It should be written with 'emotion'", Ding Shenyang: "An excellent cursive work

"People have joys and sorrows, separations and reunions, and the moon waxes and wanes. This is a difficult thing in ancient times. I hope that people will live long and share the beauty of the moon thousands of miles apart."

"The rocks penetrated the sky, the stormy waves crashed on the shore, and thousands of piles of snow were rolled up. The country was picturesque, and there were so many heroes at that time."

"There are so many beauties in the country, which attract countless heroes to bow their waists. ... They are all gone, and there are many romantic figures, but we still have to look at the present."

This is a fragment of classic verses from Su Shi's "Shui Tiao Ge Tou·When Will the Bright Moon Come", "Nian Nujiao·Chibi Nostalgic", and Mao Zedong's "Qinyuanchun·Snow". These verses, either whole poems or couplets, are frequently used when Ding Shenyang, a national first-class artist and chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association, creates cursive scripts. Ding Shenyang said that he likes this kind of bold and romantic poetry, which is more in line with the free and unbridled creative characteristics of cursive script, and reflects his spiritual pursuit: "Technique is of course important in cursive script creation, but temperament is also important." The expression of "" is the key to the success of a cursive work. An excellent cursive work should be written with "emotion".

From the age of 10, he began to dabble in the ancient yet young field of calligraphy. At the age of 61, he was elected as the chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association. Ding Shenyang has been constantly trekking and climbing on the road of calligraphy art creation.

Recently, the author contacted Ding Shenyang for an exclusive interview about his artistic life of more than 50 years.

Ding Shenyang was born in an intellectual family in 1957. My father, a history teacher, loves calligraphy. When Ding Shenyang was 10 years old, his father asked little Shenyang to start studying at home. The reason why Ding Shenyang fell in love with calligraphy can be said to be the origin of his family studies, or it can be said to be the influence he has had since childhood. Several copybooks by Yan Zhenqing at home became his calligraphy practice books.

After entering Xiangming Middle School, there was a teacher in the school who was good at calligraphy. He often praised students with skills and selected one or two students from the class to form a painting interest group and a calligraphy interest group in the school. As one of them, Ding Shenyang was not only fortunate to join the calligraphy interest group, but also served as the group leader. The teacher's encouragement and the blessing of the title of group leader made Ding Shenyang more motivated to learn calligraphy.

After graduating from junior high school, Ding Shenyang was assigned to study in a technical school. Because he was studying abroad, he had more free time, so practicing calligraphy became a compulsory course for Ding Shenyang every day.

In 1985, the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy established a calligraphy and art training school and opened the first batch of calligraphy interest classes. Ding Shenyang entered the interest class and was elected as the class leader. He sought advice from the famous calligrapher Hu Wensui. At the same time, he often received lessons from Mr. Wu Jianxian of Shanghai Painting and Calligraphy Publishing House.

For students, two teachers, Hu Wensui and Wu Jianxian, required that they start from respecting tradition and copy ancient inscriptions as a basis. Hu Wensui believes that the majestic and heroic style is one way, and the beautiful and graceful style is also the way. Based on Ding Shenyang's handwriting, he pointed out the direction - based on copying the cursive calligraphy of Zhang Ruitu, a calligrapher of the Ming Dynasty, and repeatedly warned: copy the ancient calligraphy, never copy the teacher's calligraphy.

"Basic skills such as copywriting are like saving money in the bank, while creating is like withdrawing money from the bank. The more you save, the more you can use it freely when writing." Wu Jianxian, who works in a calligraphy and painting publishing house, brought the original copybook he edited and asked Ding Shenyang After copying, he copied; at the same time, he was asked to copy Huang Tingjian's cursive "Zhu Shang Zu Tie" and Yan Zhengqing's regular script "Ode to the Zhongxing of the Tang Dynasty".

Ding Shenyang copied a large number of everyone's inscriptions and understood the ancients' methods of using pens comprehensively. "I learned it, but of course I didn't learn it completely. I got a little bit of it and started creating by myself."

In the early 1980s, the spring breeze of reform and opening up bathed the land of China. New things were springing up like mushrooms after a spring rain. The field of culture and art also gradually improved. There was an upsurge in the society for people to learn calligraphy. Or in the name of the Calligraphers Association, Or in the name of cultural groups, various calligraphy competitions are held one after another. As soon as he saw or heard such information, Ding Shenyang took the initiative to sign up for the competition. After all, he actually participated in dozens of competitions and won many awards. Ding Shenyang became even more interested in learning calligraphy.

In 1984, Wenhui Newspaper organized a national calligraphy competition. Qi Gong, then chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, and Shen Peng, vice chairman of the Chinese Calligraphers Association, were both judges. Ding Shenyang was not afraid of tigers, so he boldly sent in calligraphy works. Unexpectedly, he won the third prize. This seemed to inject a dose of stimulant, stimulating his enthusiasm for learning calligraphy even more.

In 1989, Ding Shenyang, who rose to prominence in the Shanghai calligraphy circle, was admitted to the Hongkou District Amateur University and majored in calligraphy and seal cutting. This is the first professional calligraphy school for adults in Shanghai. More than 10 courses, in addition to professional learning of Zheng, Cao, Li, Seal, Xing and seal cutting, calligraphy theory, calligraphy practice, also cover Japanese, politics, Chinese and other cultural courses.

After three years of professional study in calligraphy and seal cutting, the teachers were all well-known people in Shanghai. Ding Shenyang was immersed in it and benefited a lot. He relatively comprehensively mastered the technical and artistic know-how of this profound subject of calligraphy and seal cutting. After graduation, he also received a good opportunity for career development - he was transferred to Shanghai Film Studio and became a film subtitle artist.

In the film studio, Ding Shenyang, who was on the fast track to professionalism, followed the film crew to the north and south. Not only did he participate in the environment design and scene design of many films, he also created the titles of many influential films and became a national first-class artist.

When creating different types of movie titles, Ding Shenyang believes that the film "Stepmother" shot by director Sun Daolin is relatively thick and contains a broad mind, and the title is expressed in block letters; the film "Daughter Valley" shot by director Xie Jin reflects a deeper To express social issues, the title of the film uses a strange calligraphy style to express it; the anti-corruption film "Life and Death" directed by Yu Benzheng reflects the upright atmosphere, and the title uses running script to express it; the film "Que Li Renjia" directed by Wu Yigong, because It is a rural theme, so it is expressed in a simple style; the comedy movie "Survival from Desperate Times" directed by Zhang Jianya uses Zheng Banqiao's more interesting calligraphy in the opening... Ding Shenyang said that film, as a comprehensive art, From the movie title to the acting skills, it is a complete combination. He always kept in mind what the famous director Xie Jin said: "The title and title of the film must be combined with the content of the film. The relationship between the two is like clothes and buttons. If the buttons are wrong, the quality of the entire dress will decrease. Both They must complement each other to add value to the film.”

To others, cursive writing may seem simple and done in one go, but it is not. It contains five major elements: The first is brushwork. Penmanship can be achieved through continuous technical practice and skill; the second is calligraphy. The structure of the font requires a deep understanding of Chinese characters. It must be square and square, but also seek changes in the squareness, seek danger in stability, and seek stability in danger; the third is composition. Composition is particularly important for cursive and running script. The size of the characters, the interpenetration between the left and right, and the close relationship between the upper and lower parts are all realized through one's own artistic feeling. The fourth is change. Cursive script includes Zhangcao, Jincao and Dacao. Ding Shenyang likes to write rough sketches. Grass can have changes both big and small. Where does the change come from? He consulted a large number of original works to learn the concepts, trends and changes contained in Chinese paintings. Just like painting orchids, there must be interspersing and other changes. The fifth is Mo method. The ink method has changes in density, dryness and wetness. Writing on Shengxuan can fully show the changes in the ink method.

While working as an art designer at the Shanghai Film Studio, Ding Shenyang copied every cursive script sample from Zhang Xu and Huai Su, to Huang Tingjian, Zhu Zhishan, Dong Qichang, to Zhang Ruitu, Ni Yuanlu, and even the modern Shen Meisou. Over time, Ding Shenyang became fond of cursive script. He believes that cursive script embodies elements of various calligraphy styles and combines the advantages of various calligraphy styles. As a relatively high state of calligraphy, it is free and unbridled; and his hobby of painting made him naturally regard cursive writing as the main feature of his calligraphy creation.

Technology plus art equals calligraphy. The first step of technology is reflexivity, the second step is feeling, and the third step is creation. In the long-term practice of calligraphy creation, Ding Shenyang realized that to become an excellent calligrapher, inherent literary qualities, philosophical qualities and aesthetic qualities are very important. The calligrapher has a broad mind and profound literary accomplishment. He understands the meaning between the lines of Tang poetry, Song poetry and other words. When creating, the content matches the style and shape of the calligraphy, so that he can easily grasp it and complete it in one go. When composing Mao Zedong's poems "Qinyuanchun·Snow" and Su Shi's "Niannujiao·Chibi Nostalgia", they should show their majesty and momentum; when composing other more graceful poems such as Li Qingzhao's "Slow Voice·Xun Xun Mi Mi", use Xiaocao and other beautiful cursive interpretations. This is an attitude towards literary cultivation. "Anyway, you have to learn a little bit every day, and when you see something good, you can absorb it into your own writing skills; after writing for a certain stage, hang it on the wall and look at it, and if you find any bad points, correct them in time; the contemporary people should also use good writing skills. To research and learn. I don’t know exactly how it came into being.” Ding Shenyang said.

The creation of a calligraphy style requires long-term and unremitting study. The same goes for cursive writing. Cursive writing is not wild or sloppy. It has strict writing techniques and is a fusion of sensibility and rationality. The creative realm of cursive script belongs to the "running stage" of calligraphy creation. In the creative process, one must undergo certain training in regular script, that is, regular script and official script, before trying to create cursive script. Otherwise, it is impossible to reach a high level of creative writing. Cursive script is a calligraphy art with lines as its main feature. Its lines are modified from the basic regular script and official script. It is based on the proficiency of the brush, which is the basic skill, so it is not achieved overnight. "Just like a person can walk only after he has stood firm, and can only run after he has walked steadily." Ding Shenyang compared it.

Regarding some people in the society who think that the creative styles of cursive script are more diverse, while others say that they cannot understand it, Ding Shenyang said that this has also formed a new aesthetic concept. Over time, I believe it will be accepted by more ordinary people. This is a positive contribution to popularizing and promoting the art of calligraphy. The artist's responsibility is to lead on the basis of learning and lead the public's aesthetics. As an artist represented by the creation of cursive script, he will not deliberately try to please or cater to others.

The mountain of "book" has roads and hard work as its path, and the sea of ​​learning has no limit but hard work is the boat. In 1994, Ding Shenyang, who had been working in the field of calligraphy for more than 20 years, became the youngest director of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association. In 1999, he was elected as the executive director of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association; in 2010, he was elected as the vice chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association; on November 11, 2018, he was elected as the chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association.

At the beginning of taking office, as the head of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association, Ding Shenyang led the Shanghai Calligraphers Association to continue to do a good job in the calligraphy graduate class that Mr. Zhou Huijun established in cooperation with the Shanghai Theater Academy when he was the chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphers Association more than 10 years ago. It also hosts a youth calligraphy competition every year. Tens of thousands of people signed up for the competition, from which three to four hundred outstanding talents were selected, cultivating many calligraphy professionals. An exhibition of new works by new artists is held every two years, and the exhibitors are all non-members of the calligraphy association. In 2022, the fifth national cursive calligraphy exhibition hosted by the Chinese Calligraphers Association and hosted by the Shanghai Calligraphy Association was held. More than 10,000 submissions were submitted, and more than 300 works were finally selected. The high level of enthusiasm is evident. In the 13th National Calligraphy Exhibition in 2023, the Chinese Calligraphers Association has changed the previous unified examination method. The entries will first be judged locally by the Shanghai Calligraphy Association, and then the qualified ones will be submitted.

In 2019, the Shanghai Calligraphy Association, with the consent of the Shanghai Literary Federation, initiated the establishment of the "Yangtze River Delta Calligraphy Alliance". The calligraphy associations in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui interact more and more with the Shanghai Calligraphy Association. The organizers hold an event every year, and this year it was hosted by the Shanghai Calligraphy Association. The Shanghai Calligraphy Association entrusted the Jiading Calligraphy Association to collect submissions on calligraphy theory and host the first Yangtze River Delta Calligraphy Symposium. Experts and scholars outside the Yangtze River Delta Calligraphy Alliance were invited to serve as judges for this event.

Recently, the Shanghai Calligraphy Association has reached an agreement with the Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy to launch a series of cooperative exhibitions - the first square is the Shanghai style square, with the main representatives being Shen Yinmo, Bai Jiao, Pan Boying and other senior artists; the second square is Painters, the main representatives are older generation artists such as Xie Zhiliu, Lu Yanshao, Tang Yun; the third group is contemporary calligraphy artists, the main representatives are Zhou Huijun, Han Tianheng, Zhang Sen, Wu Jianxian, Wang Weiping and other famous calligraphy artists.

Since serving as chairman of the Shanghai Calligraphy Association and deputy director of the Cursive Calligraphy Committee of the Chinese Calligraphy Association, Ding Shenyang often goes out to give lectures and has served as a judge for many national calligraphy competitions. He spends his own money every year to train young talents; organizes regular activities of the Shanghai Calligraphy Association and plans new activities... He sometimes feels tired due to busy social activities, but he never complains or slacks off. "The crowd searched for him a thousand times. Suddenly looking back, that person was there, in a dimly lit place." Because this was the love of his life.