生”与“熟”的辩证思考

——书法艺术浅议

“生”与“熟”，在书画理论中经常被提及。在书法创作中，有是一种观点叫作：“熟后生”和“不工之工”。

生时，其实就是拙时，就是老时。这句话看似很矛盾，其实包含了学书的过程和不同的境界。董其昌说：“画与字各有门庭，字可生，画不可熟，字须熟后生，画须熟外熟。”他还拿自己的书法和赵孟作了比较，认为赵孟的书法很娴熟但是学不好容易媚俗，同时还不忘凡尔赛一把，表扬自己的书法因为有“生”的感觉更有书卷气。

明代汤临初说：“书必先生而后熟，亦必先熟而后生。始之生者，学力未到，心手相违也；熟而生者，不落蹊径，不随世俗，新意时出，笔底具化工也。”熟后的“生”，才是真正进入到大化的境界，进入到一种老境。

清代姚孟起说：“书贵熟，熟则乐；书忌熟，熟则俗。”姚孟起并没有否定“熟”的意义。用笔只有达到娴熟的程度，书写起来才能得心应手，转折自如，才能意到笔随，心旷神怡，这就是“熟则乐”。

但又不能停留在“熟”的阶段，“书忌熟”是指熟练过分，而不假思索，信手挥洒，看似流畅，却成了一种习惯性动作，一种习气，缺少变化，显得平庸俗气。所以，精熟固然是需要的，但不能停留于精熟而成为程式化的“俗”。

孙过庭有一段名言：“初学分布，但求平正；既知平正，务追险绝；既能险绝，复归平正。初谓未及，中则过之，后乃通会。通会之际，人书俱老。”这“人书俱老”的“通会之际”，就是“复归平正”的老境。

赵之谦曾说：“书家有最高境，古今二人耳。三岁稚子，能见天质；绩学大儒，必具神秀。故书以不学书、不能工者为最工。”不学书、不能工并不是完全不要学习，或完全抛弃法度，而是对熟练法度的一种超越。

三代钟鼎、秦汉金石、北魏碑版的书法，之所以高于刻意求工、专于摹仿之类书法，就在于不假造作的“拙”境与“老”境。刘熙载也说：“学书者始由不工求工，继由工求不工。不工者，工之极也。”说得正是这个意思。

熟后生、巧后拙，都是一种“老”，都是为了追求自然的天趣，是一种对生命偶然性的恢复，也是一种对生活程式化的反叛。中国的美学很少谈“美”，多言“妙”，这和老子哲学有关。

所谓神来之笔，妙不可言，就是强调一种偶然性、不确定性和不可重复性。过分熟，就意味着精巧过度，就太注意雕琢；所以，熟和巧是对偶然性的破坏。明代孙鑛说：“凡书贵有天趣。”中国书法重视自然浑成，妙得天趣，就是追求不期然而然的偶然性。

俗话说“太熟的地方无风景”，人们会忽视熟悉的东西，对其视而不见；而陌生的东西则使人产生新鲜感，使人从功利的实用中超脱出来，精神为之一振，审美为之唤醒。

也有人尝试用左手写字，或学习儿童的“孩儿体”，目的就是追求一种“拙”趣和童稚气。但是，熟后生和刚开始的生不同，开始的生是支离，是不工；“不工之工”则不同，是超越了法度之后的重新回归，看似回到了最初的起点，却上升到了新的高度。

书法的大巧若拙和真正的笨拙，区别就在于，是否包含了对书法熟练技巧的超越，是否包含技巧娴熟之后对技巧的否定。而这些思想，都是来自于老子哲学的深刻启迪。

——On the art of calligraphy

"Raw" and "cooked" are often mentioned in calligraphy and painting theory. In calligraphy creation, there is a viewpoint called: "cooking after birth" and "unworked work".

The time of birth is actually the time of clumsiness and the time of old age. This sentence may seem contradictory, but it actually includes the process of learning books and different realms. Dong Qichang said: "Painting and calligraphy have their own divisions. Words can be produced, but paintings cannot be familiar. Words must be familiar, and paintings must be familiar." He also compared his own calligraphy with Zhao Meng's, and thought that Zhao Meng's calligraphy was very good. Skilled but not easy to learn, it is easy to be kitsch. At the same time, I have not forgotten Versailles. I praised my calligraphy because it has a "live" feeling and is more bookish.

Tang Linchu of the Ming Dynasty said: "Books must be mastered and then matured, and they must be matured first and then born. Those who are born from the beginning have not yet attained their academic ability, and their hearts and hands are in conflict; It is also a form of materialization." The "sheng" after being cooked is truly entering the realm of maximization, entering a kind of old state.

In the Qing Dynasty, Yao Mengqi said: "Books are expensive and familiar, and when they are cooked, they are happy; when books are not familiar, they are vulgar." Yao Mengqi did not deny the meaning of "cooked". Only when you use a pen to the level of proficiency, can you write with ease, you can turn freely, you can follow the pen, and you can feel relaxed and happy.

But it can’t stay at the stage of “familiarity”. “Book avoidance” refers to being overly skilled, without thinking, swaying with ease, and seemingly smooth, but it has become a habitual movement, a habit, lack of change, and appearing mediocre and tacky . Therefore, proficiency is of course necessary, but it cannot become a stylized "vulgar" because of proficiency.

There is a famous saying by Sun Guoting: "Beginners learn distribution, but seek fairness; once you know fairness, you must pursue dangers; if you can avoid dangers, return to fairness. At first, it is said that it is not enough, but it is passed in the middle, and then it is a meeting. , all people are old." This "everyone is old", "the time of the meeting", is the old state of "returning to justice".

Zhao Zhiqian once said: "Calligraphers have the highest level, both ancient and modern. A three-year-old child can see the quality of nature; if he has learned a great Confucianism, he must be talented. Therefore, those who do not learn books and cannot work are the most skilled." Books, can't work is not a complete absence of learning, or complete abandonment of the law, but a transcendence of the mastery of the law.

The reason why the calligraphy of the three generations of Zhongding, Qin and Han Jinshi, and Beiwei stele editions is higher than the calligraphy of deliberately seeking work and specializing in imitation, lies in the "clumsy" and "old" conditions that are not faked. Liu Xizai also said: "Students who do not work begin to seek work, and continue to seek work without work. Those who do not work are extremely skilled." This is exactly what he meant.

To be born after maturity and to be clumsy after ingenuity is a kind of "oldness", both for the pursuit of the natural fascination, a restoration of the contingency of life, and a rebellion against the stylization of life. Chinese aesthetics rarely talk about "beauty", but more about "wonderful", which is related to Laozi's philosophy.

The so-called magic stroke is wonderful, it emphasizes a kind of contingency, uncertainty and non-repeatability. Excessive familiarity means too delicate and too much attention to carving; therefore, familiarity and skill are the destruction of contingency. In the Ming Dynasty, Sun Kuang said: "Every book is precious and interesting." Chinese calligraphy attaches great importance to the natural integration, and it is wonderful and interesting, that is, the pursuit of unexpected contingency.

As the saying goes, "A place that is too familiar has no scenery", people will ignore the familiar things and turn a blind eye to them; while the unfamiliar things make people feel fresh, make people detached from the utilitarian and practical, invigorate their spirits, and improve their aesthetics. Wake up for it.

Some people also try to write with their left hand, or learn children's "children's body", the purpose is to pursue a "clumsy" fun and childishness. However, the matured life is different from the beginning life. The beginning life is disjointed and unworked; the "unworked work" is different, it is a return after transcending the law. It seems to have returned to the original starting point, but it has risen to the new heights.

The difference between clumsy calligraphy and real clumsiness lies in whether it includes the transcendence of calligraphy proficiency, and whether it includes the negation of skills after mastery. These ideas are all inspired by Laozi's philosophy.