be said that award-winning writers are unique to this era, and there may even be situations where the level of award-winning writers is not as good as that of the participants. In addition, there are now on-site exams, interviews, etc., so that the study of calligraphy is completely out of shape, and it seems to have become "Gong*** In this sense, what today's calligraphers lack most is knowledge and cultivation." Calligraphy in history was a scholar, and calligraphy and learning complemented each other. After more than 40 years of tempering, today's calligraphy has precipitated a group of learned calligraphers, who not only inherit the ancient traditional classics, but also have their own unique contributions to calligraphy culture. Another example is the achievements of Shen Peng and Lin Xiu in poetry, the contributions of Zhu Guantian and Cao Baolin in research, Qiu Zhenzhong's research on linguistics, Huang Dian, Cong Wenjun, and Hua Rende's research on the history of calligraphy, Zhou Junjie's contribution to calligraphy criticism, Bai Qianshen's hook and sink of calligraphers, and Zhu Isaac, Hu Chuanhai, and Jiang Shoutian's criticism of contemporary calligraphy phenomena. In a way, their works are not necessarily more exhibited than the works of award-winning calligraphers, but it is precisely because of their profound knowledge that their works are richer. Qi Gong has the accumulation of research and literature and history, so that although his calligraphy has the same thickness as the strokes, it has the style of a pavilion, but it is a great scenery in the book world. As a representative of female calligraphers, Lin Xiu is proficient in the stories of the canons in history, coupled with her elegant writing style, the two complement each other, so it is also like gold. Zhu Guantian's research on Tang Dynasty calligraphy has made great achievements, even if his calligraphy style is simple, with only a few skeletons left, it is still worth collecting. Cao Baolin's study of Song Dynasty calligraphy is unique in contemporary times, and although the rice characters he wrote were begging for a living in the rice bowl of the ancients, his vigorous and rigorous writing allowed people to get a glimpse of the style of calligraphy of scholars. Although his theories have the influence of Soviet textbooks, his seal script and cursive script are still written in a formal manner, with a strong sense of tradition, although not very brilliant, at least relatively stable, with the style of an elder. Qiu Zhenzhong is probably the most Western-influenced person in the field of calligraphy, and he is a pioneer and experimenter in both theory and practice. His cursive lines are very tenacious, and at the same time, he emphasizes the rhythmic effect of his works, and some of them are even conceptual works. Huang Dian is a scholar who has outstanding achievements in calligraphy, seal carving, theory, and education.
1. Theory.
Second, the seal carving.
3. Calligraphy fourth. Cultivating many outstanding young calligraphers is his greatest contribution. The writing characteristics of the cursive ruler are relatively strong, smooth and natural, but sometimes the lines are relatively flat. The Chinese people are cautious and strict in doing things, writing and writing, so the texture of his character lines is very good, with the meaning of the tablet, and the chapter is sparse, although it does not seek to jump and change, but it gives people a sense of restraint and subtlety in the quiet writing. Zhou Junjie is an uninhibited calligrapher, and his works integrate the brushwork of the North Tablet into the creation of cursive script, which is known for its atmospheric and vast lines. His calligraphy theory is long and free-flowing. The shortcoming of his work is that it sometimes appears a little rough. Zhu Isaac dared to show his views in criticism, told the truth and told the truth, and belonged to a clear stream in the book world. His calligraphy works are round and interesting. The frontispiece of Hu Chuanhai's "Calligraphy" is a unique landscape in the field of calligraphy theory, and the witty and humorous writing style also belongs to a unique style of calligraphy criticism, with many original materials. His works are majestic and free, and he is one of the few people in the theoretical world who can connect with the masterpieces in the exhibition hall. Jiang Shoutian's theories are long in the history of calligraphy and criticism, and his works are known for their charming and elegant characteristics. I believe that the works of these theorists will attract more and more attention as time goes by. The process of learning calligraphy is a process of accumulation, and at the same time, calligraphy is not a unilinear learning, it involves various disciplines, so only the more you accumulate, the greater the amount of information you will store. Historically, almost every calligrapher has his own writings, a scholar and an expert. The study of theory takes a lot of time and energy, and on the surface it will limit some of the time and energy of learning calligraphy, but it is a process of taking three steps back. There is no doubt that it is the calligraphers who will lead the progress of the calligraphy era. In the future, the calligrapher should be a master who talks about the past and the present with a brush, and sits and talks about the Tao, so as to win the respect of the whole society. Nowadays, cursive writing is a multi-dimensional trend, but it is far from reaching the height it should have, which has many connections with region, knowledge, fashion, aesthetics, etc. As the style of calligraphy that can best reflect the level of creation, paying attention to cursive script will be the responsibility of every theoretical researcher, and it is also the vane to judge the level of calligraphy in this era. 