The Legend of Shushan Xuanjian

Chapter 503
Whether there is anything wrong with pouring down the Milky Way, it only takes a moment to stir up the turbid waves of the sky.

There are more storms and dangers in the world, and it is said that the Yellow River is afraid of the road.

——"Crossing the Yellow River" Song Wan (Qing Dynasty)
……

Seeing that Bai Fu can comprehend the sword technique from the 'Yongzi Bafa', it shows that Bai Fu has mastered it.

Therefore, Yan Zhenqing started from Ouyang Xun's calligraphy works "Bajue", "Teaching Jue", "Using the Brush", and "36 Methods", all the way to Zhang Xu's "twelve strokes" - "flat, straight , average, dense, front, force, turn, decision, make up, loss, skillful, weigh":
"First, horizontal, there must be an image in the vertical and horizontal; second, straight, it must be vertical so that it does not allow evil twists; third, even, it must not allow light.

……

[-]. Skillful. If you want to write a book, you first predict the shape of the characters, so that they are stable, or unexpected, so that they have different powers. This is called cleverness; So called. "

……

Yan Zhenqing said: "The regular scripts of Doctor Ouyang Xun and Doctor Yu Shinan represent the standards of Tang calligraphy.

The calligraphy of these two doctors was born out of Mr. Xizhi's calligraphy. Among them, Ouyang Xun gradually changed, and Yu Shinan adhered to Wang Xizhi's orthodoxy all his life.

Ouyang Xun's handwriting is strictly regulated, and the beginning and end of the pen and the structure of the frame are meticulous.Every stroke is not released outwards, but often retracted inwards.When you look closely, you can see that the brush strokes are controlled, and Mr. Wu Xizhi's writing is easy and casual.

In Zhang Changshi's view, self-control has become the biggest obstacle in the way of creation. Thoroughly internalizing the rules of brushwork, forgetting the constraints of rules, and following nature should be the pursuit of calligraphers.

To challenge the limit of calligraphy, one must find a breakthrough from madness, intoxication, and accident. Clever, leaving the body to know, is the same as Chase's state.

This state is also known as "sitting and forgetting". In addition to meditation, it can also be fueled by alcohol.

Drinking can add to the fun, help the drinker break free from the shackles, forget the rules, fall into the state of forgetting both things and me, and the unity of nature and man, so as to call out the true temperament and write freely.For Zhang Changshi, Li Taibai and other Eight Immortals in Drinking, drinking is not necessarily a greedy drink, but a "convenient method" for dialogue between humans and gods. "

……

In the question and answer with Bai Fu, Yan Zhenqing narrated, explained, or compared Zhang Xu's essentials of learning books, the similarities and differences between the method of brushwork and the ancient and modern, as well as Yan Zhenqing's own experience. The essence of calligraphy.

Yan Zhenqing said: "From now on, I have learned the art of attacking ink. It has been seven years since then, and the real grass knows that it can be done."

After hearing this, Bai Fu couldn't help being fascinated.This final realization must be an epiphany.It is conceivable that Yan Zhenqing's sorrow and joy were mixed when he was enlightened.

……

Yan Zhenqing said to Bai Fu: "Bai Shaoxia, after you understand all the methods, you can further study the calligraphy of famous masters of the past. Then, completely forget these methods, think about things when you see them, and do whatever you want, so that you can travel in calligraphy. "

Bai Fu wondered: "Shouldn't the true teaching of Taoism be kept in mind? Why did your lord let me forget it?"

Yan Zhenqing said with a smile: "You can teach a child. No wonder General Pei will pass on his life's best knowledge to you.

Whether Mr. Xizhi's "Yongzi Bafa", Dr. Ouyang Xun's "Bajue" and "36 Methods", these works are the writing rules created by calligraphy masters, and they are also the entry skills of calligraphy.These skills need to be cleared up, practiced hard, and laid a solid foundation.

This is the first hurdle in learning calligraphy, and this hurdle will eliminate many people who are not strong-willed.

However, once the foundation is firmly established, the writing rules need to be thoroughly internalized, and the writers are required to forget these rules, not be bound by these rules, or even break through these rules.Is the so-called 'externalization in action, internalization in the heart'.

Otherwise, you can only be the best inheritor of a certain genre, not the creator of the first school.This is the second and most difficult hurdle in learning calligraphy.Once you pass through, you will jump into the dragon's gate.

Do not break or stand.

The second stage is a process of forgetting. Only by getting rid of the rules and forgetting the rules to the utmost, can new ideas be brought into the law and good principles be placed outside the bold and unconstrained. "

"Then how to stand?" Bai Fu asked.

Yan Zhenqing smiled slightly, and said: "People are not grass or trees, they can become sages. The original heart is the bridge to communicate with the world and gain wisdom. My heart is the universe, and the mysteries of the world are only in the heart, and there is no need to seek outside."

These words were deafening, and Bai Fu thought of what he had heard in Shaolin Temple when he heard the abbot teach the Dharma "The words of the heart are cut off, and the actions of the mind are extinguished", which also means the same.

Shaolin eminent monks of all dynasties can reach the sea of ​​wisdom and the mountain of Sumeru through Zen meditation and introspection, and they can draw nutrients from the treasure house of Buddhism and water the tree of bodhi bit by bit.

Only when you discover that the power that really binds you is your inner desire, will you truly understand the way of heaven or Buddhism.

……

For the next few days, Bai Fu would stay at home and practice hard in the house.

A few days later, Yan Zhenqing brought back a rubbing of a stone stele, the handwriting on the rubbing was Xiaozhuan, majestic like iron, clumsy on the outside and beautiful on the inside.

Yan Zhenqing said: "Young Xia Bai, do you know whose handwriting this is?"

Bai Fu shook his head and smiled.

Yan Zhenqing said: "This is the first emperor's Yishan stone carving, and the one who wrote this seal is the Great Qin Prime Minister Li Si."

Bai Fu took the signature and looked at it carefully.These seal characters start with a hidden front, run with a straight front, and close with a back to the front. The rules are very strict.The round and flexible curved brushes and the tall, straight and calm straight brushes are used alternately, vertically and horizontally restrained, and hooks and loops are coiled.

Books are like iron stones, and they are like a mighty crossbow.Bai Fu only felt that Li Si was determined in his heart, that the strength contained in his wrists back then could be restored at any time through the rubbings in front of him.

Yan Zhenqing said: "These words were written by Li Si in response to the order of the first emperor, in order to engrave the great achievements of the first emperor on the stone and pass them down forever."

That day when you danced the sword, your last move should be the sword technique.Today we talk about inscriptions and seal carvings.

Inscriptions on steles and seal cutting originated from calligraphy and are quite different from calligraphy.

If a set of characters is used to engrave a stele, the writer must think of the texture of the stone and the technique of engraving when writing.Not only should we think about the thickness of brush and ink, but also the flying of stone chips.

And the engraver must also be well aware of the style and characteristics of the calligrapher
This is another branch of Tang calligraphy - the study of gold and stone.

We admire a person's calligraphy with a sense of gold and stone, that is, we can see the strength of knife carving from his strokes.The power of the pen can be transmitted to the carving knife, and the strength of the carving knife can also imprint the pen.

If it is said that calligraphy gives characters a soul, then hard stone carvings give them bones and muscles. "

No matter how hard a stone is, it can't compare to the sharpness of a carving knife. The sharp attack of the blade breaks the tenacious defense of the stone.

Sharper than a blade is a soft, smooth brush.The edge of the pen, the edge of the pen.

As the saying goes, the world's most soft gallops the world's most rigid! "

Bai Fu's eyes lit up, isn't this just the kung fu he realized from Wu Daozi's paintings?

　References

　　"Calligraphy in the Forbidden City", Zhu Yong, People's Literature Publishing House, June 2021

　　
　　
　
(End of this chapter)