Chapter 28 Master Hongyi's Last Words--On the Method of Writing (1)

I have been here in southern Fujian for ten years. A few years ago in the winter, I often came to Nanputuo Temple. I saw a lot of flowers lined up on the railings next to the main hall, the Guanyin Hall and the two corridors. Especially during the Chinese New Year, there were many, many flowers. very. Among them is a kind called "Poinsettia" (according to the southern Fujian people, it is called Christmas flower, and the leaves at the top are all red. The scientific name is Euphorbia Pulcherrima), which is very bright in color and very beautiful. It can be said to be a unique flavor of southern China , unique color.Whenever the end of winter is over and spring is coming, put it out, as if to welcome the spring, and the atmosphere is indeed renewed.

When I came here last winter, I expected to see many "poinsettias".Unexpectedly, when it arrived, it was empty, and all I saw were other flowers and plants, so I felt very sad.Why?So many "poinsettias" in the past, where are they now?After searching and searching for a long time, I only found three trees in the place of the new Gongde building, all of which were haggard, not bright in color and looked miserable.There is no one to enjoy it.So it reminded me of the Buddhist Yangzhengyuan: In the past, it also had a very glorious history, like those "poinsettias", thriving and full of vitality; but now, it is somewhat declining.

It has been three years since Yangzhengyuan was established. During this period, there are naturally many memorable deeds, but looking at its future, it is very pessimistic for it, and the future is very unimaginable.I'm here in South Putuo now, and I can still see the signboard of Yangzhengyuan, but I'm afraid I won't be able to see it when I come back next time.This time, it may be said to be my "last speech". one What I want to talk about this time is the meaning of several students here - I want to talk about "the method of writing". I think writing is a layman's business. What's the point of monks paying attention to writing?Therefore, I think it is very wrong to talk about the method of writing.Because if a monk can only write and know nothing about other knowledge, especially Buddhism, he can be said to be a scum of Buddhism.It should be noted that monks do not understand Buddhism, but only know how to write, which is shameful.The only duty of a monk is to understand and study Buddhism.However, it is not absolutely impossible for monks to pay attention to writing, but they should not use all their energy to cope with writing; monks should definitely study Buddhism with all their strength, and it is not a bad idea to write when they are free.It is not useless if the writing has a certain appearance, and it is not useless to be able to write pairs and middle halls to give to others as a tool for propagating the Dharma.

If you can only write a few good characters, if you don't concentrate on studying Buddhism, even if people praise him for how good your handwriting is, it is just "passing on characters".I think: Although the writing of a monk is not good, if he is very moral, then his calligraphy is very precious, and the result can be "passed on from person to person"; if he has no study of Buddhism, but has no morality, even if he can write Such a person is insignificant in Buddhism, and his personality is not well known.That is, to be able to "pass it on from person to person" - this is a shameful thing, even lay people are also very shameful.

Although it is called the method of teaching and writing today, in fact, my original intention is to persuade you to come and learn Buddhism.Because you have practice and can study Buddhism, you can use your spare time to talk about the method of writing. About the origin and schools of writing, as well as brushwork, composition, and ink use... the ancients have already explained it very clearly, and there are many books for reference, so I don't need to talk about it.Now I just want to talk about my personal experience and experience about writing. Your writing is very good.But each person is limited to only one piece of writing each day, and there is only one look, which is wrong.When practicing writing every day, you should write and practice a lot of seal script, big script, medium script, and small script.If you don't have time, you can omit the Chinese regular script; as for other characters, they are indispensable and require a lot of practice.I have a little opinion, which I want to contribute to you. I think the following methods are very important.

The picture on page 207 of the original page 137 was copied by Li Shutong when he was young The picture on page 93 of the original page is on page 138 of Tang Jingyan Jielin's "Zhou San's Plate Inscription".Li Shutong learned calligraphy and seal cutting from Tang Jingyan two For those who are determined to learn characters, I always advise them: first learn seal characters.why?There are several reasons: (1) You can study "Shuowen" by the way, and you can have a little common sense about philology.Because each character has its origin, and it is not fabricated out of thin air. Regarding every stroke, one cannot write casually.If you don't learn seal script and study "Shuowen", you won't be able to understand the origin of characters and characters-it can be said that you don't know characters!Therefore, if you start writing with seal script, not only will your writing improve, but it will also be very interesting.

(2) After being able to write seal characters, learn regular script. When writing, one stroke at a time, and you will not make mistakes.I used to see a manuscript copied by a few students in Yangzhengyuan, and there were many mistakes in writing.You should know: It is very shameful to write a wrong word-just like people who learn English, you cannot misspell a letter.If you misspell the word, how will people recognize it?It is even more unacceptable to write our own Chinese characters wrongly.If we learn seal script first, and then write regular script, we can avoid many mistakes.In addition, writing seal characters can also be the basis for writing official script, regular script, and running script.After learning seal script, it is very easy to write official script, regular script, and running script - because seal script is the foundation of all kinds of writing.

If you want to write seal characters, you can first refer to books like "Shuowen".There is Wu Da Wu Da from the Qing Dynasty: A philologist in the Qing Dynasty, born in Wu County, Jiangsu Province, who was proficient in ancient philology. , quite creative in calligraphy."Shuowen Radicals" is indispensable.Because this book is very good and easy for beginners, if you want to learn to write, it is best to study this book first.The picture on page 136 of the original page shows the seal cutting works of Master Qian Hongyi on page 139