What stages has the development of calligraphy in my country gone through?

The development history of Chinese calligraphy

Calligraphy is a unique traditional art in China. The ideographic nature of Chinese characters and its unique structure provide prerequisites for the art of calligraphy. The development of calligraphy fonts follows the order of seal, official, cursive, regular script and behavior.

1. The emergence of calligraphy art

Oracle bone inscriptions were produced in the middle and late Shang Dynasty. The strokes are all single lines, thin and powerful, and sometimes show an edge. The layout is mostly vertical rows, with scattered rows, varying sizes, and regular density. These earliest Chinese character relics already possess the three elements of calligraphy: brushwork, composition, and character knotting. Especially from the oracle bone inscriptions, the beautiful lines and the symmetry of the single-character shapes are reflected. Therefore, the emergence of oracle bone inscriptions laid the foundation of our country's calligraphy art and marked the emergence of our country's calligraphy art. The bronze inscriptions that appeared in the Shang and Zhou dynasties are also called "Zhongding inscriptions", which are neat and thick with thick strokes. The starting, ending and movement of the strokes are rounder than oracle bone inscriptions, with rich changes in curves and straight lines. The shape of mature bronze inscriptions is relatively long, the size of each character is well-proportioned, and each part pays attention to echo and coordination. "Maogong Ding" and "Sanshi Pan" are his masterpieces. Judging from the remains of bronze inscriptions, the artistry of calligraphy has gradually become richer.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the country was divided and social turmoil occurred. Under different artistic pursuits, various vassal states developed towards their own aesthetic trends, forming a colorful situation of calligraphy art. If the mainstream of oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions have always developed along the path of knife carving and chiseling; then, during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the brush began to be widely used in calligraphy. The expressive power of the brush, especially the inherent brushwork skills, constitutes an important element of future Chinese calligraphy - the calligrapher's temperament, aesthetic taste, brush-using skills, etc. Judging from the surviving rubbings of "Shigu" from this period, the knot characters have greater regularity than the bronze inscriptions, the strokes are vigorous and dignified, and the structure is dense and thick. "Shiguwen" began to transform into Xiaozhuan. It was not only the basis for the unified writing of Qin Dynasty, but also had a great influence on the calligraphy style of future generations.

2. The development of calligraphy art

After the unification of Qin, Qin Shihuang ordered that "cars run on the same track and books run on the same text." Prime Minister Li Si popularized Xiaozhuan, which became the official writing. The unification of characters laid the foundation for the maturity of calligraphy art. Judging from Li Si's "Taishan Stone Carvings", Xiaozhuan has the characteristics of long and flat characters, mostly single strokes, and complex structure, making it difficult to sketch as an official text. As a result, the official script, which has a relatively simple structure and turns circles into square folds with strokes, making it easy to write quickly, came into being. Regarding the emergence of the official script, Zhang Huaiguan, a calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty, said in his "Shujuan": "The official script was written by Cheng Miao, a native of Qinxia." Cheng Miao was imprisoned for a crime and compiled three thousand words of official script in prison, which was praised by Qin Shihuang. He was pardoned and made a censor. This is a rumor, although it cannot be believed. However, it is a conclusive conclusion that the official script of the Qin Dynasty appeared, but the official script of the Qin Dynasty still had seal characters. By the Han Dynasty, official script gradually occupied a dominant position, became the official standard font, and entered a period of stereotypes. The official script of the Han Dynasty has straight strokes, simple structure and obvious pauses, especially the inscriptions, which are exquisite. At the same time, in order to make the characters square and convenient for writing, the official script defines special shapes for the single characters used as radicals. For example, when "dao" is on the right side, it is written as "刂". This makes the official script easier to remember and write than the seal script, and is more adaptable. In line with the requirements of the development of the times, the style formed from the use of pens to the knotting of words appears to be both solemn and neat, as well as varied. This type of font inherits the seal script and ancient official script at the top, and the regular script at the bottom, with the pen passing through cursive. Therefore, official script plays an important role in the art of calligraphy.

When people use words, they always want them to be easier to recognize and easier to write, especially when things are urgent and busy. At the same time, in the evolution from seal script to official script, cursive script came into being due to the development of fast writing and brushwork.

Zhang Huaiguan of the Tang Dynasty said in "Shujuan": "During the reign of Emperor Han Yuan, Shiyou was writing in a hurry... This is the outline of the preserved characters, which undermines the rules of official script. He indulges in running around and rushes to work. Because of the meaning of cursive writing, it is called cursive script. "The cursive script of this period contained more official meanings, and the strokes often had waves, and there was no connection between the characters, which was called "Zhangcao". Its representatives include Du Du, Cai Yong, etc. "Xuanhe Shupu" says: "Since the official law was dismantled, the truth has become more rigid, and the grass has become more relaxed, and the running script has been preserved in between." That is to say, after the official law was disintegrated, the writing was more rigorous. It becomes a real script (regular script), the one that is written closer to Bensi becomes a cursive script, and the one that is between real and cursive script is running script. At this point, several writing forms of Chinese characters have been produced. Writing is not only about practicality, but beauty and enjoyment have also become the driving force for development. The art of calligraphy has entered a mature period.

3. The maturity of calligraphy art

The Three Kingdoms, Two Jins, Southern and Northern Dynasties was an important period in the history of Chinese calligraphy. In the process of development, the art of calligraphy has formed the following characteristics: First, the cursive, regular script and xing styles have become fully mature, and the technical system of Chinese calligraphy has basically formed. Although the techniques of later generations have been enriched and changed on this basis, there is no essential breakthrough. During the Three Kingdoms period, Chinese character writing developed into the Zhenshu stage. Zhenshu is a calligraphy style with practical value. It is generally considered to be the orthodox style in the history of the development of Chinese characters and a "model", so it has been passed down to this day. The straight strokes of the writing gradually dominate, the horizontal strokes should be made as little or as little as possible, and the strokes should not be pointed upward or shortened in length. Zhong Yao is honored as the "ancestor of Kaifa". Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was excellent in Zheng, Xing and Cao. Wang Xianzhi's "Thirteen Lines of Luo Shen Fu" is a masterpiece of this period. Secondly, calligraphy has reached a stage of complete self-consciousness, and calligraphy has generally become a conscious object of appreciation in all walks of life. Historical records: Shi Yi once wrote a calligraphy on the wall of a hotel, which attracted many visitors, making the hotel prosperous. Third, literati consciously pursue the beauty of calligraphy, regard calligraphy as an artistic practice, and strive for technical skills and aesthetic style. In the art of calligraphy, two different styles have appeared: stickers and tablets, showing the realm of graceful and elegant calligraphy art and the majestic and simple calligraphy art. Especially regular script and running script have reached a mature stage. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, there was war in the Yellow River Basin, and a large number of literati gathered in Jiangdong. The beautiful and rich scenery of Jiangnan makes calligraphers pay more attention to the elegance and gracefulness in their art.

The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of China's feudal society. At that time, the unprecedented prosperity of social economy provided material conditions for the development of literature and art. The exciting mind and mentality of the Tang people formed by the broad atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty are reflected in the free and easy, magnificent and broad momentum in the art of calligraphy. The highest achievement of calligraphy art in the Tang Dynasty was regular script. Today there is still a saying that "learning regular script starts from the Tang Dynasty". His representative works include "Duobao Pagoda Stele" by Yan Zhenqing and "Mysterious Pagoda Stele" by Liu Gongquan. They are either majestic and solemn, upright and thick, reflecting the gloomy and prosperous Tang Dynasty; or they are strong, even and thin, reflecting the calligraphy idea of ??the calligrapher that "a correct heart leads to a correct pen". During the Tang Dynasty, Chinese calligraphy art entered its heyday.

4. The art of calligraphy has entered the era of personalization

After the Song Dynasty, fonts have no major achievements or breakthroughs. They only incorporate their own style on the original basis, focusing on giving full play to their individuality. Due to the relatively relaxed political environment in the Song Dynasty, rulers valued literature over martial arts. Calligraphy became an art generally favored by literati, and casual running script was particularly popular. The four famous calligraphers of the Song Dynasty are: Su Dongpo's calligraphy is very rich in calligraphy, giving people a sense of otherworldliness; Huang Tingjian's calligraphy is unusually open, with particularly close or particularly loose contrasts, showing charm from time to time in the boldness; Mi Fu's calligraphy Because of his unruly and unruly nature, he uses pauses and setbacks as implicit, straight and sophisticated structure, and full of energy; Cai Xiang's calligraphy also has new ideas. There were many calligraphers and painters in the Yuan Dynasty. Calligraphers were especially good at painting, but painters must learn calligraphy. Chinese paintings with inscriptions and postscripts began in the Yuan Dynasty, which had a profound impact on the art of calligraphy and painting in later generations. Several emperors in the early Ming Dynasty, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di, loved calligraphy. The country has a Chinese calligraphy department, and anyone who can write will be appointed as an official by the Chinese calligraphy department to handle documents in the cabinet. However, Ming calligraphy is basically a continuation of Yuan Dynasty calligraphy without any major breakthroughs.

The Qing Dynasty was an important turning point in the history of Chinese calligraphy. The calligraphy world gradually became divided into two branches: "tie study" and "stele study", which led to an unprecedented differentiation of calligraphy schools. There were four great masters in the early Qing Dynasty: Wang Shihong, He Zhuo, Chen Yixi, and Jiang Chenying. They specialized in writing calligraphy and had a great influence on the scholar-bureaucrats and literati at that time. Many of them were also court calligraphers. At the same time, because they are too tainted with the habit of pavilion, they will inevitably go downhill. Among the calligraphers wandering among the inscriptions are Zheng Xie, one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, who has the reputation of being the best in poetry, calligraphy and painting. He learned European calligraphy at first, and was influenced by the style of pavilions and pavilions. Later, he imitated Huangshan Valley and was influenced by Shi Tao's official calligraphy. The brushstrokes of orchid and bamboo are incorporated into the painting to form its own unique style, which reflects the characteristics of the former stele style.

However, the calligraphers of the Qing Dynasty developed the two major traditions of Chinese calligraphy art more completely and played a role in inheriting the development of modern Chinese calligraphy art. For example: Kang Youwei, a representative of the reformist group, wrote "Guangyi Zhou Shuangji", an important theoretical work on stele studies, which played a great role in promoting the development of stele studies and stele studies theory.