Everything in the world is inseparable from causality. Buddhism was introduced into China from Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty. At that time, people built temples, towers, Buddha statues and copied scriptures very frequently. 1000 years later, it still left us a lot of precious cultural relics, and the scriptures of the Tang Dynasty came from it.
There is even a saying in "Merits of Lotus Chinese Classics": "You write your own classics, you teach people to write them, and you support them. There is no need to rebuild the pagoda temple and build a monk's workshop to support monks, and at the same time concentrate on giving, observing precepts and striving for wisdom. Its virtue is the best and boundless. "
Dunhuang suicide note, written by the Tang Dynasty in the Six Dynasties in Dunhuang Tibetan Sutra Cave, has a total of more than 60,000 volumes, of which Buddhist scriptures account for about 90%. Most of the scriptures in the Dunhuang Tibetan Buddhist scriptures caves were written by scholars from the 4th century to 1 1 century, including shaved monks and nuns, who wrote scriptures professionally. The first two are mostly for praying for blessings and making meritorious deeds, while the latter two are professional calligraphers who earn money by writing scriptures. This gave birth to the largest calligraphy group in China's calligraphy history-Jing Sheng, and also formed a special calligraphy school-Jing Shu Style.
The classic style of writing changes with the changes of the times and regions, and there is no fixed type, nor is it a special style of writing. Most of the scriptures found in Dunhuang Tibetan Scripture Cave were written in the Tang Dynasty, which was the heyday of China's calligraphy. The Confucian classics in the Tang Dynasty not only have great cultural research value, but also have a high level of calligraphy.
In recent years, more and more people have studied the classics written by the Tang people, but most people don't know much about the materials and systems of the classics written by the Tang people.
What are the stresses in writing classics in Tang Dynasty?
What kind of works can be called Tang dynasty classics?
Take the paper used for writing scriptures as an example. Song and Zhao Xihu said in the Collection of Clear Records in the Cave: "Hard yellow paper was used by the Tang people to write scriptures, dyed with phellodendron to avoid moths." People in the Tang Dynasty used hard yellow paper to write scriptures, and the paper was translucent. Using bark as raw material, the paper was dipped with yellow tiller juice to make it appear natural yellow, and then wax was evenly coated on the paper. After calendering, the paper is glossy, moist, tough and transparent, which is called hard yellow paper. This kind of paper is characterized by moth-proofing and storage resistance. Dunhuang suicide notes can still be preserved after thousands of years of wind and sand baptism, which has a lot to do with the use of hard yellow paper. Only ancient paper, which was cooked in several times by ancient methods, can be called the real Tang Dynasty scripture writing paper.
In ancient times, papermaking had to go through several important links: boiling, filing, tamping and paper making. The production process also follows the natural laws of sunrise and sunset, which is a respect for science and awe of nature.
Yuan Kongqi's "Pen Pin" has a cloud: "When I was young, I saw the author, and there were so-called three pairs of twenty cents, with rabbit hair as the heart, wrapped in paper, and wool as a pair, every other year and every second floor." The pens used by the ancients were quite exquisite, and there was an important pen-making process called "wrapping paper".
Packaging paper technology began in Wei and Jin Dynasties and flourished in Sui and Tang Dynasties. Most of the documents in Dunhuang suicide note were written by the popular "wrapped paper and pen" at that time. The wool used for wrapping paper and pen is mainly rabbit hair, and the grade is purple hair. Rabbits are called purple hairs. Its column is purple hair and the hair is wool. According to records, wool quilt is better every other year. Because the nib has a paper winding process, the volume is too large, and the diameter of the pen holder is thicker, so it can't accommodate the nib. Pay attention to the materials used in pens, and most of them use Dan Fengyan and ChristianRandPhillips.
Now, more than a thousand years have passed, and the "roll paper method" has faded out of people's field of vision. However, in recent years, many brush makers have begun to devote themselves to research and experiments, and many chicken pens with "roll paper method" have been put on the market. Many people insist on writing with a pen wrapped in paper, thinking that this can continue the frontier with the ancients, and it seems meaningful to write about it.
Many people like to copy classics, but they always feel that it is not like this, which may be the reason.
Dunhuang Scripture Calligraphy has amazed the world since it came out. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the introduction of Buddhism into China reached its peak, and the need to spread scriptures stimulated the phenomenon of copying scriptures. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a large number of groups believed in Buddhism, from princes and nobles to ordinary people. The prosperity of Buddhism has also brought about the rapid development of copying Buddhist scriptures. Official copying and folk copying coexist, and copying classics has become an important means of copying classics. Especially in the Tang Dynasty, the official scripture copying institutions gradually improved, and specialized Buddhist scripture copying institutions were set up, and professional calligraphers appeared. Today, many of the Confucian classics in the Tang Dynasty were written by these professional Confucian classics, which also left a calligraphy art form of "Confucian classics" for later generations.
We can know from a large number of scriptures in Dunhuang Tibetan scriptures cave that the phenomenon of copying scriptures existed from the Jin Dynasty to the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and most of them were written in the Tang Dynasty. The prosperity of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty began in Tang Gaozong, and the business of copying scriptures was closely related to the rise and fall of Buddhism. During the Reform Movement of 1898, he tried to prove his special political status with Buddhist teachings. The social status of Buddhism has been improved, and there are the most scriptures in this period. At that time, these classics were not only compiled by the Secretariat, but also by many people in the Secretariat Province, Xiamen Province and Hongwen Museum. According to the Six Classics of Datang, there were about 100 students writing classics in the secretary province at that time. There is also a large group of students who make a living by writing scriptures.
Scripture writer in Tang Dynasty.
Official Confucian scholars are a unique group. They were generally trained in calligraphy by government departments, systematically studied Zhong and Wang Shufeng, and even taught directly by famous calligraphers or their disciples at that time. They are distributed in Menxia Province, Secretary Province, Zuo Chunfang and other departments, and the supervisor of scripture writing is called the messenger or judge. They are also called "regular script writers", which can be seen from the existing scriptures, such as "Sun Suoshu, secretary of the provincial regular script on May 13th last year". The setting of "regular script player" is clearly recorded in Old Tang Book. The secretary and provincial calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty were not famous, so they didn't have official titles, which was equivalent to a small official hired by the government temporarily. Official scripture writing is a government act. The government should not only provide samples of copying classics, but also provide grain money and hemp paper needed for copying classics. Due to strict monitoring, the canon is extremely neat and beautiful, almost reaching the printing specifications seen by later generations. From this point of view, writing classics has played an early role in exploring the development of printing industry in later generations.
Copying Buddhist scriptures has become a social atmosphere at that time, and many Buddhists hire people to copy Buddhist scriptures themselves or at their own expense for good luck. A large number of local people believe in Buddhism, which stimulates the demand for copying Buddhist scriptures. In this case, folk writing came into being. There are mainly these categories of folk Confucian classics: monks, schoolchildren, social scholars and so on.
Hu Shi pointed out when studying the Dunhuang Scriptures: "Some of the Scriptures were written by monks themselves, some by schoolchildren, and some were paid by donors." Scholars' participation in writing scriptures can be divided into two categories: one is to make a living by borrowing scriptures temporarily when their families are poor, and the other is a self-cultivation behavior of scholars. On July 29th, the second year of Kaiyuan, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty decreed that scripture writing was forbidden, revealing a message that it was a common phenomenon at that time. Temples in the Tang Dynasty are the main places for writing scriptures, and the remuneration of students writing scriptures is generally reasonable.
The industrialization of classic writing has also played an important role in promoting the development of calligraphy. Jingsheng's calligraphy style is only easy to identify, so it has its own characteristics. The special font used by Jingsheng refers to the dignified calligraphy style suitable for sick books, which is called Jingsheng. Generally speaking, the style of Confucian classics is very close to that of copying model books. Some scholars believe that the full text of Dunhuang Paper No.2544 "Preface to Lanting" belongs to the Institute of Confucian Classics. Although the style of writing is poor, it can be seen that Wang Xizhi's works have been widely circulated among the people. Confucian classics still use the Preface to Lanting as a model for learning Chinese characters. The trend of students writing classics is visible and influenced by fashion.
Mr. Qi Gong thinks that some Confucian classics in Tang Dynasty can be compared with calligraphy masterpieces. In the Tang Dynasty, there were many people who wrote classics seriously and wrote excellent words. Individual warped paper and ink are good, and there is a pleasing black screen between the lines. Words fall on paper, clean and refreshing, fresh and lovely. Although the words are regular, the book is extremely rich. Dry copying warp requires speed, so most of them use a single-knife straight pen, especially highlighting the beautification function of the horizontal main pen, such as dragging the horizontal in the middle of the font and breaking it before, which gives people a relaxed feeling. In particular, the wind of collecting pens continued the flavor of using pens in Wei era, but the last pen was no longer indulged, but had a subtle return, thus correcting the sense of weightlessness in Wei classical calligraphy. In the Tang Dynasty, the skill of writing by hand brought some connection to the solemn regular script and added some vitality to the serious classics.
Not all Dunhuang scriptures were written by people with rough methods. For example, the calligraphy level of Buddhist scriptures is slightly lower. This phenomenon is not surprising. Hu Shi wrote in Inscription on Scripture Writing in the Burnt Stone Room and Miscellanies in Dunhuang: "Emphasis is placed on proofreading and correcting mistakes, but there are many mistakes in Dunhuang Scripture Writing, probably due to the graffiti of illiterate schoolchildren and young monks or the graffiti of commercial scripture writers hired by illiterate patrons", from which we can see the complexity and original features of scripture writing culture.
It can be said that the writing of Buddhist scriptures in the Tang Dynasty had an important influence on calligraphy. It is mainly reflected in three aspects: first, the popularity of Buddhism and the act of copying scriptures have promoted the attention of the whole society to calligraphy; Secondly, copying scripture prompted a large number of calligraphers to intervene, which improved the integration of calligraphy and Buddhism; Thirdly, the phenomenon of copying scriptures makes it a new cultural activity beneficial to writing and Buddhist activities.
A scribe's careless stroke change may lead to a writing revolution, and the progressive history and sudden history of calligraphy are full of their own life dimensions. The copying of Buddhist scriptures provides a broader space for the development of calligraphy. Confucian classics in the Tang Dynasty also left a valuable legacy to future generations.
After becoming a monk, Li Shutong became a master of Hongyi. Because the level of painting and calligraphy was already very high before becoming a monk. So after becoming a monk, I often write Buddhist scriptures as a practice. Once, Master Hongyi showed the Buddhist scriptures he copied to the master printer at that time and wanted him to comment on his calligraphy. After reading it, Master Yin Guang didn't comment too much on the profession of calligraphy, but said: the habits of literati have not been taken off. After hearing this, Master Hongyi asked how to write scriptures. Master Yin Guang did it: only sincerity. Master Hongyi had an epiphany after listening to it. His calligraphy always adhered to the word "sincerity" until his death, so that his calligraphy remained unchanged in his later years and he became a great man.
At that time, copying Buddhist scriptures had four backgrounds:
The first one is a monk. At that time, Buddhism was spread through Buddhist scriptures, so more Buddhist scriptures were needed to spread. Monks and nuns are the most reasonable sources of copying Buddhist scriptures.
Second, intellectuals with poor economic conditions. Many failed scholars live in temples to study. For those who have no faith, it is just a means of making a living. These people have received a certain cultural education, have a certain calligraphy foundation and have colorful faces. They are the authors of the most handed down classics.
The third type is Buddhist believers, mostly lay people at home. One way for Buddhists to practice is to deepen their understanding of Buddhism by copying Buddhist scriptures, among which there are many descriptions of the merits and demerits of copying Buddhist scriptures. These Buddhist believers copied Buddhist scriptures and spread them with deep faith and feelings. This kind of people who copy classics have uneven calligraphy level, some are neat and some are naive, so their faces are diverse.
The fourth kind is special, which was written by the court during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the rulers who believed in Buddhism were in the majority, so it is not surprising to collect and support Buddhist scriptures. Works handed down from generation to generation, such as the national interpretation book "Good Understanding Method". However, the inscribed scriptures are rarely passed down from generation to generation.
Scripture writing experienced Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties, and gradually formed a style of scripture writing, which became an important calligraphy style in the field of calligraphy. It has had a great influence on the calligraphy art of later generations! It is recorded in Xuanhe Pu Shu that when students write classics, a thousand words are always the same as the law without losing their lines.
Mr. Qi Gong thinks that some Confucian classics in Tang Dynasty can be compared with calligraphy masterpieces. In the Tang Dynasty, there were many people who wrote classics seriously and wrote excellent words. Individual warped paper and ink are good, and there is a pleasing black screen between the lines. Words fall on paper, clean and refreshing, fresh and lovely. Although the words are regular, the book is extremely rich. Dry copying warp requires speed, so most of them use a single-knife straight pen, especially highlighting the beautification function of the horizontal main pen, such as dragging the horizontal in the middle of the font and breaking it before, which gives people a relaxed feeling. In particular, the wind of collecting pens continued the flavor of using pens in Wei era, but the last pen was no longer indulged, but had a subtle return, thus correcting the sense of weightlessness in Wei classical calligraphy. In the Tang Dynasty, the skill of writing by hand brought some connection to the solemn regular script and added some vitality to the serious classics.