"Shi Chen Stele" trial guide Author: Anonymous



 1. Introduction to the history of "Shi Chen Stele"


    "Shi Chen Stele" is located in the Confucian Temple in Qufu, Shandong. The monument is carved on two sides. The front stele is inscribed "Lu Xiangshi Chen Sacrificially Confucius Plays Chromium", also known as "Lu Xiangshi Chen Confucian Temple Stele", "Shi Chen invites a monk to Gu Si Confucius Temple Stele". It is usually called the "Prehistoric Monument". Engraved in March in the second year of Jianning in the Eastern Han Dynasty (169). According to the Qing Dynasty Wang Chang's "Jin Shi Cui Compilation": "The monument is seven feet high and three feet four inches wide." Official script. Seventeen lines, thirty-six characters in line, after the stele is inscribed "Lu Xiangshi Chen's Confucius Temple Stele", usually called "Shi Chenhou Stele". Inscribed in April in the first year of Jianning in the Eastern Han Dynasty (168 years), the same size as the front monument. Official script. Fourteen lines, line thirty-six characters. The writing style of the front and back tablets is the same and should be written by one person. This monument is a typical example of Han Li's standardization and maturity in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. The earliest bed book in the world is the Ming bed book, and the word "Autumn" is intact. Ming Ning Ben in the collection of Beijing Library. "Complete Works of Chinese Art" Calligraphy and Seal Cutting (1) Income.


2. A summary of the exposition of "Shi Chen Stele" by calligraphy theorists of the past


   Qing Wanjing "Fen Li Ou Cun": "Comprehensive repairs, strict rules, such as a teacher who does not know Cheng, the steps are neat and unbreakable. Its character should be on the right of "History of Death" and "Han Le"." .


   Sun Chengze of the Qing Dynasty, "The Geng Zi Xiao Xia Ji": "The character is complex, elegant and super easy, can be a model for generations, and the best of Han stone."


   Qing Fangshuo's "Inscriptions on Jinshi Painting and Calligraphy in Pillow Scripture Hall": "Calligraphy is grandiose and vigorous, ancient and thick, structure and meaning are all available, the inquiry is the product of the temple, and the authenticity is 80%."


   Kang Youwei "Guangyizhou Shuangxiu": "Xuhe has "Yi Ya" and "Shi Chen"."


   Yang Shoujing "Ping Tablet Ji": "In the past, people said that Han Li was not good at all, and the ancient and thick spirit was beyond reach, so it's true."


3. The artistic value and learning purpose of "Shi Chen Stele"


    The solemn and solemn Qufu Confucian Temple is a place where Confucian Confucianism and Confucianism occupy a correct position in Han culture. In the Han dynasty, which was dominated by Confucian Confucian aesthetics for a long time, in people’s ideology and aesthetic concepts, "the joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness are not said to be said to be said, but the middle section is called harmony" is the "harmony" way. The supreme aesthetic criterion requires that all forms of artistic beauty must be pursued in an unbiased, uninspiring, harmonious unity; it requires that the emotion of art must be in a very rational, very restrained and able to be controlled by society and the ruling class. Universal


Expressed in the emotion of acceptance. Therefore, under the direct influence of this "rule", the calligraphy art of the Han Dynasty tended to develop in the rules and regulations.


    Among the stele inscriptions of Han Li, the "Shi Chen Stele" is undoubtedly a model that follows this "rule" very much. As a product of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the "Shi Chen Stele" is obviously the representative of the Eastern Han Scripts moving towards standardization and finalization. It has a calm and beautiful form, close repairs, and strict rules. The center of the line is mellow, clear, strong and healthy: the dots and strokes are sparse and well-proportioned, looking forward and affectionate; the overall order of the composition is orderly, the steps are neat, harmonious and unified, giving people a meticulous, dignified and elegant beauty. Therefore, its "structure and meaning are all available, the inquiry is the product of the temple, and the authenticity" is very suitable for being in the solemn place of the Confucian Temple in Qufu.


   Due to excessive adherence to laws and regulations, coupled with the restriction of the solemn place, the artistic personality of "Shi Chen Stele" is weak; its charm and taste are not the same as the earlier "Shimen Song" and the contemporary "Heng Fang". "The Stele" came like that, and it was so arrogant and natural. However, the people of the Qing dynasty were very upholding it. For example, Sun Chengze's "The Geng Zi Xiao Xia Ji" has the saying that "the best of Han stone is also"; nowadays, people are just the opposite, and they prefer to have such strong individual inscriptions as "Ode to Shimen" and "Hengfang Stele". This extreme difference is of course the result of the limitations of history and the inevitability of the times, but no matter what, the "Shi Chen Stele", as a "model for a hundred generations", is the best way for a beginner to go deep into Han Li Tangao. Template. At least it has rules to follow, and the form is relatively neat. If beginners directly start from the inscriptions on the inscriptions in Han Lizhong, which are relatively strong and extremely difficult, they may feel at a loss as to what to do. What's more, the Eastern Han Script "One monument-strange, no one has the same", beginners can find the span and gain experience in the learning process from stable to strong, simple to complex. Therefore, if there is no shortage of monuments for the division of books in Tokyo, when there is an inscription, the meanings are different, and you can think of the wonderful changes of the ancients" (He Shaoji epilogue). The significance of starting "Shi Chen Stele" is very obvious. This is the purpose of our study of "Shi Chen Stele".


    The meticulously framed "Shi Chen Stele" seems to be like a serious and rigorous elder, faithfully completing his final career, and its impeccable technique is so solemn in the subtle changes. implicit. Obviously, "rigorous and subtle" is the most obvious aesthetic feature of "Shi Chen Stele". It seems that it is quite similar to "Cao Quanbei", but in its essence, its subtlety is not as good as "Cao Quanbei".


Below we will analyze it from its style characteristics:


First, the overall layout:


   The overall layout of "Shichen Stele" is a typical horizontal and vertical, vertical and horizontal column in Han Li; it inherits the mutual jitter between the lines and lines of "Cao Quan Stele" and the characters and characters of "Hengfang Stele" The step-by-step pressing is different, and its layout pays more attention to leaving sufficient space in the line spacing between words. In addition, the knots are flat and outwardly stretched and retracted, which is like a clumpy shape on top of the knot, which makes the interval and out of the way unexpectedly reveal the artistic effect of comfort and emptiness. However, the word and the word are not isolated within the interval, and they are very particular about echoing. The swallowtail of the word "die" and the wave pen of the word "history" are almost connected during the long stroke. The swallowtail of the word "dun" and the wave pen of the word "晨" have different directions and are divided up and down. The interrelationship between the dislocation intervals and so on is the best explanation. But this is only one aspect, and the important thing is reflected in its basic characteristics of slender and imaginary lines. The lines of "Shi Chen Stele" seem to be drawn lightly, silently. If we completely transform its line features into thick and bold features in its block-like knot shape, then on a plane with such a large separation distance, the characters will be completely irrelevant to each other. Isolated position. This is also the reason why the bold and bold lines make people eye-catching and make people's vision always drift away from the knots they make up. On the other hand, "Shi Chen Stele" is the opposite. As long as we observe carefully, we will find that our vision always stays in the relationship between knots and spaces. This of course should be attributed to its line characteristics. Therefore, the slender and imaginary lines of the knots and the way of using the pen to directly expose the paper, the open space will inevitably cause a kind of tension between the words and the ambiguity of the tension. The resulting tendency of ambiguity in the interval will inevitably lead to the interrelation and unity between the characters in the interval. This is the unique style of the overall layout of "Shi Chen Stele" in Hanli.

Second, the line:


    The line movement of "Shi Chen Stele" does not change the position and angle of the force point from time to time like the "Heng Fang Stele", it presents its own line character with its slender, virtual and almost Qin Zhuan movement. However, its lines are upright and strong, and its ancient and awkward characteristics are still very obvious. According to the usual practice, this characteristic is often associated with thick lines. In fact, this is an illusion; it is not distinguished by the thickness of the lines, but by the sense of force itself. It's just that one is more direct and the other is more hidden in performance. The "silkworm head" in the lines of "Shi Chen Stele" is not very obvious. Although it has been said before that most of the pen is mainly used to expose the paper to the paper; but it can hide when exposed, and the sharp and round, and the change is extremely natural. However, it places great emphasis on the "swallowtail" at the pen. The twists and turns are also more typical. The pen is used to flatten out, or to pick up, or to fold, and the changes are particularly rich, all of which have received subtle and beautiful artistic effects.


Third, the structure:


   The composition of "Shi Chen Stele" is justified by someone commenting that it is externally loose and internally tight; the character "晨" is a good example; if you look at its internal from the four corners of the "morning" character , You will unmistakably discover how the four outer edges sloping inwardly and cohesively lead to a sense of urgency inside; but it also makes the four corners exaggerate. The mellow transition of the strokes of "Morning" and "History" seems too abrupt in the long strokes of the strokes, and there are some traces of intentional actions, but this reflects the "Shi Chen" The structure of "Stele" emphasizes the strong tendency of the contrast between stretch and cohesion. The horizontal lines of "Shi Chen Stele" are basically arranged in even proportions on the structure, but in order to avoid the result of dullness and lack of change that may be brought about by balance, "Shi Chen Stele" adopts different methods to change. It also seeks the source of its changes. Like the word "Chen", it uses the line on the left that transforms from a straight line to a curved line to achieve its purpose. This lingering, euphemistic, lively and agile line not only regulates the three balanced horizontal lines on the upper part. It may cause dullness, and at the same time, it also avoids the consequences of the internal collision with two small vertical lines side by side. However, readers may feel that the arrangement of many horizontal lines in "Shi Chen Bei" is not necessarily adjusted by straight and curved lines. This is very correct, but it should be noted that calligraphy has become an art. The type is that it changes in various ways. Don’t you see that so many horizontal strokes of the word "Book" look for changes through the comparison of length, thickness, curve and straightness, etc. This should arouse the attention of beginners.


V. Precautions for temporary study


    "Shichen Stele" is relatively standardized and finalized in the official script of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so when our vision stays on its stele, it can only move, change and change with the movement of its strokes. It is not like "Heng Fang Bei" and "Zhang Qian Bei", which can freely exert imagination and the infiltration and participation of the subject's more aesthetic experience; it is a completely enclosed artistic character, therefore, the weakening of subject consciousness will inevitably lead to When we visit this monument, we often have a very strong rational color. However, because the personality style of "Shi Chen Stele" is not very eye-catching and strong, it is easy for beginners to ignore the hidden essence and changes of personality during the temporary study. For example, in the square pen, a slight change in the angle of the cut when starting the pen can change the mechanical "one size fits all". The round pen's imaginary force makes the front man paper and the imaginary straight man can make the technique more abundant. As for its essence and changes, it has been mentioned in the section of the analysis of style characteristics, but of course it does not stop there. We still need to dig deeper. Otherwise, it can only stay on the surface and lose it to dullness and vulgarity. This should arouse the attention of beginners and be carefully analyzed and treated.


    In addition, when expressing its line characteristics, you can choose some brushes with a long tip and use the tip to write, which is easy to work, and it is easy to express the subtle changes of the line more clearly. In the specific temporary study stage, it can be arranged for a longer or shorter time according to the individual's different circumstances, but we must pay attention to the gradual and orderly process. What's more, the process of temporary study always consists of two stages from "entry to post" to "recall", so it is a more practical way to proceed step by step; in this way, it will be more faithful to the original work and reflect its rich artistic characteristics. Gain more experience and lay the foundation for creation.