Research On Calligraphy Aesthetics In Ming Dynasty

Aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty focuses on originality,artistic appreciation and the inspiration and sate of calligraphy.Its aesthetic development follows a clear law of development,from the bondage in morality to artistic appreciation,and to the emphasizing on the expression of authors’ intentions and the liberation of their temperament,followed by Zen’s solemnity and the reflection of rationality.This dissertation,with the analysis on calligraphy by calligraphers in Ming Dynasty,fully tape into the calligraphy theories in Ming Dynasty and previous dynasties,and discuss the law of aesthetic development.It also attempts to construct the genealogy of knowledge in Ming Dynasty,and establish the status of aesthetics of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty with the background of Chinese philosophy,from experience to philosophy,skills to the pursuing for aesthetics,and morality to life care.In this dissertation,the author highlighted the observation into the aesthetic thought of calligraphy in each period and its characteristics,with the consideration into the complexities of the problems to show the implication of the existence and development of aesthetic thought of calligraphy,constructing the knowledge system and framework for aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty.The dissertation can be divided into six parts.Chapter one overviews the development of aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty.This dissertation mainly scrutinized its history from the perspective of philosophy,culture,and aesthetic category.With the development of ideological trend of literature and art as reference,the author classified the aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty into five phases based on temporal sequence and analyzed the aesthetic traits of them to summarize their calligraphy aesthetic category.Deep discussion had been made to explore the denotation and connotation of the categories and their manifestation,followed by the the history and the features of aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty.Chapter two analyzed the idea that people tend to apply the theory of Neo-Confucianism to calligraphy and its manifestation.As Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was an official thought in the early Ming Dynasty,the Neo-Confucianism in calligraphy had been strengthened and the calligraphy had become the integral part of Neo-Confucianism,turning into the instrument to show the etiquette and law.Although the calligraphy in early Ming Dynasty followed the style in which Yuan Dynasty retrieved to the Jin and Tang Dynasty,Zhao Menfu’calligraphy had become the way for learning the style of calligraphy in Jin Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.Therefore,Zhao Menfu’ status in calligraphy did not be adversely affected.Under the influence of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism,the opinions concerning calligraphy of Zhu Xi had become one of the standards for Neo-Confucianism criticism,but the "Beauty of Zhong He" restricted the aesthetic value of calligraphy.This chapter analyzed three forms of expression under the influence of the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism:ethic value for the calligraphy to reflect the characters of a person;the emphasis on the good temper;the social function of calligraphy to impact the knowledge of Confucianism.As for the social function of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty,the function for appreciation was attached to the application of the Chinese characters,namely,"Tai Geti"Calligraphy.As this type of calligraphy represented the aesthetic pursuit of the officials and the standard of the emperors,and it determined the social function of calligraphy.Based on these backgrounds,the dissertation investigated the influence of the style of "Tai Geti"Calligraphy,and the laws of emperor on the calligraphers’ aesthetic inspiration and attitudesChapter three discussed the influence of Revivalism of Ming Dynasty on the aesthetic thought of calligraphy.This dissertation analyzed the impact of Revivalism of Ming Dynasty on the calligraphy theory of Wang Shizhen,who was famous for "the Judgement of Calligraphy by classic and elegance",and considered the style of calligraphy in Wei Dynasty and Jin Dynasty as its ideal standard.The calligraphers who thought highly of Revivalism,paid tribute to the orthodox position of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi,making the calligraphy tradition of masters in Jin Dynasty and Dang Dynasty flourish in the middle and late Ming Dynasty and usher in "Tie Xue"_calligraphy.Therefore,paying attention to the original source to scrutinize the changes and mixing of the "Tie Xue" tradition was the responsibility of the calligraphers in Ming Dynasty.This chapter analyzed three types of"using "the Judgement of Calligraphy by classic and elegance",which is the aesthetic inspiration of classic and elegance,the relation between the morphology of calligraphy and classic and elegance and the opposition of the vulgar calligraphy.The ideal criteria of Wang Shizhen and his standard for criticizing were discussed together with the criticism of Wang Shizhen’s standards for Zhao Mengfu and Zhu Yunming.In the final part of the chapter,"if the tone did not follow the tradition,it would be vulgar" And "Jin Dynasty emphasized the tone while Tang Dynasty was restricted by calligraphy law" was discussed.Based on this.the problem of how to develop the history of calligraphy under the new condition of society had also been discussed.Chapter four investigated the study of connotations of "Yi"(意)and the learning by calligraphers in Song Dynasty from Wu Men(吴门)calligraphers in Ming Dynasty.Based on the study of "Yi",this chapter observed the meticulous study by Wu Men calligraphers for the meaning of "Yi" to discuss the historical view of Wu Men calligraphers.Zhu Yunming focused on the changes in calligraphy of previous dynasty,and he once criticized the common people "not following the tradition",He also put fore ward the idea that "if follows the trend of Jin and Dang Dynasty,the calligraphy tradition would conserve" to keep the calligraphy not away from the tradition.Besides,calligraphers in Ming Dynasty accepted the idea of "paying attention to the changes of previous dynasties" and therefore,they avoided the idea of emphasizing the forms rather than ignoring the style.Although Wu Men calligraphers " focusing on ’Yi’ and longing for ’Yun’(韵)",_they connected "Yi" in calligraphy in Song Dynasty with "’Yun’(韵),’ Fa’(法),’Yi’(逸)" in Jin Dynasty and Tang Dynasty to aspire for elegance.Moreover,this chapter also underlined the background of Wu Men calligraphers following the tradition to make changes,what impact had been exerted to the calligraphy in the late Ming Dynasty and the emphasis on the style in Jin Dynasty by Dong Qichang and Wang Yi in late Ming Dynasty.Dong Qichang was the first to sort the aesthetic inspiration of Jin,Tang,and Ming Dynasty on the basis of "’Yun’,’Fa’,’Yi’",and finally established his own historic view of calligraphy.On the application of calligraphy,he created his style with the characteristics of Jin Dynasty as tradition,the methods of Dang Dynasty his techniques,the "Yi" in Song Dynasty the new trend.On the other hand,Wang Yi equaled the style of Jin Dynasty with "Er Wang",holding the idea that "if calligraphy do not comply to the tradition of Jin Dynasty,it would lose its value" and he regarded the "Yun"as the ultimate aesthetic in calligraphy in Jin Dynasty.Chapter five investigated what Wang Yangming Xin Xue(心学)had influenced on calligraphy aesthetics.Influenced by Xin Xue since the mid Ming Dynasty,Calligraphers began to underscore the calligraphy aesthetic,and running and cursive script began to have the features of his own.As calligraphy could showcase the disposition of a person,Xu Wei had already seen calligraphy as his manifestation of life and he thought that calligraphy was his life and became the oasis of his spirit.The style of Xu Wei demonstrated "the truth of himself’ which meant that it made the forms of calligraphy and spirit harmonious and gave the spirit of calligraphy the personalized life care.All these had connections with the philosophy of Zhuangzi and made possible the embodiment of the kindness.Xin Xue providing the culture support led to the fact that the expressions of emotions became the dominant factor and the style of calligraphy had the unique features for the genuine engagement from calligraphers.This chapter discussed that emotions are the essential element of calligraphy,the internal and external factors that the liberation of emotions,and the recognition of emotions by Yang Ming Xue Xue.The author also analyzed the interaction correlation between the form and the disposition,pointing out that the nature of calligraphy was to indicate the authenticity or human emotions.The discussion of three theoretical forms of truth:the concept of "the truth of myself",the life care of the embodiment and the dependency relation between calligraphy and Chinese philosophy in terms of "’Jing’(精),’Qi’(气),’Shen’(神)"Chapter six analyzed the influence of Zen in late Ming Dynasty on calligraphy.The evolutionary process of calligraphy required the support of culture,as the tradition of calligraphy was rooted in the tradition of culture.Therefore,when philosophy was applied in calligraphy,the thinking pattern,the cognitive method and the thought to criticize and appreciate the calligraphy might be influenced,and sometimes the changes in philosophy would provide the prop for the innovation of calligraphy.Calligraphy,however,was an art of practice,calling for the support from techniques to Dao(道).The aesthetic inspiration was based on the form of calligraphy and finally turnning into part of the culture.Dong Qichang compared the Zen with calligraphy,with the deep understanding to tackle the problems.He regarded the understandings of Zen as the understandings of calligraphy,caving for the artistic effects of "Gu Dan"(古、淡)in Wei Dynasty and Jin Dynasty and thinking "Dan" as the inspiration of life,a demonstration of spirit.Surpassing the achievements of himself,he ushered in a new trend in calligraphy in the late time of Ming Dynasty.This chapter analyzed the continued problems of "Gu Fa"(古法)in late Ming Dynasty,put up the idea of the importance and urgency of the "understanding"(悟),and discussed the influence of Zen on calligraphy as well as the close relationship between Zen and the aesthetic inspiration in calligraphy.The author also studied how Dong Qichang used the thought of Zen to make changes in calligraphy,and analyzed the concept of "Sheng" of Dong Qichang which could be divided into two aspects:one was technique,another aesthetic inspiration.The final chapter concluded that the aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty from the perspective of character in morality,techniques,aesthetic inspiration and philosophy.This dissertation reorganized the connotation of aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty and the theoretical form.By combing the method of synchronic and diachronic study to dig into the theoretical value,this dissertation also innovated the concept of investigation to indicate the coexistence relationship between aesthetic thought of calligraphy in Ming Dynasty and morality,techniques,aesthetic inspiration and philosophy.