Lishu, from the pre-Qin period to the present day, has an extremely important position in the development of Chinese calligraphy. Because of its rules, easy to grasp, easy to operate, practical and beautiful, it is deeply loved by all generations. However, due to the influence of the times, the fate of each generation of Lishu is different.
From the perspective of the history of the development of calligraphy, there are two peaks in Lishu, one is the Han Dynasty and the other is the Qing Dynasty, and between these two peaks, there is a valley, that is, the Tang Dynasty. In the creation of regular script, there are no ancients before, and there is no one after them. However, this unique development has brought inherent shortcomings to other book genres.
Analyzing the differences between the Tang Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty will help us understand the differences between the style and creative language of the two eras, and provide some useful inspiration for the creation of contemporary Lishu.
▲Xu Haoli's book "Songyang Guanji" (rubbing1, selected pages)
A significant criterion for distinguishing Tang Li from Qing Li is that the method is different, and the Tang Dynasty Lishu is written in Kai Fa. The official books of the Qing Dynasty took the Han Tablet, which can be found in the calligraphy treatises of the Qing Dynasty.
Qing Wei Xi once provided a way for beginners to learn calligraphy in the "Introduction to Calligraphy", which said, "The seal takes the original carving of the "Stone Drum Text", the original carving of the Taishan Qin Remnant Seal Cross, Tang Li Yangbing's "Three Graves", and is subordinate to the Han "Ritual Tablet", "Hundred Stone Pawn History Tablet", "Shi Chen Tablet", "Confucian Temple Tablet", "Yin Zhou Tablet", "Ode to the Stone Gate" several kinds, cut and pasted into a book, in which the seal is selected to make the calligrapher write with the shadow of the oil paper tablet, and also raise the elbow back to the wrist, and the sheep's thick ink is indispensable. From this discussion, it can be seen that the model of the Qing Linli book comes from the Han Monument, and the pen is Yanghao, "Yanghao thick ink to vibrate its strength, so that the pen has to be reversed, the pen can not be reached, down-to-earth, since there is no drawback." (See Synopsis of Chinese Calligraphy – Chen Jidong, p. 341)
Tang Li is not to take the law of the Han tablet, but to use the regular method as the official book, the representative calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty who are good at the letter do not understand the "Shuowen", can not take the law seal book to enrich the interest of the official book. The direct cause of this phenomenon is the atmosphere of the times. It is not that the Tang people can't see the Han monument, and the Qing people don't just see the Han monument. From the Tang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties, people of all generations can see the Han people's official book monuments.
The prosperity of the Qing Dynasty's study of evidence, respecting the monument and suppressing the post, the calligrapher's pursuit of anti-simplicity and returning to the truth, this style of quality determines that the official script occupies an important position in the Qing Dynasty calligraphy, which also determines that the Qing Dynasty official script will inevitably surpass the Tang Dynasty official book. Just as Qing Yang Shoujing said in "Learning Books": "Gui Wei Gu Fu, Yi Moqing Bingshou, Chen Mansheng Hongshou, Huang Xiaosong Yi The four books are all rooted in the Han people, changing or unchanged, skillful and elegant, and self-sufficient beyond the Tang and Song dynasties." ”
▲Xu Haoli's book "Songyang Guanji" (rubbing1, selected pages)
Han Li is from Qin Li, what is Qin Li like? Wu Qiu Yan said in the "Ancient Edition": "Qin Li, Cheng Miao to a lot of texts, difficult to use the seal, because the reduction of the seal for the convenience of the method, so not for the posture, if the Han style is similar to the seal characters, there is no way to pick the law of the subordination." It is convenient for Zuoli, so it is called Lishu. That is, Qin Quan, Qin Liang is engraved on the lettering, many people don't know, it is also called the seal, mistaken! (Selected Essays on Printing in the Past Dynasties, Han Tianheng, p. 26)
The official book of the Han Dynasty can be divided into two categories, one is eight points, and the seal pen is used to make the Han Li. The second is Han Li, the words are all picked, and the name of Qin Li is the same, but the writing is different. If it is said that the Tang people also inherited the factor of Han Li, it is at most this kind of situation.
▲Han Li's "Ode to the Stone Gate" Song Tuoben
Qin had a book, but it was in the Han Dynasty that it was really established and perfected. It is of great significance in the history of Chinese writing and is a watershed between the ancient and modern styles.
The position of Lishu in the history of Chinese calligraphy is mainly the innovation of penmanship, that is, twists and turns. There are square pens and round pens in penmanship. Lishu is mainly expressed with a round pen, while the square pen starts with Lishu.
Analyzing the Qin and Han Lishu, there are square pens and round pens, such as the Jianghuai Han Jian in the south has many seals and is expressed with a round pen, while the Han Jian in the northwest has multiple strokes. After arriving in the Eastern Han Dynasty, square pens were used more. In the gestures, there is a characteristic of left sweeping and right waves, and this characteristic developed in the Tang Dynasty, and a kind of stylization appeared, pushing Lishu into the abyss of despair and losing its vitality and vitality.
If from the history of the development of calligraphy, the emergence of the square pen is a kind of progress, which broke the situation of the round pen dominating the world, the appearance of apostrophe, pinch, fold and other strokes, is the basis of regular script, the line of later generations, cursive are from the official script degeneration. However, if we blindly emphasize a single brush, we may go to the opposite direction.
Lishu is the foundation of regular script, but the Tang people used the regular script to write Lishu, which lost its ancient flavor and had its shape in vain. Qing - Qian Yong made a specific analysis of the official books of the Tang Dynasty in "Calligraphy", and said: "The official books of the Tang Dynasty, in the past, were all out of the Han Monuments, not also. Han people all kinds of steles, a stele has a stele appearance, there is no same, that is, the tile seal, and even the bronze style is the same, the so-called overlook is to be natural. If the Tang people are the opposite, whether it is Yuanzong, Xu Hao, Zhang Tinggui, Shi Weize, Han Zemu, Cai Youlin, Liang Shengqing, Li Quan, Lu Ying, the same kind of Gefa, a kind of appearance, neither through the "Shuowen", then other bodies are mixed, and the intentional Guijiao, good at using picks and kicks, and the Han people are very different, I said: The Tang people use the regular method as the official book, and it is not as good as the Han people to use the seal method as the official book. (Synopsis of Chinese Calligraphy, p. 311) This exposition cuts to the heart of the Tang Dynasty's Lishu and is the main reason for the decline of the Tang Dynasty's Lishu. If we analyze Tang Xuanzong's "Shitai Filial Piety Classic", we can see this phenomenon, the point is no longer a round pen, and the hook is drawn to the front, which is obviously influenced by the regular method. The penmanship and gestures of Shi Weize's "Dazhi Zen Master Tablet" are also this.
▲ Yi Bingshou's five-word couplet
The revival and development of stele studies in the Qing Dynasty made people attach great importance to the Jinshi script. The gradual decline of theology, how to inherit and develop the art of calligraphy, in the book world at that time, many warriors emerged. Kang Youwei introduced the theory of "Shang Quality" in "Guangyi Zhou Shuangji", believing that in order for calligraphy to develop, it is necessary to seek the spiritual power of changing the law from the source, that is, it must be discovered and summarized from the Wei and Han monuments before the Tang Dynasty.
▲Chen Hongshou "Lishu Six Words Couplet"
The Qing Dynasty's official calligraphy masters are the practitioners of this theory, Gui Fu, Yi Bingshou, Wang Shimin, Jin Nong, Chen Hongshou, Zhao Zhiqian, etc. are all masters of official calligraphy, their common characteristics are to take the ancient method of Han tablets, and they are all proficient in seal script. Therefore, the penmanship of its official script is round and square, and the faces are diverse, each with its own merits. In particular, Jin Nong's "lacquer book" is consistent with the official book on the Han edict, the square and the circle are mutually beneficial, Yi Bingshou's official calligraphy is heavy and simple, and the Han "Heng Fang Tablet" is enlightened, and the seal calligraphy is used as a subordinate, and the ancient flavor is strong.
It can also be seen from this that there is a great difference in penmanship between the Tang Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty.