The Structural Features of Preface to Lanting
Looking at the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion from the perspective of structural modeling, it does not seek balance, but emphasizes sideways; does not seek symmetry, but emphasizes yield; Of course, the regular script of the Guange style is insignificant. Even the running script or Xingkai, there are many rigid and rigid works, lacking vitality and posture. Zhao Mengfu's skills in Linwang are unprecedentedly high, but his self-written inscriptions such as "Danba Tablet" are very mediocre, and it is a reference system for "Lanting Preface".
It is quite possible to see the clues.
Take the four characters "Hui Feng He Chang" as an example (see picture).
The head of the character "Hui" tilts to the left and the character "Xin" sinks to the lower right corner, almost causing a dislocation between the structures, and the central axis between the parts changes from vertical to oblique. The "Feng" character uses the upper right side of the horizontal painting to protrude', creating a side effect that is opposite to the direction of the "Hui" character. The word "He" is divided into two parts, the left and right parts, the side of "He" is stretched into a vertical form, and the side of "口" is flattened into a horizontal form, forming a vertical and horizontal intersection in one character. As for the word "Chang", it is an oblique head-to-tail cross. The two parts of "Shen" and "Yi" just form a pair of triangles, but according to the standard writing method, it should have been between two rectangles. simple combination. As a result, we see that the body structures of these four characters are completely different—the contrast effect throughout the entire main axis.
It's hard to say that there will be such a complicated idea and ingenious management at the time, maybe it's just my personal love at first sight. But I think this is an excellent method of analysis: I use a combination of axial and plate analysis for the structure. Calligraphy is a kind of visual art. If we can't find out the mainstream lines of various intricate lines and summarize them, we will be at a loss or have no way to start with some ancient famous posts, and naturally we will not be able to guarantee the efficiency of learning.
The structure of Chinese characters is originally a stable standard form. Each character is full of architectural meaning, and the structure and stacking of the space are completely similar to the principles of architecture. However, it is inappropriate to only view the structural beauty of calligraphy dramas such as "Lanting Preface" as such. The charm of calligraphy structure lies in that it can break this standard form in a restrained manner, and infiltrate each artist's individual personality into the standard norms. Create meaning. In this way, the principle of calligraphy structure is led from the level to the balance. What we see in the former is stable, even and neat; while in the latter, we see a kind of pull and tension that seeks to be even in the uneven. The word balance itself means that it is not flat, but it has a slope, so it must be balanced. To make the most popular analogy: fairness is similar to a balance, while balance is similar to a scale.
Pursuing artistic forms in standard forms is the fundamental purpose of calligraphy. From the perspective of the four characters "Hui Feng He Chang" mentioned above, only when we truly observe and understand the "transformation" of these four characters in different structures can our copying be meaningful. Nuanced. And once the comprehension of the artistic structure and the comprehension of the beauty of lines are combined to form the overall feeling and grasp of "Lanting Preface", the efficiency of learning is self-evident.
