Chapter 11 Section 10 The Art of Calligraphy in the Yuan Dynasty

The Mongol regime in northern Saibei became stronger and stronger. Jin was destroyed in 1234 A.D.; the name of the country was changed to Yuan in 1271; , the Yuan Dynasty was less than a hundred years old; although it ruled the country with martial arts, it was gradually Sinicized under the influence of the long and broad Han culture.During the Tianli period, the "Kuizhang Pavilion" was established, and a calligraphy historian was appointed. With Ke Jiusi as a doctor of calligraphy, he began to attach importance to and promote calligraphy. In the Yuan Dynasty, following the trend of the Song Dynasty, attention was paid to preserving ink marks, while stone carvings were not very cherished.Therefore, calligraphy at that time was still dominated by running cursive.However, the historical lessons of the Song people's emphasis on the law, which led to the weak calligraphy of the Southern Song Dynasty, greatly alerted the calligraphers of the Yuan Dynasty. Headed by Zhao Mengfu [fu Fu], the calligraphers of the Yuan Dynasty surpassed the Song people, traced back to the Wei, Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and tried to reproduce the ancient times. Therefore, Kai, Xing, Cao, Li, and Zhuan have all attracted the attention of some calligraphers, among which Zhao Mengfu is the representative.Zhao Yuan belonged to the imperial family of Song Dynasty. At the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court went to the south of the Yangtze River to seek talents. He was ranked first and was appreciated.He was indeed a Confucian master in the Yuan Dynasty, and he was proficient in poetry, literature, calligraphy, painting, and printing.Calligraphy, omnipotent.Its regular script is based on Tang Kai, combined with the style of running script. It is elegant and elegant in the rules and regulations, and has a fresh and elegant appearance in the solemn and heavy. Impossible.His running script, following the style of the Jin Dynasty, is soft, graceful and smooth, and the characters are flat and flat, and the composition is scattered and hidden. It has a dignified and fluent charm, which can be called a god.What is especially valuable is that Zhao Mengfu still attaches great importance to Zhangcao, Zhuan, and Li. Zhuancao is not enough, and it is just a style, but Zhangcao is very ancient. However, it is an undeniable good deed to connect the sages, pass on the salary to the descendants, and make the ancient law flourish. The chapters and grasses in the Ming Dynasty were very prosperous, and it started here.

At the same time as Zhao, there was Xian Yushu, who could also be called a giant in the Yuan Dynasty. He took Tang Fa as his sect, and got his magnificent and magnanimous atmosphere.Kangli Ao [nao Nao] Ao is a member of the Kangli tribe of the Semu tribe. Although he is a minority, he is proficient in Sinology and is especially good at cursive script.Ke Jiusi, a doctor of Jianshu, is proficient in regular script, good at moving, sometimes mixed with running script, with a simple and dignified atmosphere.In addition, Deng Wenyuan and others are also famous for being good at calligraphy. In a nutshell, although calligraphy in the Yuan Dynasty still focused on running cursive, in terms of method selection, although it may incorporate the charm of the Song people, it did not follow the path of the Song people, but followed the Jin and Tang dynasties, from practice to theory. , are different from those of the Song people.Objectively speaking, there is no qualitative leap and no breakthrough achievement in art, so some people accuse it of being old-fashioned and unable to produce new ones.However, looking at it from another angle, firstly, it is not a simple retro, but it adds a softness and gracefulness that Jin and Tang people did not have; secondly, it is more important, it is the purpose of respecting the ancient law, which makes the calligraphy world of the Yuan Dynasty reverse. In terms of historical development, it should be said that it is a kind of progress and enrichment, which is in line with the requirements of the law of calligraphy art.Therefore, we should neither praise the calligraphy of the Yuan Dynasty too much, nor should we blindly criticize it.