Alexandra Yablochkina

Zhao Ji 趙佶, Hui-zong徽宗. 1082, Tianshui (prov. Gansu) – 1135, Wugocheng, Yilan, (prov. Heilongjiang).

Zhao Ji was the 11th son of Emperor Shen-tsong (reigned 1068-1086) and was Emperor of China from 1101 to 1126, before abdicating in favor of his son Qin-tsong (1126-1127). He went down in history under his temple name Hui-tsung. The 25-year period of Ch. ' s reign is considered the apogee of the aesthetic refinement of the imperial court. Hui-tsung was an artistically gifted person and rightly went down in the history of both Chinese calligraphy and painting. The emperor's passion for art was so undivided that it led to major mistakes in the government, which turned into a military defeatChina and the conquest of its entire northern part by the Jurchens. The brilliant ruler, along with his son, the emperor, lived out his life in captivity.

The Emperor's passion for calligraphy and painting eclipsed all previous historical precedents. By decree of 1104, he orders to attract the best calligraphers and artists of the empire to the court and unites them in the Academy of Painting established by him (Hua yuan畫圜According to his decree, the search and collection of works of art by great masters of past dynasties is launched. The best experts are invited to the court, who make an inventory of the Imperial Assembly, known as Xuan-he shupu 宣和書譜 ("Catalog of the [Imperial Collection of the reign Era] Xuan-he"). Among contemporary calligraphers, Hui-tsung emphasized creativity Huang Ting-jian黄庭堅 whom he revered as his teacher. Huang Ting-jian's picturesque calligraphy inspired Zhao Ji to use the painterly writing technique in his works. In the charter, he tries to work with an inclined brush with long and thin hair and gets features of unusually elongated and lightweight forms. As Zhao Ji turned the brush, he would increase the pressure, which gave the features a special refinement. Its hooks and creases are hypertrophied, and the ends of the features are emphasized by diagonal signs. The source of this technique is style Chu Sui-liang禇遂良 His features have been compared to the grace of a frail lady who finds even her silken robes a burden. But none of Zhao Ji's predecessors achieved such an enhanced pictorial quality and the inherent decorative quality of the calligraphic style. His features too clearly resemble the leaves of orchids and bamboo. Only the refined taste of the emperor saved his works from the harsh criticism of experts, because with a less high-quality performance, his artistic techniques degenerated into a defective "crane's shin" (he xi 鹤膝Zhao Ji's style of writing formed a separate version of the statutory handwriting, called the "official" style of writing. shou-jin 瘦金 ("fine gold handwriting") or shou-jin 瘦筋 ("thin tendons"). This type of handwriting was not widely used due to its exaggerated decorative effect. It was used in the minting of coins during the reign of Hui-tsung. In the XX-beginning XXI centuries of handwriting inscriptions shou-jin decorative and applied arts and industrial design items are also decorated. But in general, this handwriting remained only an episode in the history of Chinese calligraphy, the tradition of which in the Song Dynasty was reliably insured against such dead-end development options.

Famous works by Zhao Ji include:: Rong zhong qiu yue shi 閏中秋月诗; handwriting kai-shu, Gugong Museum, Beijing; Qian Zi wen千字文, 1122, handwriting kuan-cao, museum prov. Liaoning et al.

As an artist, he worked a lot in the genre of "flowers and birds" (hua niao) in the polychrome technique of "careful brush" (gong bi) in the style of Xu Xi徐熙 (X century),. In those cases when he turned to the landscape genre, he preferred laconic monochrome writing in the style of Lee Cheng李成 (919-967), and Go Si郭熙(1020-1090). Attribution of Zhao Ji's paintings is complicated by the practice of his personal signature on the works of court masters who copied or stylized the emperor's originals.

Mi Yuren米友仁, Zi yuan-hui 元暉，Ping-ren平仁，hao Lanzhuo laozhen (Idle, stupid old man) 懶拙老人。1074/86–1151/65? Mi Fu's eldest son米芾, in this connection, it is referred to as Er Mi 二米 "Two Mi" or Xiao Mi小米 (Junior Mi), calligrapher, painter, expert.

Chinese experts had different opinions about Mi Yu-ren's achievements. Some felt that he had never been able to rise to the level of his father, while others found his calligraphy and painting mature, outstanding, and energetic. It is important to note that, being the heir to his father's creativity, both in calligraphy and painting, Mi Yu-ren was able to show his creative personality and create original and high-quality versions of the Mi Fu style. The masterpiece of the younger Mi is the scroll (possibly a copy) "Wonderful view of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers" Xiao Xiang qi guan tu瀟湘奇觀圖 1137 (Gugong Museum, Beijing) with his own calligraphic afterword. Mi Yu-ren modified the shortened horizontal point of his father Mi dian 米点 by giving it a more elongated and thin shape. His calligraphy is characterized by an inspired reverence and extraordinary strength at the same time. She feels a deep spiritual kinship with Mi Fu.

Mi Fu/ Mi Fei米芾, zi Yuan-zhang 元章, Hao Lumen jiushi 鹿門居士, Xianyang manshi 襄阳漫士, Haiyue neishi 海岳内史. 1051/2, Xiangyang (prov. Hubei ‑ - 1107/8, Huaiyang (prov. Jiangsu). Mi Fu is a leading calligrapher of the Song Dynasty and is considered one of the leaders of the art direction wenrenhua ("painting of pundits"). His ancestors on his father's side served in the military department. Mi Fu's mother was in the retinue of Emperor Shen-tsung's mother as an honorary lady of the court, which gave him protection in the service. Mi Fu grew up as a child prodigy, and at the age of ten, he wrote a stele in a legal handwriting. In his youth, Mi Fu was fond of fencing, which will affect his brushwork technique. At the age of 18, Mi Fu enters the civil service, which he does not leave almost until his death. However, due to the complexity of her character, Mi Fu's career was not smooth and was punctuated by retirements. Most often, all appointmentsMi Fu were associated with positions in the province, usually in the south, where he ruled counties. Shortly before his death, Mi Fu participated as an expert in the compilation of the famous catalog of the Imperial Collection Xuan-he shupu 宣和書譜. He copies valuable examples of calligraphy, for which he is generously gifted by Emperor Huizong.

Mi Fu deliberately initiated the eccentric antics, thereby asserting his direct continuity with the heroes of the direction fengliu ("wind and flow"). So, he wore a robe with too loose sleeves and a wide belt in the fashion of the Jin Dynasty period. Mi Fu was a passionate collector and one of the best art connoisseurs of his time. In the last years of his life, spent in southern China, Mi Fu kept his collection on a boat, which he called the "Boat of Calligraphy and Painting" (Shu hua fan書畵舫). It was a kind of "floating museum" where the calligrapher invited his friends to see the works of art he had collected.

Mi Fu wrote treatises that became classics of Chinese aesthetic thought: Bao zhang dai fang lu宝章待访录 ("Information on the search for Precious scrolls") 1086, Shu shi書史 (History of Calligraphy) 1107, Hua shi 畫史 ("History of Painting"), Yan Shi砚史 ("History of inkwells"), Mo Shi墨史 ("History of ink"), Pin ji te评纸帖 ("Paper examination") and Hai yao ming yan 海窑明言 ("Famous sayings from [the studio] “Ocean and peaks""). The last composition is a collection of epigrams and colophons of Mi Fu, composed in the first half XVII v.

Despite Mi Fu's rare talent, his calligraphy training spanned decades, and he was expected to "wander for a long time in the forest of brushes." He began by studying the large-format charter Yan Zhen-qing颜真卿, and then switched to the style Chu Sui-liang禇遂良. A separate stage was copying the "Diamond Sutra" written by Liu Gong-quan'em柳公權. Only after a thorough preparation based on Tang calligraphy does Mi Fu turn to the legacy of the Two Wangs (Er Wan 二王 In copying their works, Mi Fu achieved such perfection that in later centuries some of his copies, which were in the Imperial Collection, were considered to be originals of the Jin masters. Go to what you created Su Shi蘇軾Mi Fu adds a third component to the synthesis of the Two Wang and Yang Zhen-Qing styles: the Han calligraphy style Cai Yong蔡邕.

Mi Fu calligraphy is characterized by a special rhythm, which is compared to the rhythm of the movement of horses moving freely with inconsistent steps. Mi Fu developed the aesthetic of "single feature calligraphy" (and bi shu 一筆書In his opinion, the great Tang calligraphers Ouyang Xun, Chu Sui-liang, and Yan Zhen-qing followed this path. The principle of a" single feature " implied the ability to feel the unity of brush movement, as a result of which a single energy pulse passes through individual features of the hieroglyph. The feeling of this unity arises meditatively due to the concentration of the calligrapher, and its realization occurs spontaneously in rapid strokes of the brush. In his mature works, Mi Fu freely varies the size of hieroglyphs, placing four or only one character in columns. In the hovering of his masterful brush, unexpected stops are replaced by sharp strokes, pulsing hand signals and rhythmic turns. Precise use of tonal gradations of ink enriches the plasticity of the stroke, bypassing the surface decorativeness. Mi Fu's later masterpieces are characterized by a profound laconism, sublime purity and liberating lightness.

Mi Fu's exactingness prompted him to destroy those of his works whose quality did not satisfy him. So, at the age of 30, he burns all his early works, and before his death again destroys many works. The heirs ' collection (about 100 scrolls) eventually spread around the world. There are few authentic works of Mi Fu that have survived to this day, but they are all masterpieces of calligraphic art: the scroll Tiaoxi shi juan 苕溪诗卷冠1088, handwriting shin-shu (Gugong Museum, Beijing), scroll Shu su te 蜀素帖 1088, handwriting shin-shu (Gugong Museum, Taipei), scroll Wuqiang zhou zhong shi 吳江舟中詩1095, handwriting xing-cao (Metropolitan Museum of Art), scroll Hongxian shi 虹縣詩, 1106, handwriting shin-shu (Tokyo National Museum), etc. It is known that Mi Fu himself was most proud of his achievements in the charter of small format, but there are no reliable samples of his charter letter now. Mi Fu only started painting in the last years of his life, after about 1100. None of his paintings have been preserved.

Mi Fu's calligraphy style is so individual that he had no direct predecessors or significant followers, with the exception of his own son Mi Yu-ren米友仁. However, all subsequent generations of calligraphers were inevitably influenced to one degree or another by his creative personality.

As an artist, Mi Fu became famous primarily for landscapes, although he also painted portraits and genre compositions. The original Mi Fu painting style was included in the mandatory set of stylistic interpretations of artists of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Its distinctive features are the abundance of washouts of wet carcass Shi mo 濕墨and modeling shapes using parallel horizontal points heng dian 横点 that received the name Mi dian 米点. The difficulty of drawing these dots was to convey the internal unity of the rhythm of energy circulations, without which the dots looked either like beans strung on a wire, or like a chaotic cluster of blots. In Mi Fu's performance, the oval points of the juicy carcass glowed like stars in the midst of thick fogs, embodying, according to the standards feng shui, energy circulation chi. Mi Fu considered the main goal in painting to be tian zhen 天眞 – the embodiment of "heavenly truth".

Huang Ting-jian黄庭坚, tzu Lu-zhi 鲁直, hao, Shangu dao-ren (Mountain Gorge Taoist)山谷道人, Fu-wen 涪翁. 1045/50, Xiushui County (prov. Jiangxi) -1105. At the age of 20, he received a higher academic degree jinshi and he held high positions at the court, combining them with constant studies in calligraphy and poetry. Ranked among the four great ones (sy yes 四大) of calligraphers of the Northern Song Dynasty. The life of a calligrapher has been recognized as the standard of Confucian virtue. When his mother fell terminally ill, he left all his business and forgot about his own needs, and did not leave her bed for a year. For this display of filial affection, Huang Ting-jian was included in the honor roll of 24 examples of exemplary respect for parents. At the same time, he considered himself an adept of the Chan Buddhist school. In the life of Huang Ting-chien, as well as many of his contemporaries, Confucian ethics were organically combined with Chan psychotechnics and Taoist cosmism. For three decades, Huang Ting-jian has been intensely studying the calligraphic heritage of Wang Xi-zhi王羲之 Before I could call him my " friend through the ages." Yan Zhen-qing also had a significant influence on him颜真卿. At the same time, so did Su Shi蘇軾 Huang Ting-jian departs from the style of the Jin luminary in the direction of greater individualization of forms. In his compositional innovations, he was inspired by calligraphy on Zhou bronze, as he reports in his theoretical essays. He developed the brush movement technique on stelae from the Han Dynasty, as well as the Southern and Northern Dynasties. By the age of 50, Huang Ting-jian had developed his own method of writing, which enhances the energy of signs through a special brush technique, the principle of which was suggested to him by the strokes of a boatman's oars. Huang Ting-jian defines his technique as: "the brush in the center applies force" (bi joon yoon lee筆中用力) and "there is a brush in the middle of the character" (zi zhong yu bi字中有笔). This means that in the technique of working with a brush, the effort must be repeated and concentrated in a certain synchronicity along the central axis of the composition of the sign and the columns of hieroglyphs. In the charter and in the handwriting shin-shu 行書Huang Ting-jian's calligraphy is distinguished from Su Shi's strong and determined style by the subtle and nervous intensity of plastic variations. Huang Ting-jian's calligraphy combines brilliant craftsmanship with a childlike clumsiness that gives his work a rare charm.

Huang Ting-jian cursive writing a special twist of shapes is inherent. The style is based on a combination of ancient "tadpole writing" (ke-dou-wen蝌蚪文), the normal handwriting version zhuan shu篆書and handwriting li-shu隸書. This unique plastic synthesis significantly distinguishes his calligraphy from the cursive writing of the great Tang masters. Chinese critics emphasize the connection of Huang Ting-chien's cursive style with the Chan aesthetic and the more open identification of the emotional aspect through calligraphic rhythms than that of Tang luminaries. Huang Ting-jian himself spoke about the need to implement the "three wonders" (san chi 三奇): a wonderful brushwork, a wonderful composition, and an extraordinary plan in Chan.

In his later works, Huang Ting-chien sought to combine the plastic programs of writing and cursive writing to reveal the beauty and grace of forms. The hieroglyphs in its columns alternate like waves from the strokes of an oar, but at the same time they are opened into space like pine needles. The calligrapher's writing technique takes a risky approach to painting. A number of its features are perceived almost as picturesque strokes. When writing features, the calligrapher balances on the edge of two defects at once: a" broken hairpin" (jae chai gu 折釵股) and "leaks from a leaking roof" (wu lou hen 屋漏痕The first defect concerns the deflection of the features, and the second is associated with the abundance of liquid-diluted carcass. The highest professionalism of a calligrapher lies in the fact that he extracts rich artistic effects from such defects, which is possible only as a result of a well-honed writing technique.

Original scrolls of Huang Ting-jian have been preserved: Zhu Shang-tso te诸上座帖; handwriting cao-shu, Gugong Museum, Beijing; Hua qi shi te花气诗帖, 1087; handwriting cao-shu, Gugong Museum, Taipei; Song feng ge shi juan松风阁诗卷; handwriting kai-shu, Gugong Museum, Taipei, etc. Huang Ting-jian presented his aesthetic views in his treatise "Reflections on Calligraphy" (Lun Shu論書) and numerous epigrams, the collection of which is called "The Meeting of the [Taoist] Mountain Gorge" (Shan-gu ji山谷集).