Chapter 2 Preface to the reprint

"San Yuan Jing She Poems Sequel Volume 1" has a song "Shang Ju Rewards Yi Yu", which I like very much.This is a Qilu poem written by Sanyuan old man Shen Zengzhi. The original text reads: Sanyuan lived in Shanghai for two periods of time in his life. The first time was after the Wuchang Uprising, based on his tough stance against the Republic of China, he went to Shanghai from Nanjing.In June of the following year, I joined a poetry group, which we can tentatively call an "old poets" organization, called the "Wujiaohui". "Wujiao", as the name suggests, refers to "five corners and six pieces", which means that everything is upside down and extremely unsatisfactory.According to Ma Yongqing's "Lazy Zhenzi Volume 1": "There are five corners and six sheets in the world, this is an old saying... It is said that you will meet Jiaosu on the fifth day and Zhangsu on the sixth day, and you will not be able to do too much in these two days. However, in a year, But three or four days."

The meeting of Wujiao, the place name "Yuyuan", was quite hyped by the democrats (or republicans) for a while. The public deserves it!" The gentry who advocated the restoration of the Qing emperor can be said to have come together.In addition to Chen Sanyuan, Hu Sijing from Jiangxi was the convener, and Yang Zengluo, Mei Guangyuan, and Xiong Yiyuan joined him from Jiangxi; Liang Dingfen, Qin Shusheng, Zuo Shaozuo, and Mai Menghua from Guangzhou; Chen from Fuzhou Stone remains; Zhu Guwei from Suzhou; Li Ruiqing, Fan Zengxiang, Yang Zhongxi from Nanjing; Hu Tiehua and Hu Xiaoxian from Sichuan; Zhao Xiangsong, Chen Zengshou, Wu Qingdi from Beijing; For Zheng Haizang, Shen Meisou (Zeng Zhi) and Li Yuerui who live in Shanghai, it is said that there were twenty-six people in total.

Of course, this kind of gathering is not just for wine and meat. They are here to hold a counter-revolutionary resistance oath meeting.Hu Sijing's Qijue "Song of Snow" can be seen in the old chronicles: "There is no darkness in the vast expanse, and there is no end to the countryside. See how long you can fly, and the morning sun will faintly reveal the Western Mountains." At that time, there was no snow in Shanghai. , those who are cold-hearted are content. The poem "Shangju Rewarding Yiyu" quoted earlier should have been written during this period.The couplets of this poem have the words "zhiguai" and "being idiots", which can have many interpretations.I personally tend to regard the previous sentence—that is, the title of this article "Zhenguai should meet the sky with rain"—as a resentment against the great changes in the world situation, and deliberately use "Heavenly rain, horses grow horns" (from " The absurdity and impossibility of "Historical Records: Biography of Assassins" is to use irony to ridicule that the sky has no eyes.

But "being idiotic and talking about the dust in the sea" is more subtle, and it is also an irony with complex themes, but it is used to compare the endless tradition symbolized by Shen Zengzhi's calligraphy art. "Being idiot" refers to writing, even small script.This was originally the words of Huang Tingjian, a calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty that Shen admired in his later years; Huang Tingjian once quoted in "On the Method of Writing": "There is a saying in the ancients, 'There is nothing wrong with the big characters in the Ming Crane. Learners become old people, and self-established families begin to be true.' Today, the characters of human characters are not in the form of the ancient style, but are arranged one after another.

Huang Tingjian has another poem "Several Kinds of Youjun Books Presented to Qiu Shishi", in which a few lines are repeated: "(Previously omitted) small characters should not be fooled by flies, and Le Yi's theory wins the legacy teaching scriptures. The big characters are nothing wrong with the inscription on the crane. , Officials and slaves bully Boying. Follow others to make tricks, end up with descendants, and start a family of one’s own. (Omitted) From these two sources that are extremely related to Shen Zengzhi's own calligraphy, "Zuozhi" dismantles Huang Tingjian's words, but admires Shen's words-a kind of calligraphy no matter how difficult it is. A work of art that can be handed down even in troubled times—until the sea raises dust. "Haiyangchen" comes from Jin Gehong's "Biography of Immortals Magu Biography", where is the original scripture of the so-called "Changhai Changtian" and "East Sea Yangchen".

Shen Zengzhi, named Zipei, nicknamed Xunzhai, Yiyu, late Meisou, a native of Haoxing, a Jinshi in the sixth year of Guangxu (1880), served successively in the Ministry of Punishment, the Prime Minister's Office of State Affairs, and finally the Chief Envoy of Anhui.Shen originally took calligraphy as his spare time, and he lived to be over sixty years old before he devoted himself to it. He worked very hard for ten years. He started learning calligraphy from the Jin and Tang Dynasties. , the world commented on "Songgaolingmiao Stele", "Hao Dawang Stele" and Er Cuan and other steles during the transition period between Li and Kai, and became a master.

I know Shen Zengzhi, an old man, because during college, Heluo Publishing House, which specializes in photocopying the mainland version of the Chinese Studies Series, published his "Hai Ri Lou Zha Cong" in 1975.At that time, I was standing at the door of the "Fuxin Bookstore" opposite the school, waiting for the passenger bus. After looking through it casually, I found this kind of discussion, which immediately attracted me: A few words overturned the suspense of "power through the back of the paper" that I had been yearning for since I was eight or nine years old.He speaks clearly, sincerely, and without being annoying, and it is a kind of awareness: "The truth is so simple, so it is profound".However, where is this "Hai Ri Building"?Who is Shen Zengzhi?Who is Liang Shanzhou?And what about Zhang Fengtang?Is Yaoshan the eminent monk of the Linji sect with the dharma name "Wei Yan"?A series of ignorance and curiosity came together, which is really unbearable.

Before I actually came into contact with Liang Shanzhou's "Pinluoan Lunshu", it was through "Liang Shanzhou's Lunshu" in "Hai Ri Lou Zha Cong" that I opened up a new understanding of calligraphy.For example, this paragraph: Another example is this paragraph: Even more exciting is the next short paragraph: What surprised me the most were the few sentences about the center forward: I spent two days' meal money to buy the copy of "Hai Ri Lou Zha Cong", just for these few sentences. But the original problem that made me read on remains unresolved.The ancients said: "Ask your slaves when farming, and ask your maidservants when weaving." Is it really wrong?I understand Liang Shanzhou's words. What he means is that the actual laborers learn their jobs day and night and obey their jobs all the time, but they don't necessarily have a theoretical understanding or abstract thinking about farming and weaving.Liang Shanzhou's emphasis is not on hard work and diligent practice, but on whether he can comprehend and comprehend it, and whether he can achieve the vision of a scholar who imitates and pursues it with his heart.

Not long after I repeatedly read dozens of theories on calligraphy and painting in "Hai Ri Lou Zha Cong Volume 8", I couldn't help but feel a little proud of what I learned and sold, and I asked Mr. Wang Jingzhi, the head of the department at the time, for advice.Mr. Jingzhi teaches Chinese Studies, General Theory of Confucian Classics and selected courses in the department. Outside of undergraduate courses, he is also a playwright, calligrapher and painter.However, if students have calligraphy problems, please help, and they will all respond with a smile.I tried to ask in the language of Liang Shanzhou: "If you ask your slaves about improper plowing and your maidservants about improper weaving, then who should you ask when you encounter technical problems?" Mr. Jingzhi laughed and replied: "You can't ask your servants. I have to ask the teacher! Liang Shanzhou’s words are not serious, he just told the writers not to be slaves, once you can ask technical questions, you are no longer slaves.” Then.Mr. Jingzhi suggested that I read Qian Yong, another calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty, and Mr. Jingzhi's own teacher, Mr. Shen Yinmo. "Creators have to have their own opinions. This is a last resort." Mr. Jingzhi said.

There are two passages in Qian Yong's "Luyuan Conghua · Volume Eleven · Calligraphy": Is it too extreme that a history of calligraphy can be measured by a scale that is almost degenerate? When discussing the main purpose of calligraphy inheritance, Qian Yongji's expressive emotion opened my eyes—it turns out that the abstract issues that a calligrapher pays attention to are not only the technical aspects (such as Tibetan front, center front, Thirsty pen, weak pen, etc.), his two passages basically regard the shape of Chinese characters as a medium and structure for identifying and restoring the origin, use, and function of characters.

Once the shape of Chinese characters has changed due to the evolution of writing tools, and after the solidification of the square brush and the simplicity of cursive, it gradually loses the sense of how to see and understand the characters of seal script, how to draw them into objects, and follow the style. Hey, how to use things as names, how to use analogies to complement each other, how to compare analogies and friendship, and how to refer to each other—every ancient character above the seal and seal can be a slice of the history of philology, the formation of a culture and evolution process.However, the art of calligraphy that we are familiar with today is precisely the result of repeatedly ignoring the preservation of the process of cultural formation and evolution. Qian Yong is not just lamenting the destruction of ancient ways and arts caused by the evolution of calligraphy, and the abandonment of the distant ancestors of writing.He also pointed out that the earliest Chinese characters are the projection of every stranger's earliest experience in learning books.So he actually has another level of emotion about calligraphy aesthetics that is far more important than "meaning first".He reminded us: look at four or five-year-old children learning to write, and every childish stroke reflects the psychological experience of the ancestors in the era of word creation. This kind of "innocence" is originally a complete "ancient method". , so we can even say that the calligraphy style of seal script is in the hands of children who are just learning to write, and it has never been cut off. Based on this understanding, we must have doubts about "going away from 'innocence'" when learning various calligraphy styles and styles since the Qin and Han Dynasties.If "Clerical Script is the thieves of the Six Scripts; Zhen, Xing, and Cursive Scripts are also the thieves of the Official Script", the more the calligraphy style develops, the more difficult it is for people to experience the original experience of learning characters.The reason why Qian Yong thinks that "experiencing the original experience of people learning characters" is precious is because it is the sum of people's initial discovery, understanding, simulation, and description of the world. "Innocence" is therefore not pure and ignorant, but the first connection between man and symbols, the world, and meaning, a starting point of epistemology. Let me go back to the beginning.Shen Zengzhi also talked about opening up different calligraphy styles in "Hai Ri Lou Zha Cong", and what he talked about was still a technical issue-although it was beyond the reach of slaves, but it was far from what Qian Yongzhi cared about. count. In the three essays of "On Xing Kai Li Zhuan Tong Bian", it is not difficult for readers to find that his attempt is to allow calligraphers to refer to and integrate each other's ready-made styles, so that "the vividness of regular script and the use of more Yu Xing. The vividness of the seal script is mostly taken from the official script. The official script is the scripture of the seal script." This is indeed the reason for the development of the following argument: to write seal characters, one must use the brushwork of the official script to have a graceful appearance; In the same way, to write official characters, you must use the brushwork of regular script to be graceful.Shen Zengzhi gave a name for the routine, calling it: "It is common to think that it has changed." Obviously, this kind of statement has an interest close to "consequence theory", but I have been thinking, then, can this also be used The truth is "put all over the world", saying that if you want to write good ancient style poetry, you must use the style of writing in modern style to have grace; , you must participate in the composition of the song in order to have a graceful style... But Shen Zengzhi's words are not finished yet. After "compassing the present and thinking of change", he has another half of the truth: when writing seal characters, one must refer to the ancient brushwork to get its essence; Only the strokes of seal characters can get their essence, which is also famous, which is called: "Through the past, it is thought to be changed." His conclusion is very clear, but it is: "When things are mixed, culture is born, and things are mixed, and numbers are numerous." One sentence is easy to understand. The word "赜" in the latter sentence is not often used by people. According to Kong Yingdashu in "Yi Xici 1", it means "deep and difficult to see". "Wen Sheng", and think that things must penetrate the category of species, must be in harmony with each other, and share with each other, so that they can have fine texture and deep connotation.At this time, my uncontrollable wild thoughts came again, whether it is possible to "expose this truth to the world", saying that if one wants to write a modern novel well, one must refer to the writing style of classical novels to get it. Nature.Can this word make sense? Shen Zengzhi saw a completely different scenery from Qian Yong's historical commanding heights.He seems to have no interest at all in questions of "naivety" or "man's first contact with symbols, worlds, meanings."In his later years, calligraphy no longer had or involved any practical significance for him, and the various apparent values ​​of the real world could not shake him in the slightest.Purely indulging in the beauty of writing, as well as the ways of discovering, creating, understanding and even evaluating this beauty; these have become the only pursuit and the only remaining purpose.What he is willing to go all out for is fully revealed in the poems of Sanyuan old man: No matter whether you hear it or not, the door suddenly comes and goes, and the sound of the bus that shakes the house has not disturbed our Meisou?He buried himself in the bed full of calligraphy, painting, calligraphy and paper, and didn't feel that there was any lack or any difficulties—"The wheel shakes the customers and customers many times, and the bed is not poor if the sign is piled up." In a blink of an eye, I have also entered the age of "the building is deeply hidden from the world". Year after year, day after day, I read posts and write, and even take writing classical poems as my morning and evening lessons.Most of the time in my life when I am quiet and alone, I seem to be back in my 80s and 90s, always getting close to every text I come into contact with, instead of planning and longing for what kind of work to create, and occasionally It always feels incredible to think that "my main job should be writing novels".It seems that one of the great things in life that you have been thinking about may turn out to be a misunderstanding.This awareness—or atypical awareness—can be expressed in a dialogue. It was September 2009, and I participated in the Frankfurt Book Fair.In the bitter autumn wind of the northern country, I was walking on the night street with a critic who had known me for many years. He told me that he had been painting ink paintings for many years. At the entrance of a gangster hall, I immediately asked a few questions, and he answered very authentically, he was not an ordinary person who would call himself a teacher by just touching paper and ink, but he also turned his lips back and asked me: "What do you do every day?" If you write ancient poems, will you come back and write novels?" "Come back" was so carelessly and eloquently used that my answer came almost without thinking.I said: "I really don't know if writing novels for so many years is a preparation for my writing old poems now. Or writing old poems now is a preparation for writing novels in the future." I did not answer his questions, nor did I answer any questions about the promise, mission, or vocation of writing fiction.But at that moment, I suddenly thought of the old man Sanyuan's "Shangju Rewards Yiyu": "The ghost should meet the rain in the sky, and talk about the dust in the sea." It was so strange that I almost blurted out and asked myself: How could it be? Think of these two poems? For the elders of the Republic of China, the opening sentence of this poem, "The building is deep" is obviously a symbol of self-built blocks like a besieged city, and what they avoid is nothing but the "Republic of China"-a man who, in the eyes of the elders, is simply a man without a king and no father. , Unfaithful and unfilial Shura field.But what about me?Even if there are occasional resentment, occasional conflicts, and occasional inappropriate grievances about life, society, the current situation and the secular world, there is no need to make such a big show, saying that "the building is deeply hidden from the world", right?However, the critics who walked side by side with me in the autumn wind said it well-I haven't "come back to write novels" for a long time.When I don’t write novels, there is a vague feeling of resentment, as if intentionally or unintentionally, I am unhappy with a familiar self, or it can be said that I am unhappy with the world I am familiar with.What are you not happy about? From the most superficial point of view, for half a century, I can indeed be said to have been born in peace and not in trouble. How can I be so hypocritical as to sympathize with the situation of Sanyuan old man?How could it be possible to "travel to ancient times on one's own will" and devote oneself to calligraphy and old poems day and night, thinking that it is elegant not to play in tune with the people of the time?How could it be possible to be moved to think of Sanyuan old man's poem about the subjugation of the country after hearing a certain person of the same generation who has been using pen and ink for many years? Or, I should ask this question: how should I describe the lost kingdom in my heart? On the night streets of Frankfurt, I made an appointment with the critic, saying that when he is free one day, when he flies back to Taipei from the east coast of the United States where he teaches, maybe we can find an opportunity to play with pen and ink together.But we probably all know that the fulfillment of this covenant may be far away.Everyone is busy. Back then, the "Wujiaohui" held in Shanghai Yuyuan seemed to be a pure brush and ink meeting, or not a brush and ink meeting at all.The original intention of the participants is definitely not chanting; but once they participate, no matter from the ideal or practical level, only chanting is left.In any case, without waiting for the washing of history, this meeting has become a temporary laughing stock. People ridicule this group of former officials who are reluctant and have to cut off their braids. Because of ignorance of current affairs.Compared with Emperor Xun, who was still living in seclusion in the Forbidden City for a while, these old people probably suffered much more abuse, contempt and humiliation from the people of the Republic of China. In another song "Shangju Rewards Yiyu", the two couplets on the head and jaw of the Sanyuan old man have given such a painful answer to the ridicule: "Shentu is really out of shape, but he is detached from the drunkenness. Right and wrong become short dreams, and wandering traces have leisure." "Shentu" used the allusion in "Zhuangzi·Dechongfu", Shentujia, a "wuzi" born without lower limbs, the original text said that Shentujia refuted the words of his brother Zichan: "My master and I ( Note: It refers to the two people who were taught by Bohun no one) who has been traveling for nineteen years, but he has never known me. Today, my son and I are swimming in the body, but the son asks me to be outside the body. It is not too much Almost!" In addition, "regularity" of course refers to Qu Yuan, which is taken from the article "The Fisherman": "Everyone is turbid and I am alone, and everyone is drunk and I am sober, so I see it." , the possessions of wealth are not the concerns of the elders, what they are thinking about is the country that has been physically and crumbled, what kind of spiritual outlook can it continue to exist? In the second song "Shanghai Juyi Rewards Yiyu", there is also a painting mentioned.At the end of the sentence (the seventh sentence), there are two lines of small notes from the author, explaining that Wang Ouke wrote the volume "Mountain Dwelling Picture", in which there are two elders, and Sanyuan old man regards them as himself and Meisou, so He chanted like this: "The two elders in Suhaotu are proved, and the chanting window is often closed on the Ten Thousand Mountains." It shows that the Sanyuan old man not only wants to avoid living outside the world, but also proves his spirit in the picture. Prove it in the picture.The elders regard everything they are engaged in—that is, the artistic expression that is both remote and pedantic for the common people—as a metaphor for the old country, which exists in poetry outside the secular political cognition. , The country that exists in words and paintings cannot prove itself as a "country", only those who can do it can seek, witness, and possess it.As far as its essence is concerned: the authors, commentators and readers of these artistic creations are all the same kind of people.If you write poems without poetry theory, and discuss poetry without poetry.It is rare to write poems and discuss poems without reading other people's poems, or even write poems and discuss poems without reading poems.However, in the era and environment in which I am engaged in creation, things seem to be completely different. Looking back on the not-so-distant hundred years ago, I can hardly think of poets who were not critics, and I could hardly think of critics who were not poets. Their ordinary reading is the accumulation of knowledge; The consultation and training of the people——Qian Zhongshu's so-called "two or three plain-hearted people in the old houses in the wild rivers" are just that.If it is more exaggerated, I would rather think that in that "country", most of the poets can be called calligraphers, and most of the calligraphers can also be called poets.A poem I have memorized since I was a child, the tone of which should come from a political figure whose family and country embraced the tyranny: "Looking at the soul of the guest in the court, changing his surname and leaving the door in a hurry. Not for Tang Wu, not a son of man, but for giving The rivers and mountains are tears. It’s only been a few days for thousands of miles to leave home, and it’s been three years to cross the sea. There’s no way to talk about it. The long distance envies the birds flying west, and the sun sets and fights to enter the old forest.” Also a calligrapher. However, what happens when the authors, commentators and readers of these artistic creations are no longer the same kind of people?Authors who have lost their review qualifications, reviewers who have lost their creative ability, and readers who have lost their enthusiasm for commenting and writing seem to belong to the people of the Three Kingdoms.Perhaps we are all still clinging to the cultural carrier that has gone astray on the edge of some creative activities, absorbing the cultural content that has already fallen apart, and taking the division of labor and professional training for granted.What my teacher Wang Jingzhi said more than 30 years ago: "Creators must have their own opinions. This is a last resort." It seems that the appreciation period has been completely passed. This is my own "lost country".It can be read in the neck couplet of the old man's second song "Shanghai Rewards for One": "The geese with frost and sores cross the poor sea, and the oysters lose their lives at night." No wonder I would Suddenly I thought of his poems, Shen Zengzhi, Liang Shanzhou and Qian Yong.Their artistic practice and introspection just fade away from generation to generation, generation after generation; many doubts and issues that should be invented or should be elucidated disappear silently and perish, and are never mentioned by future generations of creators. . As a self-conscious writer, I may not be as shocking as the word "lost country". A psychological self-compensation.After all, it is difficult for me to be with those who talk about poetry but don’t write poetry, talk about characters but don’t write characters, talk about novels but don’t write novels, or those who write poetry but can’t speak poetry, write words but can’t speak words, and write novels but can’t speak novels. "Discuss training" or something.Even if I am overwhelmed, I always feel that my understanding of poetry and calligraphy is a last resort and "evidence in pictures" reflects my reflection on novels; and vice versa: my understanding of novels , perhaps as a last resort, it is a metaphor for my understanding of poetry and calligraphy.They are always a whole. People with aspirations and monsters may not expect too much from the rationality of good fortune. After all, "the sky rains grains, and the horse grows horns" is natural; and nature is the abyss of all absurd and abundant things. It might just be a superfluous footnote.