Wang Hujiang’s artistic path

Wang Hujiang is a native of Shijiazhuang who speaks Shanxi dialect. In 1955, when he was 3 years old and still unable to remember anything, he settled in Yushe, Shanxi Province with his parents. It seems more accurate to say that he is from Shanxi.

In 1958, the Great Leap Forward Movement occurred in China. For a time, a large number of colorful propaganda posters and majestic slogans appeared on the streets and alleys, and on the walls of government agencies, factories and mines, such as: "The people Communes are bridges, communism is paradise", "To catch up with the United States, one day equals twenty years" and so on. One morning in November this year. 7-year-old Wang Hujiang went out to play when he suddenly saw a man in his forties who looked like a teacher standing on a stool. He took a closer look and saw that the man was looking at the front wall of his house with four huge red letters with black borders. He looked at the words for a long time and actually forgot about the business of playing.

The man lowered his head and discovered him. Then he asked: "Child, what are you looking at?"

Xiao Hujiang replied: "Your calligraphy and painting are really beautiful."

The man said: "The calligraphy is not drawn. This is called artistic calligraphy." Then, Wang Hujiang was still standing there. The man asked again: "Do you like it?"

Xiao Hujiang replied: "I do. But what does the word you want to write mean?"

The man said: "A bumper harvest ”

Xiao Hujiang still doesn’t understand the meaning of “a good harvest”. After a while. The man saw that he had no intention of leaving. Then he said, "If you have nothing to do, just bring me the ink. I will give you some fruit peel."

So. Xiao Hujiang served the man red ink and black ink for a whole day. His little hands were red from the cold, and he got two pieces of sour and sweet fruit peel. The matter is over, and the fruit peel is also eaten. But he became very interested in writing.

In 1964, 13-year-old Wang Hujiang graduated from junior high school. Came to Yushe Chengguan Commune to work as a correspondent for the commune secretary. The reason why he graduated from junior high school at the age of 13 was that he had good grades in reading and writing. I skipped second grade and fourth grade twice in elementary school. ．

At that time. There was a secretary in the commune named Dou who was good at writing calligraphy and calligraphy. One day after get off work, Wang Hujiang found a calligraphy book on his desk. He quietly took it away and read it all night. This was the first time he saw calligraphy copybooks.

The next day. When he returned the copybook to Secretary Dou, he said: "This copybook is really good."

Secretary Dou asked: "Do you like writing?"

Wang Hujiang nodded.

Secretary Dou said: "Tomorrow I will go to the provincial capital Taiyuan to buy you a copy."

Soon, Wang Hujiang got his first Yan calligraphy copybook. Secretary Dou Became his first calligraphy teacher. He practiced calligraphy obsessively, and the commune secretary discovered that he was a young child who could be cultivated.

The days when I was unable to write

In May 1965, the state-owned 753 Factory in Taigu, Shanxi Province (a military industrial enterprise known externally as the "State-owned Limin Machinery Factory") came to the county to recruit workers. The commune secretary Said: "You go. Progress is faster there. ”

After entering the factory, Wang Hujiang was assigned to the power workshop as a lathe apprentice. After just one week of working, Master Tian of the lathe team asked him to help with the blackboard report in the workshop. Naturally, he was very serious about it. This issue of the blackboard newspaper suddenly made him famous throughout the factory. The factory leaders immediately transferred him to the factory workers' congress to engage in propaganda work.

The "Cultural Revolution" began, and the employees in the factory suddenly became famous. Naturally, they were divided into two groups. Wang Hujiang was good at writing calligraphy, so he naturally became the "main team member" of one group of mass organizations in writing big-character posters. In fact, for him, who was fifteen or sixteen years old, he didn't care about the content of the big-character posters. ．He could write whatever the leaders of the mass organizations asked him to do, and it was a joy to write freely on paper every day. This experience was very similar to what his mentor Mr. Qi Gong had imagined, but Mr. Qi Gong did not have the dangers he would experience in the future. .

As the conflict between the two groups escalated sharply, one night, people from the other group captured Wang Hujiang and two other companions. He was blindfolded, interrogated and tortured, and was interrogated 8 times in one night. At dawn, his captors transferred Wang Hujiang and others to Taigu Middle School, and the three of them were tied up. On the pillar on the second floor.

After being tied to the pillar, Wang Husheng remembered a printed copy of "The Autobiography of Mao Zedong" he had read not long ago. It said: After Mao Zedong was captured by the Kuomintang reactionaries, The story of his escape by biting the rope that bound him.

Therefore, Wang Hujiang also took advantage of the opportunity of the guarded students to go to eat, bit off the rope, and rescued his two companions. The three of them jumped off the second floor and limped to the army barracks not far away for help. Not far away, bullets were fired from behind. One of the two companions was hit in the thigh and the other was wounded in the foot. They still endured the pain and ran into the door of the barracks and received treatment.

Half a month later. Wang Hujiang hid in a building at Shanxi Agricultural College. Unexpectedly, at 8 o'clock in the morning one day, another group from the "753" factory fired five or six "82" mortar shells into the building. The room next to him was hit by a shell... This kind of shell was from their factory. The new products were produced for the "Resist US Aggression and Aid Vietnam" campaign at that time. In the following ten years, Wang Hujiang was often frightened awake in his dreams. He could never forget the loud noise and the fear of being hit by a cannonball.

Wang Hujiang escaped again. This time he hid at the house of his aunt who worked in the Jinzhong Prefectural Committee.

On July 23, 1968, the central government issued a notice requiring mass organizations to implement a grand alliance. The two groups of people in the factory shook hands and made peace, and arranged for him to be responsible for employee training and education in the factory education department. During these days of hiding in Tibet. Wang Hujiang, who almost died in a fight, did not write calligraphy. This was the only interruption in his decades of practicing calligraphy. Wang Hujiang was excited and comfortable to be able to practice calligraphy again. He realized that practicing calligraphy every day had become a part of his life. His biggest wish at that time was to be able to worship a calligraphy teacher and seek advice from an expert. But this idea was extremely unrealistic at the time. In the late 1960s, the "cultural shock" brought about by the "Cultural Revolution" had already affected every corner of the country. In the Japanese calligraphy circle, there were already statements such as "the art of calligraphy has disappeared in China" and "the focus of calligraphy art has shifted." to Japan". In this social and cultural background, Wang Hujiang practiced calligraphy by himself. However, just one copybook in Yan style is not enough. Writing in block letters is only the basis for learning calligraphy. He thought of Xinhua Bookstore to buy a few copybooks in running script, cursive script, official script, Wei stele, seal script and other calligraphy. This was nothing more than a daydream. At that time, bookstores only sold political books such as "Selected Works of Mao Zedong". How to learn further? What to study? He fell into the predicament of "no village in front and no store in the back", and he was very anxious.

In September 1970, when he was checking books in the library of a school for the children of factory workers, his eyes suddenly lit up. He saw two copybooks, one of which was written by Huai, a monk from the Tang Dynasty known as the founder of Kuangcao. Su's "Thousand-Character Essay on Xiaocao", and the other is Zhuge Liang's "Execution of the Master" written by Yue Fei. The two copybooks lie quietly in the corner of the library, no one cares about them, but to Wang Hujiang they are indeed treasures worth thousands of gold. From then on, based on several years of practicing facial expressions, he talked with Master Huaisu through copybooks every day and studied Huaisu's cursive calligraphy assiduously.

December 26, 1971. It’s Chairman Mao Zedong’s 78th birthday. All Xinhua bookstores across the country issue Red Sun series of books. On this day, as soon as the Xinhua Bookstore in the remote Taigu County opened, Wang Hujiang squeezed in. He unexpectedly bought the only book "36 Handwritten Poems of Chairman Mao", which made him ecstatic and deeply moved. I fell in love with Chairman Mao's calligraphy - Mao style calligraphy, and found a real teacher on the road of self-learning calligraphy.

From then on, Wang Hujiang began to practice Huai Su and Mao Ti's Kuang cursive calligraphy.

After a while. He deeply realized that learning and practicing Huaisu and Mao style calligraphy is a very difficult and difficult-to-achieve task. Monk Huaisu's achievements in cursive calligraphy and Chairman Mao's achievements in Mao calligraphy. Just like two daunting peaks, those who practice later are not about how to surpass, but how to get closer to the peak. How to write your own characteristics. Achieving this requires constant awareness and persistent hard practice. He plans to achieve this goal in 15 to 20 years. While Wang Hujiang was diligently practicing Huaisu Kuangcao and Mao style calligraphy, he was also practicing his own style of cursive calligraphy on "another front".

In 1977, Wang Hujiang was transferred to the Jinzhong Area Trade Union and served as the Secretary-General of the Jinzhong Area Calligraphers Association, a position he held for 12 years. During this period, he was admitted to the undergraduate classes of Jinzhong Normal College and China Labor Movement College, and served as class monitor and student union president. He successfully completed his studies in the Chinese major of the junior college and the undergraduate labor protection major.

At the same time. He also made the first leap in his calligraphy career.

In the autumn of 1985, at the Jinzhong Calligraphy Exhibition, his cursive calligraphy work "Mountain Flowers" won the second prize. This is his first time participating in a calligraphy competition. He has been practicing quietly for more than ten years. An eighty-year-old calligrapher named Li from the Jinzhong area also won the second prize for his work. After seeing his "Mountain Flowers", the old man said: "Practice hard and you will succeed."

In 1986, at the National Employee Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition, another of his short-character cursive calligraphy works "Tiger on a Dragon Plate" won the second prize; in 1989, his running calligraphy work "The Fragrance of Calligraphy and Ink" won the Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China. First prize in the annual national calligraphy, painting and photography competition. In 1988, Shanxi Province held a calligraphy, painting and photography competition. Wang Hujiang wrote a poem written by Mao Zedong in imitation wool style: "Looking at the strong pines in the dusk, flying through the chaotic clouds calmly; a fairy cave is born, and the infinite scenery is on the dangerous peak." , submitting such a work to the competition was a bit like asking for advice, but I didn’t expect it to be an instant success. Won the second prize. At this time, he was 36 years old and had been practicing Mao calligraphy for 17 years, and finally got recognition from the calligraphy circles in the province.

If. Before, he practiced Mao calligraphy out of a mentality that he couldn't put it down, so this award has strengthened his belief that he must practice Mao calligraphy well.

For many years, Wang Hujiang has conducted repeated comparative studies on Mao calligraphy and Huaisu Kuangcao. He believes that compared with the cursive script of Mao Zedong and the founder Huai Su, there are both similarities and differences. Huaisu's wild calligraphy "is like a dragon and a snake, flying around and full of energy. The Mao style calligraphy has inheritance and innovation.

To evaluate Mao style calligraphy, we must first solve the problem of Mao style calligraphy art. From the time when Mao Zedong entered a private school to learn calligraphy at the age of 8 until his death at the age of 83, he always loved the art of calligraphy and conducted in-depth research on it, whether during the arduous war years or the turbulent peace-building years. , calligraphy is an important part of his spiritual life.

When he was a student, Mao Zedong studied the regular script of Jin and Tang Dynasties and the stele of Wei Dynasty. This gave him a solid foundation in regular script. It is said that Mao Zedong collected more than 600 calligraphy in his lifetime and read more than 400 of them. He never tired of reading famous posts such as "Shu Tie" and "Kusun Tie" and couldn't put it down. At the same time, he also learned from others' strengths and often read "Cursive Script Essentials", "Cao Jue Hundred Rhymes", "Standard Cursive Script Samples", etc. His years of diligent study and practice as well as social practice activities as a revolutionary, military strategist, leader, and poet gave him the spirit of revolutionary heroism and revolutionary romanticism. These qualities were reflected in his calligraphy creation, forming a The characteristics of Mao calligraphy are "majestic, free and unrestrained vertically and horizontally, echoing diagonally, well-proportioned, free-flowing, coherent, and unique"

For example: Mao Zedong's own calligraphy written on April 24, 1962. The poem "Qilu·Long March" is the masterpiece of his mature calligraphy period. In this long scroll with 56 characters in the vertical banner, the layout is open and powerful, sparse, natural and ups and downs, which is very consistent with the epic of the original poem. In terms of writing skills, he gave full play to the expressive characteristics of cursive writing. The changes in the color of the ink, the transition of the peak and the peak of the strokes, and the rapid rhythm were all handled with great skill and skill, reaching a very high level. What should be mentioned in particular is that when writing "The three armies are all in full bloom", he wrote the word "Guo" in a magical way, then followed the trend with a continuous white stroke, then returned to the top and then turned white again. The bottom line is closely connected with the word "hou", and the joy of the soldiers celebrating the victory is vivid on the paper. Mao calligraphy is a wonderful work of modern calligraphy in my country. It is mainly divided into: self-composed poems, ancient poems, and poems. There are three parts to the inscription, among which the most artistically valuable part is the self-written poem written by Mao Zedong. The ideological conception of the poem and the charm of the cursive script complement each other, which is a masterpiece for many people. I have practiced Mao calligraphy, but some people can only achieve a similar appearance after years of hard work. It is too difficult to achieve both form and spirit.

In order to learn and master the charm of Mao calligraphy. Wang Hujiang first requires himself to be familiar with Mao Zedong's life and revolutionary practice as he would a friend, to understand the interesting stories surrounding a certain work, to grasp the temperament, joy, anger, sorrow, and joy of a great man from multiple angles, and to repeatedly experience Mao Zedong's creation. First, the historical background of the work; secondly, the collected Mao calligraphy works.

Analyzing each piece from an aesthetic point of view, one can constantly experience his state of mind and his habits of using pen and ink when writing each work. and the different artistic effects brought about by the use of different techniques.

Over time, Wang Hujiang not only firmly memorized the layout of Mao calligraphy works, the writing method of each character, and the different writing methods of the same character, but also practiced Qigong to "get Qi" and "open the third eye". "Similarly, you can write with smooth thinking, and finally achieve some flexibility in the layout of the article, the structure of the font, and the density of the pen and ink. Readers can tell at a glance that the imitation hair style works written in this way are Mao Zedong's cursive style. Then there are some changes in calligraphy layout and processing techniques. More importantly, these changes are reasonable.

Mao Zedong's calligraphy work "Qinyuanchun·Snow" has reached the pinnacle from the content of the words to the form of calligraphy. His poems are majestic, with extraordinary scenery, profound meanings, and are spread across all directions. Liu Yazi praised him as an eternal masterpiece: his calligraphy "the country is so beautiful" these six words brought the whole article to life. He wrote about the magnificence and beauty of the great rivers and mountains of the motherland, and wrote Vibrant and spirited, the nine words "Looking at the current situation despite the number of romantic figures" punctuate the theme of the whole article, reaching the highest level of the dragon dancing in the ink.

"Qinyuan Spring·Snow" was also written by Mao Zedong. The most self-written poems were written eight times during his lifetime. The most common and most widely circulated works are about 10 words per line. Wang Hujiang wrote the most. The most profound, he wrote it in one breath without pausing. One day, he was so excited that he changed the poem to a horizontal layout of about 5 words per line, which was a form that Mao Zedong had never written before.

After the "new version" of "Qinyuan Spring·Snow" was completed, he showed it to some friends. Everyone said that the change was good and very creative. First, it disrupted the layout of the original work. The size of the font changes; secondly, although the layout has changed, the charm of Mao Zedong's calligraphy remains unchanged; thirdly, although the frame structure of Mao's characters remains unchanged, there is a new style with the change in writing layout. The change means that Wang Hujiang's imitation wool calligraphy has a creative element and is definitely not a continuation of the dog's tail.

A friend ridiculed and asked: "I wonder if Chairman Mao has any objections to this change?"

Wang Hujiang said: "I don't think the old man can do it. The most important thing in learning Mao calligraphy is to understand the mind of a great man who guided the country and swallowed up the mountains and rivers between the lines. As the saying goes, "Flying Dragon Walking Snake Calligraphy Heart Painting."

In the past few years, Wang Hujiang has won first place every time in three national imitation hair calligraphy competitions. In order to better learn and develop himself In 1993, Wang Hujiang was transferred to the "Development" magazine sponsored by the Beijing Overseas Talent Research Association. Until 1999, Wang Hujiang practiced calligraphy by himself, and his copybook was his teacher.

1999 August. In August, Mr. Qi Gong, a master of contemporary calligraphy, gave a calligraphy class at Beijing Normal University. Wang Hujiang came to listen. He was impressed by the approachable attitude and profound calligraphy quality of this generation of calligraphy masters, and decided to become his teacher.

On September 9, after being introduced by a friend, Wang Hujiang came to Qi Lao's office with six newly written imitation wool calligraphy works and his own style calligraphy works. Unexpectedly, he stood aside with an uneasy mood. , Qi Lao was very happy after seeing six imitation hair calligraphy works, and immediately said to Wang Hujiang: "You can publish a book of imitation hair calligraphy. "He took the opportunity to inscribe on the spot the titles of two books: "The First Person in China's Imitation Wool Calligraphy - Wang Hujiang's Fine Collection of Imitation Wool Calligraphy" and "Wang Hujiang's Fine Collection of Calligraphy", as well as the plaque of "Beijing Hujiang Calligraphy Art Research Institute".

Qi Lao specifically said: "You should pay attention to several issues when preparing to publish a book: first, you need to be more proficient in the frame structure of Mao script; second, you need to be familiar with Mao script On the basis of the calligraphy, you have to add your own style, but the overall style of Mao calligraphy cannot be changed; thirdly, when writing Mao calligraphy, the white parts should be kept as they are; fourthly, Mao calligraphy has two major origins. One is Huai Su's wild cursive writing, and the other is Zheng Banqiao's calligraphy. You must not mix up the two; fifth, write consistently and don’t get carried away; sixth, seize the time. Strive to complete the complete collection of imitation hair body works within 5 years, and be worthy of being the first person to imitate hair body..."

Later, Qi Lao also gave some guidance on Wang Hujiang's own style of calligraphy. He said, yours Calligraphy is very smooth, but you must develop your own style and cannot follow others. You must distinguish the imitation hair style from your own style, and you will be successful.

Wang Hujiang was immediately enlightened after hearing this. He said sincerely: "Qi Lao. I have liked your calligraphy for a long time. I want to become your teacher."

After hearing this, Qi Lao said calmly: "If you like to learn , just come.”

For the next three months, Wang Hujiang went to Qi Lao’s place every Sunday to learn calligraphy. He has never forgotten this experience. He said: "The old generation of calligraphy masters are like their words, and their words are like their people." ”

In March 2005, after five years of hard training, Wang Hujiang finally prepared all 232 works in the "Wang Hujiang Calligraphy Collection". Among them, 8 works of imitation wool calligraphy, including single characters Calligraphy, calligraphy with few characters and calligraphy with many characters. Wang Hujiang came to Mr. Qi Gong’s bedside with the proof of the manuscript and asked his mentor to review it. Mr. Qi was very tired after reading the proof. He lay down and said slowly: "Mao." The calligraphy and your own handwriting are both very good. ”

Three months later, 93-year-old Qi Lao passed away. The “Excellent Collection of Mao Style Calligraphy” that his mentor ordered has not yet been published. In spite of his grief, Wang Hujiang continued to practice Mao Style Calligraphy assiduously.

On August 8, 2008, after another three years of hard training, Wang Hujiang finally published "The First Person in China's Imitation Hair Calligraphy—Wang Hujiang's Fine Collection of Imitation Hair Calligraphy", starting from the title inscribed by his mentor. Nine years have passed, and his imitation hair calligraphy has reached a state of both physical and spiritual resemblance. He feels that this is the level required by his teacher.

This fine collection was awarded the honorary title by the Chinese Calligraphers Association. The chairman, Mr. Shen Peng, wrote a preface. There are a total of 100 imitation wool works, including all the fine works of Mao Zedong's self-written poems, ancient poems, inscriptions and inscriptions.

Chairman Shen Peng wrote in the preface. A meaningful quote: “Currently, many people in the calligraphy world have an impetuous mentality, and some deviate from tradition. Some of them are chasing the trend of the times and eager for quick success, some of them regard ugliness as beauty and confuse right and wrong, and some of them flatter each other and raise their social status. However, Wang Hujiang is the opposite. His valuable thing is that he is honest and honest. Do knowledge and practice hard skills in a down-to-earth manner. Inheriting and innovating according to the laws of calligraphy development, due to his hard work and unremitting efforts, he has achieved today's gratifying success.

Chairman Shen Peng also said: "As Mr. Qi Gong said, Wang Hujiang's imitation wool calligraphy has a profound foundation, the characters are lifelike, every step is in place, the momentum is magnificent, full of charm, lifelike, with flying dragons and phoenixes, and billowing clouds and mist. , can be called the first person in China to imitate Mao calligraphy. "It is difficult to tell whether Mao Zedong's calligraphy is true or not.

Wang Hujiang said. I have only completed the Long March of learning Mao calligraphy. In the first step, I have just learned a little bit. I will continue to study hard and raise the calligraphy art of imitation fur calligraphy to a higher level, so that this unique artistic flower will bloom more and more brightly, and it will always bloom undefeated. . This is the story of the little boy who spent a whole day holding ink for others in Shanxi Yushe in November 1958. Fifty years later, Wang Hujiang became an accomplished calligrapher.