History of China's Painting and Calligraphy

China is an ancient civilization with a long history. On the vast land of 9.6 million square kilometers, the people of Daxi for more than 2 million years have taken a solid step in the history of China. For millions of years, our ancestors worked hard and struggled hard in this beautiful and rich land of China, creating brilliant history and culture. Now anthropology and archaeology have proved that Chinese civilization can no longer be summarized by "five thousand years up and down". The civilization of China is well over 5000 years. The earliest known pottery in China was born in many primitive cultures in Hebei, Henan, Jiangxi and other places more than 8,000 years ago. More and more archaeological data and research irrefutably prove that characters, paintings, sculptures and other arts representing the advanced forms of human culture were born in Yangshao culture more than 6,000 years ago, and a large number of early rock paintings were developed in Longshan culture more than 4,000 years ago, and the Shang Dynasty matured more than 3,000 years ago.

Therefore, to sum up the development of China's painting and calligraphy and the history of China's painting and calligraphy, we must start from more than 6,000 years ago. It has a long history and a long history. In China's voluminous cultural classics from ancient times to the present, there are countless documents about the history of painting and calligraphy. Only modern scholars' works, such as China's Calligraphy History and China's Painting History, which are easy for readers to see now, are numerous, most of which are hundreds of thousands of words.

As mentioned earlier, China script was produced 6000 years ago. At that time, people of Yangshao culture had carved "books" on pottery. As long as there are words, there is a kind of lucky and frustrating method art of "pointing horizontally", which is for the sake of "Fa". Calligraphy art, from the day of its birth. The exquisite paintings of various painted pottery cultures and numerous rock paintings depict the production, life, thoughts and emotions of the ancestors with the artistic point of view at that time, and the paintings are mature. Let's talk about the history of China's calligraphy and painting, starting from here. But in this way, first, the time span is too long, even if we talk a little, it is difficult to stop and it is unacceptable. Second, the historical facts of these materials, painted pottery paintings and rock paintings that need our appraisal rarely enter the homes of ordinary readers and the cultural relics market.

For the convenience of narration, books and paintings are introduced separately. Let's talk about the development of calligraphy Chinese characters in Shang Dynasty, represented by Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which has been quite mature and fully possessed the elements of form, sound and meaning of Chinese characters. Those small and vigorous words on the bones of tortoise shells were calligraphy works at that time. A large number of intellectuals engaged in witchcraft divination-real people, that is, calligraphers at that time, many left their names. Last week, China's slavery economy and culture got unprecedented development, and writing and calligraphy also entered a new stage. The most important thing is the words carved on the bronze wares, which is the so-called "bronze inscription". The calligraphy style is Da Zhuan, and Gu Zhuo is vigorous and powerful. This kind of calligraphy is still loved by calligraphy lovers, and many calligraphers try their best to pursue Lin Xue, which is also very interesting. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the formation of seal script and official script was the most important. Legend has it that Xiao Zhuan was created by Li Si, the prime minister of Qin Dynasty. In fact, in order to unify the characters and realize "the same name", the Qin Dynasty reformed the different styles of Da Zhuan, which has been popular in various countries since Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Compared with Da Zhuan, Xiao Zhuan has simpler strokes, freer brushwork and vigorous beauty in calligraphy. According to legend, the calligraphers who wrote Xiao Zhuan were Li Si and Zhao Gao. Official script also came into being in the Qin Dynasty. It is said that it was created by Cheng Miao, a prison official, and it was also made by increasing or decreasing the profit and loss of Da Zhuan, which is convenient for people to learn, write and write quickly. Official script has regular fonts, distinct strokes, stable and quiet work. Since ancient times, many calligraphers have contributed to official script, which is an important calligraphy art. There is also a kind of "disintegration of official script" in the Han Dynasty, that is, the ancient cursive script of the Han Dynasty (the founder of cursive script, also known as Cao Zhang), but it is far less important than the official script of Xiao Zhuan.

Later, as a tool for writing notes, and as an art, after years of painstaking research, a large number of words were written with great spirit of the times and personal character, with both form and spirit, which can be called "calligraphy" works in the contemporary Wei and Jin Dynasties. Therefore, some people say that the crisis of the Northern and Southern Dynasties is the first mature period of China's calligraphy art, and some even say that it is the "heyday" of China's calligraphy art. The remarkable characteristics of calligraphy art in this period are as follows: First, the style of calligraphy has changed greatly, gradually evolving from seal script, official script and chapter cycle, forming real calligraphy, running script and modern cursive script. China's calligraphy art has developed to this stage, and the five calligraphy styles of truth, cursive, seal, official script and calligraphy have been possessed. Since then, the major calligraphers of the times have played in these five styles. The second feature is that this period produced a large number of great calligraphers with superb calligraphy skills. Their calligraphy works are model calligraphers for thousands of years, such as Zhong You and the emperor in the Three Kingdoms period, Mrs. Wei in the Jin Dynasty, Lu Ji in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi and his son, Wang Xun in the Southern Dynasties, Yang Xin, Wang Sengqian and so on. Wang Xizhi's achievements and fame are particularly prominent, and he is known as the saint of China's calligraphy art, that is, the "book saint". In his calligraphy works, the early Tang Dynasty is precious. Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, made great efforts to find it before his death, but after his death he buried the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting was copied by almost all the great calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty. There are as many as 243 copies of Xuanhe Neifu in the late Northern Song Dynasty, which shows that the world cherishes it deeply. Thirdly, during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, China's theory of calligraphy art had formed a system, and a number of calligraphy theorists and calligraphy works appeared. For example, Wei Heng's Si Ti Shu in the Western Jin Dynasty, Yu Hu's Lun Shu in the Southern Song Dynasty, Lun Shu, which was first built, Yuan Ang's Review of Ancient and Modern Books, and Xiao Yan's and Tao Hongjing's Lun Shu in Liang Wudi. Lun Shu Qi is a calligraphy monograph compiled by later generations, which commemorates and defends the calligraphy art of Tao Hongjing, Yu, Jun and Chen. It can be seen that the calligraphy atmosphere was prosperous at that time.

The great achievements of calligraphy in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties are also reflected in the fact that this period has left us a large number of unparalleled calligraphy art treasures, many of which are China art treasures with great value. The most important list is as follows:

Zhong You's He Biao (Tang Dynasty rubbings), Ji Zhi Biao, Tomb Field Soldiers' Club Post, Li Ming's Post, Huan's Post and Yuan Tiao's Post are all rubbings or imitations of later generations. As early as the Southern Dynasties, the original clock was hard to find.

Statues such as the sacred tablet, the ancient wave tablet, and the manuscript of the urgent chapter.

Lu Ji's "Ping Fu Tie" and "Wang Xiang Tie" are all ink.

Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting mentioned earlier was copied or filled in by famous artists in Tang and Song Dynasties. However, the art of copying and calligraphy by a famous artist itself is colorful and extremely precious. It's sunny when it snows (Tang Dynasty), there are thousands of words in the running script (some people think it's a collection of words by Wang Xizhi of Tang Dynasty), and long live the post to the sky and so on.

Wang Xianzhi's Nine Postscripts on Duck Head (the authenticity is inconclusive), Postscript on Mid-Autumn Festival (copied by Mi Fei in Song Dynasty) and Twenty-nine Postscripts.

Wang Xun's original "Yuan Bo Tie" is the only undisputed original in gold calligraphy works.

Chen Chongyuan's Antique Jian Jian, Wang Xianzhi Mid-Autumn Festival Tie and Xun Wang's Yuan Bo Tie are the only two existing gold inks, which were collected in the palace since the Song Dynasty and flowed into the people in the late Qing Dynasty. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was acquired by Guo Shiwu, the general manager of Yuan Shikai. Guo Shiwu was an apprentice in an antique shop. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, they once fell into the hands of Song Ziwen. Later, because it was disclosed in the newspaper, Song had to return it to Guo's descendants. Later, in the early 1950s, he was pawned by an English bank in Hong Kong. Zhang Boju reported this matter to Premier Zhou Enlai, who attached great importance to the protection of cultural relics and quickly sent people to Hongkong to redeem the two countries with a large sum of money before the pawn expired.

The Tang Dynasty was an era of great development of feudal politics, economy and culture in China. Poetry, painting, calligraphy, music and dance in culture and art all radiate brilliant brilliance. Calligraphy reached another peak in the Tang Dynasty, which was manifested in the development of individual calligraphy, such as original calligraphy, cursive script, official script, seal script and running script, and great achievements were made in running script and running script, which had a far-reaching impact on China's calligraphy art; A large number of famous calligraphers have emerged in various calligraphy styles, and their calligraphy works, regardless of inscriptions, have been handed down from generation to generation, greatly enriching the treasure house of China's calligraphy art; The styles of various calligraphy styles reflect the "prosperous Tang Dynasty". "Most of the real calligraphers were born out of Wang Xizhi, but they inherited the dual traditions of ink and tablet since Wei and Jin Dynasties, and gradually stood out from the Wang family calligraphy school of Li Yan in elementary school, with strict style and strict statutes. Cursive writers, especially cursive writers, gradually become bigger and smaller (referring to Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi), and tend to Yu Feixiang and escape. Although the development of seal script is not much, it can also describe the legacy of Qin and Han dynasties, the rigorous stars, or the vigorous and lively new style. " This passage in China Calligraphy and Painting, edited by Mr. Yang, sums up the characteristics of calligraphy art in the Tang Dynasty.

The main calligraphers and important inscriptions in Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties are as follows

Jian Zhai, Nana Ogawa, Japan, has a collection of "Thousand-Word Grass" by the brave of Sui Dynasty.

In the Tang Dynasty, Ou Yangxun's official script Zongshengguan Ji, the authentic version of Huadu Temple Pagoda Ming and the authentic version of Jiuchenggong Liquan Ming were inscribed. The ink marks are cursive "Thousand Characters", running script "Thousand Characters" and Historical Records. Yu Shinan Confucius Temple Monument (re-carved in Song and Yuan Dynasties), epitaph of Princess Runan, etc. Chu Suiliang's stone inscriptions, such as Yi Que Buddhist Shrine Monument, Master Meng Monument, Preface to Yanta Province, Square Monument, Preface to Tongzhou Shengjiao, etc., as well as the ink handed down from ancient times such as Fu on Dead Trees and Ni Kuanzan, are mostly made by later generations. Yukime's "Nobuyuki Zen Master Monument" and so on. The above four people are called "the four great masters of Europe, Henan, Chu and Xue in the early Tang Dynasty".

The most famous cursive writers in the Tang Dynasty were Zhang Xu and Huai Su. Zhang Xu's representative is the Four Sticks of Ancient Poems handed down by Mo. There are many works handed down from ancient times by Huai Su. The famous ink marks include autobiographical notes, bitter pipa notes, small thousand-character writings and so on.

Authentic calligraphy has made unprecedented development and achievements in the Tang Dynasty, which has a great influence on the development of authentic calligraphy in later generations. Beginners of calligraphy, in particular, must learn from the original works. To learn the original works, they must be familiar with "Yan and Liu". Yan is Yan Zhenqing, whose main works handed down from generation to generation include the Multi-Tower Induction Monument, Oriental Painting Praise Monument, Guojia Temple Monument, Magu Fairy Altar, Ode to the Center, Yuan Ci Mountain Monument, Song Jing Monument, Yan Monument, Yanjia Temple Monument, Confession Book and so on. Liu Gongquan's stone carvings mainly include Diamond Sutra, Mysterious Tower Monument, Shence Army Monument and Li Sheng Monument. Handed down ink is famous for Meng Tie.

There are many famous calligraphers and their masterpieces in the Tang and Five Dynasties, such as Sun and his Shu Pu, Lu Fu, Zhong Shaojing and his Runwheel King Jing, Li Yong and his Yunhui General Monument, his Bukong Monk Monument, He and his Xiao Jing, Li and his Temple Monument, etc.

In the Song Dynasty, the economy of social cities was developed, the ranks of scholars were huge, and the culture and art were very prosperous. Some emperors and empresses advocated and even practiced it (such as Zhao Guangyi, Evonne, Zhao Gou, Cao Renzong, Yang Ningzong, etc.). ) teach the new development of Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties. Due to the characteristics of social and cultural development, the art of calligraphy in Song Dynasty made little progress in five books, such as real calligraphy, cursive script, official script, seal script and running script, and cursive script and official script developed less than their predecessors. The most outstanding achievement of calligraphy art in Song Dynasty is the running script represented by "Song Sijia", namely "Su Huang Camouflage". The running script in Song Dynasty not only broke through the style of "two kings", but also surpassed the norms of "Yan Liu" in Tang Dynasty, forming a brand-new calligraphy style, which is chic, lively and unrestrained, and takes meaning as the book. It can be called the "running calligraphy fanatic" in calligraphy art, which has a far-reaching influence on the calligraphy circle in the Qing Dynasty and even in modern times.

Su Shi is a famous litterateur in Song Sijia. His masterpieces include Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry, Dongting Spring Poetry and Chibi Regular Script Poetry. Huang is Huang Tingjian, and his representative works include "cursive paste seats", "Song Fengge poems" and "Forty-nine nephew poems". Mi, Mi Fei, a great calligrapher, left many works for him. Representative works include the running script Tiaoxi Tie, Mourning Empress Dowager Cixi, Running Script Sanzha, and Susu Tie. Cai, speaking from the calligraphy skill, should be Cai Jing, because he is a notorious courtier, whose character is despised by the world, and he was replaced by Cai Xiang, a famous courtier in the Northern Song Dynasty. Representative works include the running script Poem Volume from the Book, the running script Du Nan Tie, Ten Za Volumes and so on. Here are just a few of their Mo Bao that have been handed down to this day. Because they were good at books and diligent, they were already very famous at that time. Some people are officials from all over the world. At that time, many people asked the authors to write inscriptions, so their calligraphy works were rich in ink, which can be seen in many parts of the country, and some large foreign museums also have collections.

The style of writing in the Song Dynasty was very prosperous, and the literati could not write, and the artistic level of calligraphy was very good. Even though there were some entertainment words that were not abbreviated at that time, the level of calligraphy art can make some "calligraphers" who have just studied for a few years feel ashamed today. What should be mentioned more is the achievements of those calligraphers who recorded the Qing history in the Song Dynasty. Ointment, Ointment, Ouyang Xiu and his love ointment and self-poems, Wen Yanbo and his three-volume edition, Sima Guang and his neutralization ointment, Fan Zhongyan and his two-pen edition, Zan, Lu You and his self-poems, Zhu Xi and his cursive script. Although these people are famous for their incorruptibility or high officials, their calligraphy art is also very high, and their calligraphy works are very precious.

Calligraphy in the Song Dynasty also left an important legacy to future generations, that is, all kinds of post books engraved by officials in the Song Dynasty. As mentioned above, the style of writing flourished in the Song Dynasty, and emperors loved calligraphy. Their hobbies influenced the literati, thus forming the fashion of the whole society. Since Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong, collected the ink of ancient sages' calligraphy masters and carved it into Chunhua Pavilion, many public and private engravings appeared throughout the Song Dynasty. The most famous are Evonne, Hui Zong and Mi Fei, who carved "Bao Jin Zhai Fa Tie". Due to the historical changes since the Song Dynasty, this E-post has experienced more than a thousand years of natural and man-made disasters, and the only remaining original rubbings are rare.

The art of calligraphy in Song Dynasty was not as dazzling as that in Jin and Tang Dynasties. In the Southern Song Dynasty, jurisprudence was even less noticeable, showing a declining trend, and no great calligrapher Huang could shine brilliantly in the history of books. The calligraphy art exhibition in China was not improved until the Yuan Dynasty. Calligraphers in Yuan Dynasty, represented by Zhao Mengfu and Xian Yushu, made a serious study of the calligraphy in Jin and Tang Dynasties, made arduous explorations, tried to imitate the artistic tradition of calligraphy in Jin and Tang Dynasties, and formed their own style of the times. However, due to the short period of yuan dynasty history, the rulers' cultural advocacy was not as good as that of Tang and Song Dynasties, so the achievements of calligraphy were not as good as that of Tang and Song Dynasties, and the calligraphy style, regular script and cursive script all developed greatly and reached a higher level.

Zhao Mengfu was the most influential calligrapher in Yuan Dynasty. His calligraphy was mainly running script, but there were some cursive scripts. His representative works include: The Monument to Danba in the running script, The Pavilion of Shenfu, The Ode to Luoshen in the running script, The Ode to Chibi before and after, The Thousand-character cursive script, etc. Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy is a link between the past and the future among Chinese calligraphers. It has a great influence in the calligraphy circles of Ming and Qing Dynasties and enjoys a high reputation among followers.

The calligrapher of the Yuan Dynasty, whose name is second only to Zhao Mengfu, is also famous for his running script and regular script, and his cursive script is also excellent. His main works are: Laozi's Tao Te Ching in regular script, Wang Caoshu's Miscellaneous Poems, Imperial History Prose in regular script, and Qianziwen in cursive script, etc. Other important calligraphers in the Yuan Dynasty include: Deng, whose masterpiece Zhang Caoshu's Urgent Chapter, etc. Kang and his cursive script, Yan's Zhang Xu Fa Zhu, Fisherman's Ci, etc. In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Yu and his quatrains, Yu Lian's running script, Yang Weizhen's running script of Zi Wo Ming, his cursive script of Begonia Sleepwalking, Li Sao Jing and Qian Zi Wen, as well as a large number of artists who are good at painting and are famous for their paintings.

The art of calligraphy in the Ming Dynasty can be said to be a hundred flowers, and individuals such as Zhen, Cao, Li Shu, seal script and calligraphy have made certain achievements. In terms of styles and schools, almost all of them went to school during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the two kings and Yan Liu, and almost all of them were modest and long-lived, forming some artistic schools. The phenomenon that great painters are calligraphers is more prosperous than that in Yuan Dynasty. There were also some accomplished calligraphers in the Ming Dynasty, which had a great influence on later generations, leaving much more calligraphy art treasures than the previous generation.

Different from the previous generation, the development stage of calligraphy art in Ming Dynasty is distinct, and all kinds of calligraphy styles have their own development context and outstanding representatives.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, original calligraphy achieved the greatest success, followed by cursive script, represented by the so-called Three Songs (Song Ke, Song Guang, Song Yu) and Er Shen (Shen Du, Shen Yun), among which the most famous. At this time, there is a kind of mellow calligraphy, which is mainly popular between Hanlin and Zhongshu Sheren, and is mostly used as calligraphy in playing and writing. Known as "Taige Style", it was popular for a period of time because of the promotion of the royal family, which influenced the whole calligraphy circle in Qing Dynasty. Its representative figures are Shen Du, Jiang Ligang and others. The cursive script of this period also had its own achievements, represented by Song Guang and Jie Jin.

In the middle of Ming dynasty, calligraphy was a great success with running script, while regular script inherited the surplus of the previous period. Some developments are mainly to correct the relatively dull calligraphy of the once popular "Taige Style". Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhiming, Wang Chong, Chen Daofu, Shen Zhou and Tang Yin. They are all famous great painters and accomplished calligraphers. China's art of painting and calligraphy comes down in one continuous line. Many theories and methods are the same, and the artistic laws are the same. Therefore, most people who have never studied painting are good at books, and many who have studied calligraphy can draw. In their place, calligraphy and painting are integrated. Because of this, people often discuss books and paintings at the same time, and various dictionaries introduce people's skills and so on. , also called calligraphy and painting. This issue of cursive script also has achievements, and its style is wild, represented by Zhang Bi, Zhang Jun and Zhu Yunming.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, calligraphy has been characterized by a variety of calligraphy styles, all of which have made great achievements and outstanding calligraphers. Running script is represented by Dong Qichang, cursive script is represented by Xing Dong and Fu Shan, and seal script is represented by Zhao Huanguang. Some cursive scripts, Ni's, Huang Daozhou's official script, etc. Dong Qichang has the greatest influence.

There were a large number of calligraphers in the Ming Dynasty. In addition to the famous schools and times mentioned above, other calligraphers should also be mentioned: Qian Pu,,, Cheng Nanyun, Li Dongyang,, Wen Peng, Xu Wei and Mi. Because the Ming Dynasty is relatively near, it is five or six hundred years, and the calligraphy works handed down from ancient times are very rich, too numerous to mention, and can only be omitted.

The Qing Dynasty is the latest feudal era with modernity, which lasted less than a hundred years. Its calligraphy art is not very old for today's people, and the calligraphy works of lovers handed down to this day are easy to find. The important characteristics of calligraphy in Qing Dynasty are: calligraphy dominated before the middle period, stele study prevailed in the middle and late period, calligraphy art was revived, and a large number of famous calligraphers appeared. For example, Fu Shan, Zhu Da (Badashanren), Shi Tao and others' cursive writing or cursive writing in the early Qing Dynasty are all marked by the times and have great personality.

During the Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, influenced by Emperor Qianlong, Zhao Shu's calligraphy was once copied by bureaucrats and scholars, and the main representatives were Zhang Zhao, Dong Hao and Wang Youdun. At this time, except for Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong, Liang,,, Li Xi, Yao Nai and others who took,,, as their teachers. A calligrapher, known as "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", was dissatisfied with Zhao and Dong who ruled the calligraphy world at that time. He boldly innovated and wrote original calligraphy works. Such as Huang Shen's cursive script, his official script, his Six-and-a-Half Book and his Lacquer Book.

From Fu Shan in the early Qing Dynasty to Jiaqing in the middle Qing Dynasty, calligraphy was the world of stele study. A large number of calligraphers draw nutrition from handed down steles and newly unearthed Han steles, and the art of calligraphy is improving day by day, and the calligraphy world is gradually full of vitality. Among these important calligraphers are: Deng, Yi Bingshou, Ding Jing, Gui Fu, Chen Hongshou, Bao, He, Zhao, Wu Xizai, Wu Changshuo and so on. Special mention should be made to Deng, whose original works, cursive script, official script and seal script are excellent, and he has also made artistic achievements in calligraphy, which is called "the first in Qing Dynasty". He He and Ye Zhao were great calligraphers in Qing Dynasty.