Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1778: Beijing will be very lively these days

Everybody was a little hungry, so we enjoyed the meal very much. Donglaishun's meat slices are famous for being thin, even, neat and beautiful. Half a kilogram of meat can be cut into 80 to 100 slices of 20 centimeters long and 8 centimeters wide. Each slice weighs only four to five grams, and the slices are folded in half with clear textures. They are "as thin as paper, as even as crystal, as neat as thread, and as beautiful as flowers." They are cooked immediately after being dipped in dried shrimp and shiitake mushroom soup, and dipped in chive and sesame paste. They taste fragrant and tender, not smelling or greasy.

The meal was enjoyable, and the conversation was enjoyable. Zhou Zhi was a man who was good at thinking. After pondering for a while, he said, "In fact, the complex system of Chinese painting is very complex, but it is also simple. If you take away the perspective, composition, light and shadow system that overlaps with Western theory, it can be divided into painting method and spirit."

"The painting method is lines and color blocks. The lines include dense and complicated lines, which later developed into fine brushwork. In the Six Dynasties, it developed into borrowing calligraphy to express the inner spirit that the painter wanted to express more richly and clearly."

"Using the aesthetics of calligraphy to enhance the aesthetics of painting is actually a kind of trick, because the aesthetics of calligraphy is ready-made, so it can be borrowed directly."

"The use of the boneless method, like the use of light and shadow to replace lines after the Renaissance in the West, can help people focus more on the inner spirit of the painting. It is a different approach to the same goal."

"These techniques require profound cultural accomplishment and technical skills, so after the Six Dynasties, they became the exclusive domain of intellectuals," Zhou Zhi said. "But the techniques actually serve the spirit, and scholar-official painters have taken it for granted since the beginning."

"They can also borrow, but this time, they borrow from literary aesthetic theories. The most typical example is Wang Wei's 'poetry into painting, painting into poetry', and two famous themes about Chinese painting in legends - 'an ancient temple hidden in the mountains' and 'the fragrance of horse hooves returning from spring outings'."

"From then on, the basic tone of Chinese painting was established. Even the rise of the Shanghai School after the founding of the People's Republic of China only introduced more techniques from Western painting, but the basic elements of Chinese painting were established during the Six Dynasties."

"Grandpa and grandma, am I understanding this correctly?"

"It's not quite right, but it's not far off either." Chen Shizhong said, "If you want to improve, you should not only study painting theory and history, but also read more authentic works of famous artists, and be familiar with and understand those things in painting theory and history, and the specific and subtle expressions in the authentic works of famous artists." Chen Shizhong nodded his head, "It's better to establish a whole set of systems here clearly, and it's best to practice calligraphy and painting, so as to change from an appraiser to a creator, and take it seriously in actual practice, so that it is easier to understand and realize the true meaning of the Six Laws."

"Elbow's calligraphy is good, he has a solid foundation in Chinese studies, and a deep understanding of silk paper, brush and ink." Mr. Yuan smiled and said, "If you are willing to learn Chinese painting, it will be twice the result with half the effort."

"No, no, no." Zhou Zhi quickly waved his hands, rejecting the teacher's attempt to drag him into the trap: "My painting skills are limited to being able to understand the brushwork of predecessors and knowing how to add color and repair. As for calligraphy, it is enough for me to improve for a lifetime. I really don't dare to hope to paint anymore."

"Slippery!" Mr. Yuan scolded Zhou Zhi lightly, but he did not force him.

Calligraphy and painting cannot be forced. If a person is not willing, even if he is forced to sit at the table and practice thousands of words every day, not only will he not make progress, but his mentality will be ruined. What is needed is to be willing to do it. If you don't write for a day, you will feel itchy and depressed. No matter where you go, you will carry the daily copybook with you, and no matter how busy you are, you must find time to complete it. Only in this way can you have a chance to succeed.

Mr. Qi is the one who is most opposed to the so-called "childhood training" for calligraphy. His view is that childhood training is important, but the prerequisite is that children must be willing to write. Generally, children before the third or fourth grade of elementary school find it difficult to sit still. Many parents force their children to sit still and trace the characters, which instead kills their interest in calligraphy.

Therefore, he believes that calligraphy can be practiced at any time, even if one starts writing at the age of 40 or 50. As long as one has good talent, good attitude, good teacher, and diligent practice, one can often surpass others who have practiced for decades in just three or four years. This is not uncommon in the selection of calligraphy competitions. The winners are often not young and have only learned calligraphy for a few years, but they still stand out.

It's basically like this with art. If you're not willing to learn it, there's no point in forcing you to learn it.

"When will the Fang Lei be released?" Zhou Zhanlin asked eagerly, "And Lao Gao and Lao Xiong, they got a big prize this time, why don't they hurry over?"

"They went to Shanghai to pick up Mr. Ma." Mr. Ma said, "If we talk about heroes, Mr. Ma can recognize the body of the jar in Xintian's collection at a glance. He is the number one hero."

"The capital will be very busy these days." Old Master Wang said with a smile, "Old Luo from Shanghai is coming over, and Old Xu from Rongbaozhai is also coming back from Shudu."

"Shudu?" The old Xu from Rongbaozhai must be Xu Bangda. Zhou Zhi had met him before when he was restoring the deer and monkey painting in Rongbaozhai. Later, they restored the old chairman's calligraphy works together at the Samsung headquarters in South Korea. They had a close relationship, so of course Zhou Zhi had to show concern for him.

"Yes, Elbow is also in Shudu. Shibi's family knows about it, right? They have a painting of ink lotus by Zhang Daqian that needs to be repaired and mounted, and asked Old Xu to go over and check it." asked Old Master Wang.

"I occasionally go to Shibi's house to buy some paper, ink and brushes, but I don't have any other dealings with her," Zhou Zhi said. "If I had known that Mr. Xu was in Shudu, I wouldn't have taken the plane to Yuzhou. Wouldn't it be great if I could come here with him?"

"Shibi's family was once known as one of the four great cultural time-honored brands along with Rongbaozhai, Duoyunxuan, and Yangliuqing."

"The Five Elders and Seven Sages. I know about that." Zhou Zhi nodded.

The name "Shibijia" comes from a famous story in Shishuo Xinyu. In the home of Zheng Xuan, a great Confucian scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a maid once did something unsatisfactory and was punished by Zheng Xuan to kneel in the mud. Soon, another maid passed by and saw her, and teased her, "Why are you kneeling in the mud?"

The maidservant who was punished to kneel said: "I went to complain to her, but she was angry."

The two of them asked and answered each other, both quoting sentences from the Book of Songs. The first sentence came from "Shiwei" in "The Book of Songs", and the second sentence came from "Baizhou" in "The Book of Songs". They used poems to answer each other, and it was appropriate. The maids were all well-versed in the allusions of poetry and books, so you can imagine how knowledgeable their master was.

In 1920, Zheng Ciqing, one of the "Five Elders of Shu", founded a shop that sold calligraphy and painting albums, the four treasures of the study, and also mounted and sold calligraphy and paintings. Because Zheng Ciqing was a descendant of Zheng Xuan, he named the shop "Shi Bi Jia", meaning that his ancestor was a great Confucian scholar who gave birth to the "Poet Maid" story, and he was quite proud of it.