One
aspect is on the theory of calligraphy. First, the author of
The Art of Calligraphy
Mr. Song Guoting, Tang Dynasty, expounded the characteristics of
different styles of calligraphy and their interrelations. He
summarized, highly briefly, the features of the four styles. The
zhuan (seal script) is
upheld for its being gentle and coherent, the li (official script) needed to be
exquisite and compact, and the cao (a type of the cursive
script) valued for its being easy and smooth. The zhang (another type of the
cursive script) must be written in a rigorous and convenient
approach. He said: “While creating the cao calligraphy, one must not
concurrently give consideration to the techniques of the zhen (or kai, the regular script);
otherwise the cao could
become monotonous and rigid. While creating the zhen, one must not concurrently
take account of the cao’s skill; otherwise it is
impossible to obtain good brushwork. The zhen takes strokes and dots as
its entity, and touches as quality or spirit; the cao takes strokes and dots as its
quality or spirit, and touches as entity. The cao with touches not conforming
to the standard could not make correct characters, but the zhen
with one or two strokes or dots missing could still make sense.”
It is clear that “entity”, he thought, is the key to the style of
regular script, and so strokes and dots are of great importance to
it; “quality or spirit” is the life of the cursive script, and
consequently “touches” are of great significance to it. That is
really precise and penetrating ideas. He also said that it is
necessary for a calligrapher “to master the two types of zhuan ___ da zhuan and xiao zhuan, grasp the li style of the Han Dynasty,
deliberate the zhang cao
and comprehend the feibai”. Deriving rich
calligraphic nourishment from the former styles of calligraphy is
essential for improving the art of the zhen, or kai, and the cao, enhancing further the
aesthetic perception of lines and perfecting the layout of
composition of the whole brushwork.
Second, the author Mr. Sun made a penetrating and brilliant
generalization of the basic skills and techniques in calligraphy.
He suggested that the most essential and important writing skills
be “holding, applying, turning and disposing.” If people who
practice calligraphy have the skill mastered, they will take the
right path. The so-called “holding” means the way of holding a
wring-brush, “setting the forefinger above the thumb, hooking the
shaft of a writing-brush with the thumb ___ the brush fixed, then
holding the brush from the obverse side with the bent middle finger
and pushing it from the reverse side with the third finger, to
which the little finger gets close. Being in its right place, each
finger has its role to play, and the hand takes the gesture of
holding an egg. Only in this way could the brush be facilely
wielded and the strokes made by the coordinating movements of the
fingers be at the one’s disposal like obeyed soldiers.” However,
Dongpo said: “There is no definite way in holding writing brush,
but to be easy and natural.”
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