Confucianism has been inherited for thousands of years and has become a social culture as well as an ethical culture. Personality, as the sum total of human dignity, character, value and moral character in a society, has naturally become the most concerned issue of Confucianism. Confucianism attaches great importance to the cultivation of personality, cultivation and the improvement of realm, and regards moral cultivation as the most important thing in the world. The ideal personality standard advocated by Confucius is to be a gentleman, to cultivate Qi and rule peace, and to stand for oneself.
Influenced by the concept of Confucianism, art is naturally closely related to personality and character. In the evaluation of calligraphy, it is often discussed from the book to the person, that is, the beauty of calligraphy is attributed to the beauty of the calligrapher's personality. The idea of "rhetoric and sincerity" put forward in Yi Chuan actually gave rise to a concept of the unity of literature, art and character in Chinese aesthetics and artistic spirit. Talking about art cannot be about art, but must include the artist's moral character and ideological cultivation. In other words, the aesthetic value of the artwork is combined with the level of the artist's personality cultivation.
Han Dynasty Yangxiong's "Fa Yan Ask God" cloud: "Words, the voice of the heart; Books, heart paintings, too. The sound and painting are shaped, and the gentleman and villain are seen. The sound painter, the gentleman and the villain are so emotional! "In the Chinese calligraphy theory of later generations, the prayer for the relationship between character and book quality is indiscriminately here. Liu Gongquan of the Tang Dynasty developed this idea, and his famous phrase "the heart is correct and the pen is correct" used a new proposition to link the relationship between personality, ethics and calligraphy. Later, Xiang Mu of the Ming Dynasty said more fully in "Calligraphy Yayan":
At the beginning of the big book, the gentleman of Judah came from afar, looking at it from afar, the standard was majestic, delicate and dignified, fluttering like a fairy, burly as noble. and its entry, close and observed, the gas is full, tolerant of Yongmu, virtuous if foolish, majestic as a mountain. At the moment, the instrument was magnificent, and the rhetoric was full of listening. Frustration is not angry, timidity is not shocked, temptation is unswerving, Ling is unyielding, morality and virtue, and convincing the public, which makes people stingy and self-eliminating. ”
Looking at words is like looking at people, calligraphy under the moral cultivation of a gentleman's personality, character and temperament, but also brings people a graceful and broad aesthetic atmosphere, that is, the so-called "character is different, temperament is different, gestures are lucky, evil and self-form." The heart of the book, advocating the calculation of cloth and imagination, is intended to be at the end of the pen, and the appearance of the unformed is also. The appearance of the book, the twist and turn, the majesty and the brilliance, the pen is sent at will, and the heart of the shape is also". (Xiang Mu language) the book is the human heart, and the character is the book product. Here, Xiang Mu connects calligraphy with personality and tries to explain the roots of Famei from the perspective of the subject, which is very valuable. Looking at calligraphy from such a perspective, it can be said that calligraphy is its form and morality is its soul.
Zhu Hetang of the Qing Dynasty said: "Learning books is just a skill, but the product is the first pass." Those who are high-quality, one point at a time, have their own upright, elegant and upright atmosphere; The one under the product, although it is passionate and frustrated, is considerable, and the vertical and horizontal are violent, and they are inevitably exposed. "Here, calligraphy has become the embodiment of morality, a tool for teaching assistants, and this tradition of calligraphy has been endless.
However, the view that books come from character is controversial. Those who agree can cite many examples, such as Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Fu Shan, etc., who have an upright personality and a glorious morality, so their calligraphy is extraordinary and cherished. Those who oppose can also cite many examples, such as Qin Hui, Cai Jing, Huang Daozhou, Ni Yuanlu, Wang Duo, etc., who are depressed and despicable, but they are superb in calligraphy. This involves two questions: first, what determines the aesthetic value of calligraphy? Second, what influence does character have on calligraphy?
In this regard, Confucianism and Taoism have different views. In the Taoist view, art is a means of self-expression and spiritual expression, and a way to achieve spiritual freedom in the real world; In the Confucian aesthetic appreciation, there is a moral element in itself, and art is a tool to carry the Tao. The appreciation of Confucian calligraphy is a comprehensive appreciation, not only to read its texts and observe its characters, but also to know its people and discuss its virtues.
In the view of Confucianism, whether pen and ink calligraphy can be circulated or not is cherished by others, and a person's moral character, self-cultivation and knowledge, and even political achievements and reputation are related. If you are upright and loyal, and your character is admired by others, even if it is a piece of paper, future generations will buy it with a lot of money and regard it as a treasure. And traitors like Cai Jing, Qin Hui, Yan Song and other traitors, bad character, although the calligraphy is also very exquisite, but they were spurned by later generations, so that they disappeared. As long as a person suffers a great loss in his political stance and is unforgivable in his moral cultivation, then no matter how well he writes his handwriting, he is worthless. In the history of calligraphy, it is not uncommon for books to be passed down from person to person. Therefore, Ouyang Xiu admonished: "The ancients can all write, and the sages who are the only ones will spread far and wide." Then the world does not push this, but in the book, I don't know the day before the work book, with the paper and ink abandoned, there are countless also. This sentence is worth remembering seriously for artificialists.