Dictionary of Calligraphic Masterpieces of Grass Script Throughout History (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Yang Guiqi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-11-01
Features: Chinese calligraphy is a unique aesthetic form of Chinese culture. It relies on a specific yet widely recognized system of symbolic patterns, combining random arrangements of strokes, the rhythm and flow of lines, the density and weight of composition, and the active, highly individualized intermingling of ink, water, paper, and brush. This creates a myriad of aesthetic atmospheres in the spiritual realm and symbolic level. Through this, it stands out uniquely in world culture and presents its brilliance in the history of world culture. As a special aesthetic signal system, Chinese calligraphy conveys the cultural psychology and aesthetic personality of the Chinese people. It reveals, through its unique form, the pursuit of Chinese people's personality values—whether disciplined or unrestrained—and the subtle transmission of their cultural spirit—whether adhering to conventions or breaking them. In the soaring and changing layouts of the lines, you will often feel the unique philosophical essence and dialectical approach of the Chinese people toward balance and tilt, coordination and contradiction, unity and change, uniformity and disorder.
Cursive script is the most challenging form of calligraphy art. The untamed, life-like surging of life almost needs to be restrained within subtle rules. The rules of cursive script are not as strict as those of seal script, clerical script, or regular script; instead, they are like the unpredictable surging and transformation of life. Writing cursive script is like riding a horse—it requires the skill to ride two divine steeds at once, galloping freely. Those continuous, unbroken lines, in the progression of speed and weight, density and entanglement over time, reveal the beauty of musical melody and rhythm. In the spatial arrangement of dryness and moisture, thickness and thinness, vertical and horizontal, large and small, they possess a distinct sense of painting, even a sense of color. It can be said that cursive script is the culmination of brushwork, inkwork, and composition in calligraphy art, representing the highest level of rhythm, rhyme, and expression in calligraphy art.