Page 166 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

character radiates harmony, balance, and classical

beauty, but also, as we have seen, a strong inner

tension. It is this perfect balance of energy and

restraint that characterizes yun.

To illustrate fa ("methods"), which Dong Qichang Fig. 6. Wang Shen (ca. 1048-after 1104). "Poem Written
associated with the Tang dynasty, we use the same on the Lake at Yingchang and Song to the Time of
character, shuang, this time written by Lu Jianzhi, a Dielan hua. " Dated to 1086. Detail of a handscroll, ink
seventh-century follower ofWang Xizhi (fig. 5, on paper. Palace Museum, Beijing.
right). At first glance, Lu Jianzhi 's shuang appears
almost identical to Wang Xizhi s; and this is as one an imposition of the self, qualities of singularity that
may expect, considering that Lu's calligraphy style draw attention to the distinguishing characteristics
of a particular person. Qualities of individuality are
was founded on a slavish study of the earlier writer. not absent in the earlier calligraphy, but never are
There is, however, an important difference: Lu's
"ideas" more strongly sensed and the individual
character is a pasteurized version ofWang's. more directly celebrated than in the writing of the
Song calligraphers active in the second half of the
Achieving overall balance and harmony was now
eleventh century. When Dong Qichang wrote of
such a paramount concern that there were no self-
generated challenges and hence no creative "Song ideas," he most likely had in mind the
solutions. That second stroke is not as long now,
and it is positioned in a way that makes the entire —triumvirate of great Song calligraphers Su Shi

upper element much more stable. Each element of (1037-1101), Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), and Mi

Nothe character is carefully balanced and spaced. —Fu but what he points to, in fact, was a

slips have been made, but then no risks were taken. widespread phenomenon apparent in the work of a
Fa suggests regimen and discipline imposed from number of calligraphers. Wang Shen (ca. 1048-after
above by a higher authority. The association of/fl
with the Tang dynasty calls to mind the Tang 1 104), a close friend of the above three, wrote in a
emphasis on structure, on rules and their
codification, all in the interest of assuring stable particularly distinctive style (fig. 6), which Huang
Tingjian made fun of by likening it to the images
continuity. Singling out Wang Xizhi's calligraphy as of strange demonic creatures he once saw in a

a canonical model to be emulated at the court was —piece of embroidery from a foreign land some
one such standardization. Lu Jianzhi's calligraphy, as
well as that of many of the other early Tang without hands and feet, some with too many. "This
writers, demonstrates the result: the spontaneity of kind of strangeness is not what is normally studied
Jin has been transformed into an image ot wrought
in calligraphy," Huang wrote, "but Wang Shen
perfection. certainly has developed his own style."" There is a
tone of grudging approval in Huang Tingjian s
Methods, of course, did not appear first in Tang comment, admiration for Wang Shen's ability to
calligraphy. Rules, propriety, and established
standards ot aesthetic quality are the foundation for distinguish his writing from that of others, even if it
the practice of calligraphy in any period. Similarly, means unorthodox results.
yun is not necessarily absent from Tang calligraphy.
It is true, however, that these two very significant Historically, the "ideas" of Song calligraphy proved
periods in the development of Chinese the most problematic for later Chinese

— —calligraphy the fourth and seventh centuries are

distinguished by different emphases on what was
considered important. In the Jin dynasty it was
spontaneity, naturalness, the images and energies of
the natural world; in the Tang dynasty it was
elegance tempered by propriety, stateliness,
decorum, and orthodoxy. Both sets of aesthetic
criteria are essential components of Chinese
calligraphy. "Resonance" and "methods" are simply
convenient terms to designate these two different
aspects of the calligrapher's art.

But what of "ideas," which Dong Qichang

associated with the Song dynasty? Yi ("ideas") means

"intent, will, reason." It refers to the cognitive
processes that distinguish an individual, along with
his or her idiosyncrasies. In calligraphy it suggests

CALLIGRAPHY 164