Neo-Confucian scholar Xu Fuguan (January 31, 1903, April 1, 1982) once said that Zhuangzi's philosophy is "the philosophy of Yi". The pursuit of the ethereal spirit in Chinese calligraphy can be traced back to Zhuangzi in terms of ideological roots. Later, through the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin dynasties, it penetrated into the art, acting on the calligraphy in the line of grass, and in the graceful brushwork, it exuded the beauty of the spirit of the Jin people. Wei and Jin calligraphy, which has this spiritual temperament, was clearly marked as a "masterpiece" in the Tang Dynasty and was highly valued by calligraphers. The Shangyi calligraphy style of the Song Dynasty, to be honest, was directly inherited from the Jin people in terms of spiritual temperament. The exploration of ink color in Yuan and Ming calligraphy was certainly influenced by ink painting and literati tastes, but in their appreciation of ink color, they especially liked the light style, which is also from the thousand-year-old inheritance of Zhuangxue's feelings.
Of course, this does not mean that Zhuangzi had a conscious desire for art from the beginning, but in fact, he only inadvertently achieved a life of art in order to obtain freedom and spiritual liberation in the shackles and pains of life in the era of great turmoil. We have noticed that the founders of modern aesthetics have taken beauty as their purpose and art as their object to investigate and recognize from the beginning. Confucius also consciously took ** as the asset of life cultivation from the beginning, and pursued it with the purpose of perfecting the personality realm. Zhuangzi, on the other hand, was not interested in art at the beginning of his thinking, nor did he pursue a specific art, but the state of life he longed for would unexpectedly return to the spirit of art. Originally, he only swept away the reality of life in order to achieve an ideal state of life, and did not necessarily implement it in the creation of works of art, but from the perspective of the life realm achieved by the cultivation of "heart fasting" and "sitting and forgetting" that he proposed, it was exactly the cultivation effort necessary for a great artist.
In Zhuangzi's life experience, the artistic spirit contained in it has had a great impact on the development of Chinese art. This artistic spirit was expounded by the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin dynasties and the art theorists of the time, and it was only after the elaboration of the art theorists at that time that it truly reached the consciousness of art. Under the influence of metaphysical thinking, art is philosophized, philosophy is artistic, and profound philosophy and vivid art are integrated. The spirit of "Yi" is both philosophical and artistic, which originated from Zhuangxue and carried forward in metaphysics. Taking calligraphy as an example, the pursuit of the calligraphy style of "Yi" not only allows people to see the elegant beauty of the Jin people from the cursive script of the Wei and Jin dynasties, but also directly leads to the spirit of "Shangyi" and the aesthetic pursuit of "lightness".
We know that the reality of life is often full of difficulties and uneasiness, and is full of too much unfreedom. Because in the objective world and in material life, man must be governed by the law of cause and effect, and must be enslaved by his own sensual desires, which of course is very unfree. And human desires are unlimited, and few can be satisfied, and those who cannot be satisfied feel pain. People often feel that the existence of life is a kind of restriction all the time and everywhere. Many times, I feel like I'm being placed in a state of lack, pain, and insecurity.
Art is indispensable to human beings because it helps people to dissolve the fatigue of their vitality in oppression and crisis, restore spiritual purity, and thus obtain a kind of freedom, fulfillment and fulfillment of the subject. The highest stage of the artistic spirit is a kingdom of absolute spiritual freedom. In the study and appreciation of art, people transcend the constraints and shackles of real interests and can pursue spiritual freedom. At this time, he will create his life as a noble and beautiful work of art, and express the ideal of this creation concretely and vividly through the medium of material to become a work of art. This kind of "artistic outlook on life" and "aesthetic vision" enable us to see its beauty from all phenomena and its order from all disordered phenomena, so as to reduce our disgust and boredom and dispel our boring life.
The spirit of Zhuangzi is deeply in line with the fundamental spirit of art, and penetrates into art through Wei and Jin metaphysics. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the development of the spirit of cursive calligraphy can be regarded as a derivative of Zhuang and metaphysics. The "mystery" of life is a state of mind and a state of mind, which has nothing to do with the scientific mind, but has become a resting place for the artistic mind. In the sloppy flow of cursive handwriting, the spirit of metaphysics excavates the roots of art in the specific nature of human life, and touches the key to spiritual liberation and freedom.
Sun Guoting's "Book Pedigree" says: "Han Yi Shen Fei", which is really a concise summary of the "Yi" in calligraphy and the freedom and transcendence of life.