The first official change in the history of calligraphy culture is not only the change of fonts, but also the sublimation of structure

In the process of the development and evolution of Chinese calligraphy culture, official script is a very important calligraphy, which plays an important role in connecting the past and the next. The

official script is a transition from the seal script. The early official script is also called ancient official script, and it also has obvious characteristics of the seal script, such as absolute horizontal and vertical strokes, and equal thickness. Some modern official script writers like to imitate the works of Yi Bingshou and other ancient officials in the Qing Dynasty. As an art form, this is understandable. However, from the perspective of the development of calligraphy culture, the highest level of official script is the mature Han official after the Eastern Han Dynasty. The strokes of are not absolutely horizontal and vertical, and the thickness is unchanged. On the contrary, it is very particular and full of changes in the structure of single characters. .

In this article, I would like to start with "Yiying Tablet", an excellent representative of mature Han Li, and talk about the structure of Li Shu.

【Fangyuanju Culture】---01

—"Yiying Stele" is an outstanding representative of mature Han Li-

"Yiying Stele", the full name is "Lu Xiangyiying, please set the Confucian Temple One Hundred Stone Death Stele", in The monument was erected in the first year of Emperor Yongxing of the Han Dynasty, that is, in 153 AD. The whole monument has 18 lines, 40 characters per line, and 720 characters in total. The monument is currently in the Confucian Temple in Qufu. It is called the "Three Monuments of Confucian Temple" along with the "Stele of Ceremonial Vessels" and "Shichen Stele". It is a treasure and fine product in the calligraphy culture and has high cultural and artistic value.

Yiying Stele, Ceremonial Vessel Stele, Shichen Stele

This stele has a very high calligraphy level, but the content of the inscription is not about earth-shattering events, and the text is relatively trivial. Instead, it uses "buckles, capital crimes" many times. Such words appear to be not as elegant and cultural as the "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Inscription". It is estimated that the writer of the inscription on this monument must not be a cultural master. The inscription roughly records the fact that Situ Wuxiong and Sikong Zhao Jie, under the guise of former Lu Xiangyiying, petitioned Emperor Han Huan for instructions to establish the post of Hundred Stones and finally obtained the emperor's approval.

Yiying is the former Han Dynasty Lu Xiang. He once petitioned Emperor Huan to set up an official for the Confucian Temple to be in charge of the ritual temple. The name was Baishi Zushi, a position equivalent to a warehouse clerk. I don’t know why But the emperor's approval. Such an official, not too big or too small, needed a Lu Xiang to apply, and he was not allowed until after Yiying's death. The official named Kong He was later appointed to this post, so this monument is also called "Kong He Monument". The inscription described in detail the work responsibilities, work process, etc. of this Hundred Stones history. The text is trivial and disorderly. After reading it several times, it is not clear. Fortunately, we only pay attention to its calligraphy achievements, and don't pay too much attention to the content of the text.

Yiying Stele

"Yiying Stele" has a square structure, uniform bones and flesh, rigorous procedures, with both strokes and roundness, and a graceful atmosphere. It is a typical work in the mature period of the Han Dynasty. It belongs to Fang Zhengpingzhengyi Road. Calligraphers praised the monument a lot. This monument is very suitable for copying and learning by friends who are new to official script. The calligraphy of the late famous master of Lishu, Mr. Liu Bingsen, is mostly taken from this monument, and his Cao Li is from this monument's continuous brushwork.

Liu Bingsen official script

At the end of the nineties, I went to school in Tai'an, Shandong, not far from Qufu. I visited this monument in the Confucian Temple. At that time, the surface of the monument was badly damaged, and many of the writings were already blurred. It is estimated that they suffered huge damage during the cultural catastrophe. Fortunately, it was preserved during the nine deaths, which is also a blessing for calligraphy culture.

So, what are the characteristics of the structure of the official script? What problems should be paid attention to when learning the formal script?

【Fangyuanju Culture】---02

--Pay attention to "formation of characters", not blindly pursuing equal heights--

The official script has transitioned from the seal script, and the most significant feature of the official change is the "circle" of the seal script. And "long" means "flat and square", and "vertical gain" is changed to "horizontal gain". This is an important feature of the official script, but it is not necessary for every character. Do not write all the characters in the official script in a flat square shape. The structure of the official script of

should follow the height, short, large, small, oblique, and upright of the individual characters and naturally take the trend. You can not blindly pursue the same height, but write down the big characters and enlarge the small ones. If the font of a character is vertical, tall and long, then it should be written vertically and tall when writing, instead of artificially flat; if the character itself is drawnThere are not many, and the body is small, so there is no need to deliberately write large in the writing of official script; similarly, the oblique and backward of the characters should be based on the character, and the consistency should not be forced.

is like the four characters "B, Ying, Gong, Chong" in the above picture. When written, the character "B" is completely stretched horizontally and has a small body; the character "Ying" is basically a square; the character "Gong" takes the trend horizontally. Elegant and stretched; the word "Chong" takes the momentum vertically and appears taller.

and the word "fold" in the figure below, the original structure of the word is tall and long, so just write it as it is. If you deliberately flatten the font, it will look very cramped and unsightly ; The word "Ling" opens naturally because of the word "人" above, and the font is an inverted triangle, and there is no need to deliberately shrink the left and right stretches.

【Fangyuanju Culture】---03

——Pay attention to “independent radicals” and not blindly pursue radicals——

The radicals in official script are different from regular script, especially the characters with left and right structures are often written with equal "weight". The center of gravity is at the center of the word. Of course, not all of them are like this, and sometimes they have to be treated in specific situations. For example, the two characters "ci, money" in the picture below are the same weight as the component on the right.

【Fangyuanju Culture】---04

--Pay attention to "avoid echoing" and not blindly pursue independence--

corresponds to the same principle. In fact, in the strokes of the official script, there is still a lot of attention to avoidance and interspersion. Many of the strokes are written in a patchwork, orderly interspersion and cleverness. In the word "Sheng" in the picture below, the word "口" at the top gives way to the word "Ear" at the top, avoiding it naturally and decently.

Another example is the word "Qing" in the picture below. The left part is tilted to the right while the right is echoing to the left, which is very vivid.

【Fangyuanju Culture】---05

——Pay attention to the "stroke breaks", and there must be no echoes——

Many single-character strokes of "Yiying Stele" have traces of continuous pen, especially some sketches. There is often a "back band" movement at the pen, and a back lead band appears at the end of the stroke, but most of the pens are broken and leave no trace, but they look vivid and not rigid. Mr. Liu Bingsen paid great attention to this brushwork when he wrote the official script, and sometimes even deliberately created the continuity and lead between the strokes when writing continuous horizontal paintings, which was very interesting. For example, the words "home, all" in the picture below have such characteristics.

【Fangyuanju Culture】---06

--Pay attention to the "density contrast", and there must be no elevation changes. The structure of

is very particular about the contrast of density and density. Sometimes the strokes are divided into thickness and contrast. The radicals are not all upright, but are staggered and undulating. As shown in the figure below, the character "Gu" on the left is deliberately converging next to the "husband" and staying at the upper left, leaving enough room for the "seeing" part on the right, which is obviously pitching.

and the word "Jue" in the figure below, the upper part is written densely because of the large number of strokes; the lower part is written more sparsely because of the few strokes, but the overall feeling is dense and dense, naturally decent.

Summary: The structure characteristics of the official script generally have the above five aspects, but different rubbings will be emphasized. Beginners must read the official script carefully, grasp the characteristics and structure of different rubbings during the period of study, and blend the writing structures of different rubbings in specific creation, so as to form their own style and create outstanding ones. works.