On Books - Quatrain

Author: Qi Gong
Editor-in-Chief: Dong Xiuyu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-06-01
Features:
Excerpt: Cai Jing, Cai Bian. The calligraphy style of the Northern Song Dynasty, with Cai Xiang, Ouyang Xiu, Liu Chang as the lineage, there is inheritance but no development. Su Shi and Huang Tingjian as another lineage, unwilling to be confined by old conventions, creating great innovations without deviating from ancient methods. The two Cais and Mi Fu as another lineage, their style is expansive yet cohesive, their brushwork is powerful yet graceful. With complete techniques and ample expressions, this lineage is truly a giant among Song calligraphers.
In the past, when evaluating art, people liked to promote the "Four Masters": in poetry, Wang, Yang, Lu, and Luo; in prose, Han, Liu, Ouyang, and Zeng; in painting, Huang, Wang, Ni, and Wu; and in calligraphy, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Jing. This arbitrary grouping of the Song's four calligraphers is unknown to whom it was first attributed, and the idea is inherently vulgar and irredeemable. However, speaking objectively, the Cai in the "Four Masters" of the Song Dynasty undoubtedly refers to Cai Jing and Cai Bian. Yet, because people favored Cai Jing and Cai Bian, they replaced them with Cai Xiang, making this practice even more vulgar than the original grouping of the Four Masters.
"The moral is superior, and the art is inferior" is cited from the Rites of the Small (Dai Liji). In ancient times, those considered "morally superior" were often those with high official ranks. This is a youthful poem of mine, and at the time, I did not yet realize how absurd the grouping and substitution were. The lines "A single thought divides heaven and earth" and so on could not escape being corrupt.