Hu Gongshi's On Yu Youren and Standard Cursive Script

Collection and arrangement of giant salamander shadows

(20 19 February 10 years old, the sixth day of the first month)

Yu Youren (1879 April1-196411), a native of Sanyuan, Shaanxi, was a modern politician, educator and calligrapher in China. Formerly known as Bo Xun, the word has charm, and later named after "charm" homophonic "right benevolence"; Don't be "coquettish" and "bearded", and call yourself "Taiping old man" in your later years. Yu Youren was a member of the League in his early years and served as a senior official in the National Government for many years. At the same time, he is also a modern calligrapher in China, and the founder of modern famous universities in China, such as Fudan University, Shanghai University and National Northwest A&F University.

Yu Youren and standard cursive script

Text/Hu Gongshi

The cursive script in China's calligraphy is an important style, which is not only lively in form, conducive to lyricism, high in artistic value, but also simple in writing. But because cursive script has never been unified, there is no certain norm; Different sources of characters have different methods of word-making, so there are various ways to write a word, and some words with the same part cannot be compared, as well as the abuse of symbols, scribbling and simplification, which makes it difficult to identify and apply glyphs. Once said: "Wang's versatility is the leader's atmosphere, and the scenery is open and the discussion is profound. There are dozens of types of organizations, such as "Chunhua Pavilion Post", and the creative spirit is amazing. You can imagine. Or the writer at that time was proud of his broad vision, so he changed his life and gave him new rewards; In fact, the scripts circulated are all experimental works and have not been tested! [1] As we all know, standardizing cursive script is advocated by Mr. Yu Youren, that is, how to make the cursive script with a history of more than 2,000 years in China from complex to simple, from difficult to easy, from bitter to happy, from divergent to unified, from illusory to practical. This is the ultimate goal. To achieve this goal, we must systematically sort out cursive scripts.

First, establish a standardized cursive association.

Due to the psychological and methodological errors of advocates and practitioners, there have been more than 20 cursive dictionaries since the Tang and Song Dynasties. These cursive works, either like to teach by themselves, show themselves to the world in one's own way, or provide a variety of words to show that they are knowledgeable and at a loss. Occasionally, it can only be used as a note of one word or several words, but there is a lack of detailed explanation on the subtle relationship of cursive script. In a word, the organizational system of cursive script at that time was far from complete, and its structural laws were not yet recognized. Others, such as cursive writers, simply ignore practicality for the sake of artistic beauty, like to make mysterious renderings without paying attention to reality, and are arrogant and proud of being difficult to read and write, which hinders the popularization of cursive script among the masses and prevents it from developing in the right direction. [2] Yu Xiansheng thought: "Words are tools for human beings to express their thoughts and develop their lives. Its ingenious structure and ease of use are crucial to the future of the nation! " [3] China's writing is complicated, with numerous strokes, and it is difficult to recognize and write, and it is difficult to use his later knowledge. Therefore, in order to "spread cursive script in the world, for the sake of convenience, give full play to its cultural function, save the time of all citizens, and carry forward the traditional weapons of the whole nation, isn't it a top priority today!" [4]

So he came up with the idea of establishing a "standard cursive script". After several years of preparation, 19321February, Yu Xiansheng organized several comrades who were interested in cursive script research, and established the "Standard Cursive Script Society" in Shanghai. As Mr. Wang was the president, he personally presided over the work. "Sorting out China's cursive script is so complicated that there is no going back." He also published cursive advertisements in various Shanghai newspapers, extensively collected books and works of the previous generation of cursive writers, and devoted himself to the study of calligraphy theory and calligraphy. More than 100 kinds of rubbings and ink-printed "thousands of words" were collected for research. In his spare time, Mr. Wang devoted himself wholeheartedly to the creation of "cursive", and "if you don't work hard, you will forget". At that time, the main members were Liu Haitian, Wei,. Mr. Liu Yantao, the oldest, is responsible for the collection, arrangement and word selection of materials, and is also the editor-in-chief of Caoshu Monthly. The establishment of "standard cursive script society" provided organizational guarantee for the standardization of cursive script. 1May, 932, I accepted Yu Xiansheng as my teacher. 1in the summer of 935, after I graduated from the Chinese Department of Jinan University, I joined the cursive script society, mainly taking part in word selection and case interpretation. I wrote all the scarlet letters in the sixth edition of Interpretation published by Shanghai Bookstore at that time. The other gentlemen have other full-time jobs. In a word, the establishment of the cursive script society, together with the unity and hard work of all my colleagues, has brought into play the collective strength and wisdom of the colleagues of the standard cursive script society, laid the foundation for the publication of the cursive script model "Thousand Characters" and paved the way for Yu Xiansheng to establish and popularize the grand blueprint of standard cursive script.

Second, the production principle of standard cursive script

There are three kinds of cursive scripts: Cao Zhang, Cao Jin and Kuangcao.

Cao Zhang, a gentleman, said, "Those who release official scripts are also" and thought that his method had three advantages: "Using symbols; Independent of each word; The words are the same. "

This grass, Mr. Wang said: "post-reformers", and called its method "recombination, wave elimination, multi-use of symbols, making the turn more sensitive, making the so-called poor and false, making full use of it."

Crazy grass, which Mr. Wang called "cursive art", is known as "emphasizing word association, learning from nature, singing high and turning knowledge into ability." [5]

At first, Mr. Wang intended to be the "mother" of "standard cursive script", but because of its "independent character" and "universal character", "however, the simplification of all traditional Chinese characters is only 34/10, which fails to achieve the goal of fast and fast." Some characters in Cao Zhang can't abide by the principle of "isomorphism". Finally, after studying Cao Zhang, it is considered that his book is not the "mother book" of "standard cursive script". So, I changed my plan and, together with my colleagues in the standard cursive script society, searched and excavated the widely collected cursive scripts of the "two kings" and selected the good ones for comparison, textual research and annotation. On the basis of the "two kings" law posts, the original prototype of "standard cursive script" was gradually formed. Yu Youren advocated "standard cursive script" in order to promote its use to the general public. Therefore, he believes that the creation of "standard cursive script" must be based on practicality, supplemented by artistic beauty. The study chose the "standard cursive script" formed by the "two kings" calligraphy posts. After repeated deliberation, it was found that although the graphics were beautiful, they were not practical and put the cart before the horse, which was contrary to the original intention. Later calligraphers had a more progressive writing method. Then, based on the cursive script of "Two Kings", he overthrew the embryonic form of "standard cursive script", summed up the lessons of failure, expanded the scope of word selection, and formulated four principles of "standard cursive script": easy to know, easy to write, accurate and beautiful, which really pushed "standard cursive script" to a new development stage.

"Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the ratio of cursive writers has started from thousands of words, so many famous cursive writers have been passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, the cursive society can't help but ask for standardized words, not to mention thousands of cursive words. " [6] On the basis of previous studies, Mr. Wang made a comparative study of cursive script. Thousand-character writing is the most concerned and focused topic of cursive writers in past dynasties. "Celebrities get together and give their strengths", which is convenient for comparing famous places and choosing the best among the best. Moreover, there are many words in Thousand-Character Works, most of which are commonly used. If the author decides one thing, the reader can draw inferences from one case to another, thus obtaining the effect of analogy.

Colleagues in the whole society spent several years extensively searching for hundreds of thousands of versions of ancient cursive sages' works, systematically sorting out and summarizing cursive scripts, and analyzing the structure, glyphs and radicals of different parts of each word of predecessors. On the basis of the accumulated experience of predecessors, they found the great role of the ubiquitous * * * and "representative symbols" in cursive scripts, solved the mystery of cursive scripts' spread in ancient and modern times, and revealed the making and making of cursive scripts. 1June, 936, the standard cursive script was compiled and published in Shanghai, which is more than 1,000 words selected from hundreds of thousands of cursive scripts written by authors in various dynasties and regions. * * * Reference has been made to thousands of works of 63 editions by 43 calligraphers in past dynasties, among which the most famous ones are Zhiyong, Huai Su, Ou Yangxun, Yu Shinan, He, Sun, Xian Yushu, Xing Dong, Wang Chong, Mi Fei, Dong Qichang, Chen Chun and Wen Bi. Other cursive works referred to, from the Western Han Dynasty to modern times, span more than a thousand years. There are hundreds of works by about 150 calligraphers, including works by famous cursive writers and some works by ordinary calligraphers who are not yet known. Famous artists such as Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Zhang Zhi, Cui Yuan, Du Yu, Zhong You, Zhi Yong, Huai Su, Yan Zhenqing, Mi Fei, Cai Xiang, Huang Daozhou, Yue Fei and Zhang Xu. Wang Xizhi, a book sage, collected more than 100 posts, of which 105 was selected as a thousand words. In addition to the common masterpieces such as Preface to Lanting Collection, Prairie Song, Preface to Saint Education, Seventeen Postings and Ode to Luoshen, there are a large number of calligraphy posts by calligraphers, which are rare today. Rich data collection has laid a solid foundation for the selection of Chinese characters and deepened the research: "The reference and selection of cursive masters and their famous products have made their research achievements have historical continuity and high grade, and the participation of many calligraphers and their works has made their research universal and universal." [7] In the production process, we compare, classify, screen and finalize the design of cursive scripts with different characters and structures. At that time, the photography technology was not developed and exquisite enough, so we adopted the method of matching lights with transparent paper lining sound couch technology-double-hook hollow words and double-hook words of various copybooks, and then collated and compared the same words, and then held a meeting to review and discuss them collectively, eliminating unprincipled words, selecting the right words according to the four principles and taking the original words of earlier authors. On the basis of a large amount of data and sporadic experience accumulated by predecessors, the production of Standard Cursive Script was created through collective research and discussion, taking "representative symbols" as the warp and four principles of easy recognition, easy writing, accuracy and beauty as the weft. It has its own system, including strict and scientific cursive principles and laws.

After several years' efforts, the standard cursive script society hosted by Yu Youren finally compiled a standard cursive script in July 1936, and printed "Five Hundred Years" by Shanghai China Printing Press for comments. This book is edited by Yu Youren, Zhou Bomin, Yang Tianji, Liu Haitian,,, Wei, and Hu Gongshi. Yu Lao personally prefaced and described the research process. Due to the old explanation and Liu Yantao's manuscript, the standard cursive script is an example. The standard cursive script "sends the secret that has not been passed down for thousands of years, and makes a summary for the past cursive script." [8], has made outstanding contributions to the art of calligraphy and national interests.

1937, the standard cursive script was revised for the second time and will be printed soon. Because War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression broke out before it was published, the former site of the community was occupied by the Japanese invaders, and the cursive materials purchased by Mr. Wang over the years were also lost. 1938, the standard cursive script was submitted to Zhonghua Book Company in Hong Kong for the second time, and it was decided to print 300 copies. The third to sixth revisions were published in Chinese mainland. The seventh to ninth revisions and the tenth edition were published in Taiwan Province Province. When the tenth edition of 1967 was published, Yu Lao had died three years ago.

Third, the significance and influence of standard cursive script

After the standard cursive script came out, it aroused strong repercussions in the society, especially in the calligraphy circle of our country. Mr. Jin Zhi once wrote four standard cursive scripts in Yu Youren, saying that "it is a feat of nature to ask for something that is not fabricated under the pretext of proximity." Don't cut your fake body clearly, you won't know until you get better. [9] Mr. Jin Zhi spoke highly of the standard cursive script, which made Yu Xiansheng feel very happy to be a bosom friend. He wrote back: "After reading the four methods of standard cursive script, I really feel that no second person can do it in this era." [10] spoke highly of his poems, especially his research and analysis of calligraphy. 1940, at a poetry meeting in Chongqing Shangqing Temple Ceramic Garden (the former site of the Inspection Institute), Zhang said: "The strange symbol came from Boyi's hand, and humanized calligraphy is equally famous. "Shen Yinmo's Standard Cursive Script says:" When talking about Jing 'an Temple, you can delete the cursive script neatly. ... both beautiful and practical ... like this standard cursive name. They all praised Yu Xiansheng for creating the standard cursive script, which made great contributions to the development of calligraphy.

In 1944 [1 1] and 196 1 year [12] Yu Xiansheng wrote "A hundred words preface, title", the revised word said: "The rectification of cursive script is Chinese culture. We sincerely invite comrades to open the way for academics. " Yu Xiansheng made a summary evaluation on the formation of standard cursive script from the height of calligraphy history, and placed ardent hopes on the academic perfection and development of standard cursive script.

Yu Xiansheng personally wrote and popularized the standard cursive script. 1In July, 934, Premier Sun's farewell speech at the Whampoa Military Academy was written with 12 carved stone, and the full text was nearly 6,000 words. It is embedded in the four walls on the fourth and second floors of Guling Building in the eastern suburb of Nanjing. Calligraphy is free and easy, and it is a masterpiece of Yu Xiansheng's early "standard cursive script". 1940' s Epitaph of Mr. Yang and 1943' s Epitaph of Wang were written many years after he founded the standard cursive script, which was more complete, vigorous and graceful. "Heart Sutra" and "Songs of Benevolence and Righteousness" have reached their peak, which is of great artistic value. In his later years, he left many representative works of standard cursive script in Taiwan Province Province. The standard cursive script can be widely used in the society, and Yu Xiansheng has made great efforts, which is highly respected and respected by the general public.

According to Mr. Liu Yantao's recollection, Yu Xiansheng often talked with relatives and friends, and only did three things beneficial to the people in his life: establishing "private schools" and "Doukou Farm" and establishing "standard cursive script" [13], which was his self-modesty. In his later years, he took standard cursive script as his thought, showing its importance. 1957, he wrote "Three Poems for Liu Yantao" with five laws, and said to himself, "I hope it will tell the world again with the benefits of standard cursive script." You can see his eagerness. He also wrote in the poem: "Standard cursive script, self-transformation. My cooperation with Zi is called beautiful all over the world ... "Recalling Mr. Liu Yantao's cooperation with him and the effectiveness of cursive script. 1955, in his poem "An Introduction to Liu Yantao's cursive script", he said: "The unity of grass and saints is a miracle, but it takes ten years. It's a book-weariness day at sea in the spring breeze, and it avoids chaos when it rains at night. " The profound friendship between him and Mr. Liu in the research and promotion of cursive script was reviewed. He also said that "reason and reason have a common period, and the depth of thinking is unprecedented." After knowing how to rebuild mountains and rivers, it still depends on time to cherish time. "I hope that Teacher Liu and other younger generations will continue to promote the standard cursive script. Liu Yantao's representative work "General Theory of Cursive Calligraphy" is an unprecedented and systematic masterpiece in the history of China calligraphy. Especially through the continuous enrichment of practice, theory, practice and theoretical methods, it is a process of standardizing cursive script's growth and prosperity, and it is worth studying the precious letter history of standardizing cursive script for us as a complete history of standardizing cursive script in China.

Yu Xiansheng founded the "standard cursive script", which has three major contributions: first, he selected characters from various cursive scripts in the past dynasties, marked the source, and shaped the amorphous cursive script; Secondly, the cursive works of past dynasties are compared even, and the structural rules of cursive are summarized. Classify symbols representing more than two radicals, establish "representative symbols", and define and classify amorphous cursive scripts. So that cursive writers can use this analogy to obtain "the so-called cursive script of predecessors." Third, sum up the ancient and modern cursive calligraphy theory and his own calligraphy experience. He believes that calligraphy, like painting, "has no definite method, only one theorem." He emphasized the traditional calligraphy theory, attached importance to "Italian and French first" and "Qi Li", stippling "change", corresponding head and tail, connecting up and down ("Lian"), avoiding infinite intersection ("taboo"), avoiding strokes touching the last front ("taboo") and avoiding endless eye circles. After the standard cursive script came out, it aroused strong repercussions in the society, especially in the calligraphy circle of China. At that time, influential and accomplished calligraphers and poets praised them in succession, which was also widely circulated at home and abroad. Only Shanghai Bookstore printed the sixth edition from 1983 to 1992, with a total of 435,000 copies, and Bashu Bookstore printed it twice, 1986 and 1992, not counting the print runs, which shows the wide spread.

The standard cursive script that Yu Xiansheng worked so hard to create needs to be constantly enriched and improved by our generation. He said modestly: "This is just a blueprint. Great architecture needs the cooperation of China people's Qi Xin!" " [ 15]

note:

[1], [3], [4], [5] and [6] are quoted from Yu Youren's Preface to the Standard Cursive Script of Thousand Characters. [2] See Preface to Standard Cursive Vocabulary in this book.

[7] Quoted from Guo Heng's "Trend of Standard Cursive Writing in Yu Youren" and published in Youth Calligraphy Newspaper, with a total of 38 1.

[8] Quoted from Liu Yantao Postscript 1, a model of thousand-character standard cursive script.

[9] The Golden Stone was published in the third issue of Calligraphy.

[10] See Henan Calligraphy, Henan Fine Arts Publishing House, June 1989, without page number. [1 1], [12] "cursive script is a tool for the Chinese nation to strengthen itself, ..." A poem "Selected Poems of Yu Youren" edited by Pang Qi (Shaanxi People's Publishing House 1986 March edition) was written in 1944; The title page of the sixth revision of the standard cursive model thousand-character text is "March 37", so it should be1March 948.

[13] See Poems of Yu Youren edited by Mr. Liu Yantao.

[14] See the sixth revision of the standard cursive script with thousands of characters (1948), appendix, and a brief introduction to the book.

[15] is quoted from the tenth edition of standard cursive script (1969), the second postscript of Mr. Liu Yantao.