Weng Kaiyun's Teaching of Regular Script: Yan Style

Author: Weng Kaiyun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: In the history of world civilizations, the unique art that takes writing as its subject matter has only been the Chinese calligraphy, which has a long history and is diverse and magnificent. Those strings of shining artistic masterpieces continue to inspire our spirit of the times. In ancient times, the character "shu" had both the meanings of writing and calligraphy: clear and correct writing for practical communication, while calligraphy met people's aesthetic needs. Pictographs are the foundation of Chinese character construction, but as history evolved, Chinese characters became increasingly abstract and symbolic. Interestingly, the richness of Chinese character forms and the variety of lines have created a vast space for calligraphy art. According to Guo Moruo's research, "consciously treating writing as an art or making writing itself artistic and decorative began in the late Spring and Autumn period." Today, calligraphy art is still respected and loved, becoming the art of the masses, which is inseparable from its gradual transition from the practical use of writing. Understanding this background, people will realize that learning calligraphy and practicing good handwriting has become a lifelong learning course for Chinese people from childhood to old age. Of course, this is also the reason why our publishing house has been continuously planning and publishing calligraphy teaching books for calligraphy enthusiasts.
Calligraphy learning has several stages. When starting, accurately grasping the knowledge of writing skills is crucial. In traditional teaching, methods like holding the brush, moving the brush, and the roles and relationships of fingers, wrist, elbow, and shoulder were mostly described in writing. Even with some illustrations, it was difficult to accurately describe the positioning during writing movements. For example, when practicing different calligraphic styles, traditional teaching methods mostly involved "double-hooking" and "red tracing," relying more on self-experience. The ancients said, "Calligraphy is aimed at the use of the brush." Traditional learning models often cause self-learners to spend excessive energy puzzling over writing methods without success, leading many to lose interest in learning. Others fail to accurately grasp the key points of brushwork and, after long-term practice, develop bad habits, losing motivation and confidence.
Today, Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House has planned and published the "Master Calligraphy Tutor Series," which meets the demands of calligraphy enthusiasts by combining calligraphy learning with advanced methods of modern education, linking book content with audio-visual teaching. Calligraphy learners at home can achieve the same effect as being in a classroom. The publisher has specially invited renowned calligraphers to provide tutoring. They not only help learners with in-depth and easy-to-understand calligraphic knowledge but, more importantly, demonstrate writing in person, allowing learners to repeatedly observe and progress step by step, truly achieving effective learning.
We hope that the creativity of this series will be well-received by readers, helping them quickly grasp the key points and difficulties of the introductory stage of calligraphy, avoid detours, improve writing skills, and develop a greater love for calligraphy art.