Research On The Transition Of Calligraphy In Tang And Song Dynasties Under The History Of Ideas

Confucianism has become the mainstream of Chinese culture since the Han dynasty.From the Tang dynasty to the Song dynasty,the Confucianism absorbed the thoughts of Buddhism and formed the philosophy of the Neo-Confucianism,which marked a great transition of Chinese culture during the Tang and Song dynasties.Calligraphy,as a representative of Chinese culture and traditional art,also underwent this transition.Thus,the present study endeavours to reveal the transforming process of Chinese calligraphy during the Tang and Song dynasties.In order to reveal the real process of the transformation of calligraphy in Tang and Song dynasties,this paper analyzes the interactive development process between calligraphy and social culture from the perspective of the concept structure of calligraphy with the method of keyword analysis.It is found that Chinese calligraphy originated from the concept of “wen zi”in the Han dynasty.“Wen” means the natural pattern of the universe,and “zi”means the conception and derivation.“Wen zi” refers to symbolic characters that derived from the literary theory of heaven and earth.The Confucianism that centred on the concept of “Tian”(Heaven)in the Han dynasty shaped the concept of “wen zi” and endowed the character system with the moral attribute of heaven,which determined the value of characters and the meaning of writing in Chinese culture.The concept of“wen zi” determines the unique evolution mode of Chinese calligraphy.Based on the idea of “wen zi”,we found that the development of Chinese calligraphy could be divided into two phases,as demonstrated below:The first phase is from the Han dynasty to the Tang dynasty.The concept of “wen zi” was established in the Han dynasty.Under the influences of metaphysics in Wei and Jin dynasties,the concept of “shu dao”(the value of calligraphy itself ideologically)and the concept of “yong bi”(the value of the writing physically)were formed.Calligraphy is to express the aesthetic feeling of the beauty of nature by writing with a brush and to pursue the “mysterious” realm in the metaphysics of Wei and Jin dynasties,which is also a process of seeking freedom within norms.There is a transitional stage between the first and second phases.This stage results from the transformation of ideologies at the end of the Tang dynasty,when the concept of “wen zi” and the concept of “yong bi”started to separate,leading to decay of the calligraphy art in the absence of heaven-centered perspectives.The second phase is from Song and Yuan to Ming and Qing dynasties.Within this period,the concept of calligraphy was reconstructed by the Neo-Confucianism of Cheng and Zhu.Specifically,these concepts of “wen zi” and “yong bi” were integrated again.Influenced by ideas of “the principles of character”,“wen zi” at this stage was no longer the manifestation of the astronomical or geographical patterns in nature but becomes the metaphysical“principle of character”.Such change reflected that calligraphy had moved beyond the status of pursuing the idea of beauty within the writing norm,but becomes a process of “using the pen”to realize the “character” of “principle” on behalf of “qi”.The ultimate goal of wiring was to pursue the state of “zhong yong”(centrality and constancy)where the “qi” could entirely realize “li”.Moreover,this research found that the artistic spirit and aesthetic orientation of Chinese calligraphy were deeply related to the ideology of Confucianism and self-cultivation.This connection reflects that the Chinese calligraphy’s transition during the Tang and Song dynasties can be considered as part of the long-term changes of Confucianism in cultural integration.