Calligraphy and Culture

任建新

Calligraphy is not written in a simple sense. Calligraphy originates from the need of ancient written records. Only by combining calligraphy with Chinese character culture can it become immortal. As Zuo Zhuan said， "Words without words， deeds without distances". The same is true of calligraphy， which is not written， but not far away. The realm of calligraphy is to cultivate， not mechanics. To cultivate is to cultivate culture. The ancients said， "Book writers are the poles of literature." The works handed down by ancient calligraphers are mostly written by letters. Their works are not created for creation， but the true expression of their own emotions.

The highest realm of calligraphy， in essence， is the embodiment of the highest accomplishment of literary culture. Calligraphers begin with writing， and end with the expression of a cultural tension. The core of calligraphy lies in the understanding and grasp of traditional culture， the content and form of writing， the soul of writing， the body of writing， the life of writing and the body of writing. Poetry， ci， couplets and Fu in Chinese literary works can all be the content of calligraphic art creation. Ancient and modern calligraphers， no matter who writes， must use these prose and Fu as carriers. Whoever writes can not do without Chinese traditional culture. Because， in any kind of calligraphy， the content of the text dominates the artistic conception of the work. The content of the text is different， and the form of expression of calligraphy is also different. It can be said that literary works dominate the style of pen and ink， and the style of the book is left and right， together with skilled skills， constitute a masterpiece with different artistic conceptions. This is also the concept of calligraphy advocated by Mr. Ouyang Zhongshi， a great contemporary scholar， that is to say， "writing words， carrying culture， glorifying books and giving vitality".

Since Zhang Huai-kuan put forward the idea of "concurrent writing and ink"， calligraphers of all dynasties have attached great importance to it， thus forming a tradition. From ancient times to present， almost all successful calligraphers are poets， writers and highly knowledgeable people， not craftsmen. What today's calligraphers lack is the idea of "concurrent writing and ink". Therefore， anyone who wants to become a calligrapher must make great efforts in literature， that is to say， first become a cultural person. But at present， most of the calligraphers still lack the "literary" accomplishment. Imagine that a calligrapher has no profound literary accomplishment， and how much accomplishment can he achieve in calligraphy.

Calligraphy as a unique perspective of art， of course， also need to inherit the traditional techniques， but also have a certain breakthrough. For example， the hidden edge of the pen， free and easy to write， never going back and forth， vertical without shrinking， the ancients called this method of writing "twists and turns". However， these are not rigid applications， but flexible applications in the writing process， because techniques are subject to the inherent beauty of calligraphy， as well as the external form. Therefore， the practitioners always put the practice of pen and ink techniques in a very important position. Only in this way can the lines be clear and transparent， complex but not messy， calm but not frivolous and powerful. Good calligraphy works should be far-sighted with quality and near-sighted with rhyme. Only when elegant content and perfect form are organically combined， can they possess the power to attract people's soul.