From Learning Calligraphy and Painting to Women’s Research on Art 从学习书画谈到妇女研究艺术

From Learning Calligraphy and Painting to Women’s Research on Art – Feng Wenfeng[1]

[1] Feng Wenfeng 冯文凤, “Cong xuexi shuhua tandao funü yanjiu yishu” 从学习书画谈到妇女研究艺术 [From Learning Calligraphy and Painting to Women’s Research on Art], in Dangdai Funü当代妇女, October 1936, 170–75.

从学习书画谈到妇女研究艺术 ——冯文凤

It was twenty years ago.

这是二十年前的事了。

One afternoon when I returned home after school, my father took many rolls of Xuan paper (xuanzhi 宣纸)[1] and was going to draw calligraphy in the study. I stood by the desk and watched him draw piece by piece. Some were couplets (duizi 对子), some were hanging scrolls (pingfu 屏幅); some were horizontal inscriptions (hengpi 横披). Styles varied from seal script (zhuanshu 篆书), clerical script (lishu 隶书) to regular script (kaishu 楷书). I was obsessed with my father’s straight and horizontal strokes for more than two hours, even though my mother asked me to dinner again and again until my father finished. At dinner, he said: “Feng, you so relished calligraphy you don’t even want to have dinner.  I can really see that you are interested.” I asked: “Dad, would you please teach me calligraphy? If you do so, when people ask you to do calligraphy, I can write it for you.” They all laughed, and dad answered: “Well, I will teach you to write after school starting from tomorrow.”

[1] Translator’s note: Xuan paper is a kind of paper originating in ancient China used for writing and painting.

记得在一天的下午，我刚从学校下课回到家里的时候，父亲在书房里，拿了一大卷宣纸预备写字，我站在书台边，看他一张一张的写。当中有的是对子，有的是屏幅，有的是横披，字体呢，篆书隶书楷书都有，足足写了两个多钟头。我正看得出神，横的直的，一笔一笔的写，母亲三番四覆，叫我去吃饭，我都不肯去，一直等到父亲把这些字写完，才一同吃完饭。在吃饭的时候，父亲说：『阿凤，看我写字，看的津津有味，饭也不愿意先吃，可见得你的留心了。』我说：『爸爸。你教我写字好吗？等我把字写好的时候，人家请你写字，由我代笔好了。 』父亲母亲听着。都哈哈的笑起来。父亲就说：『好罢，从明天起，待你放学归来，我就教你写字吧。 』

Since then, my father started to teach me how to write calligraphy every day after school when he was off work.

从此我每天放学归家的时候，父亲也下了公事房回来教我写字了。

Writing Chinese calligraphy well only relies on talent (tianzi 天资) and hard-work (gongli 工力), in addition to a large amount of reading. Talent cannot compel while hard-work is based on one’s efforts, especially with a good mentor. If one rely solely on talent without hard-work, then the characters he writes are frivolous with no roots and reversing. On the other hand, if one only work hard but have no talent, the calligraphy will be dull with no spirit (shenyun 神韵). Both talent and hard-work cannot be neglected.

原来中国的字，想写得好，除了读书之外，便要靠有天资与工力了。天资是不能够强求，工力是靠自己的努力，尤其是有良好的指导者。若果只靠天资，没有工力，那他所写的字轻浮飘忽，缺乏根底，反转说来，只有工力，而没有天资，那他所写的字拙滞呆板，没有一点神韵，所以天资和工力，都不能偏废的。

Calligraphy should start from seal script and clerical script with hard-work because through seal script one can practice round strokes while through clerical script one can practice straight strokes. Once one has acquired the basic skills of both round and straight strokes, one will be many times more adept in writing any kind of script. Otherwise, if one start with the cursive or semi-cursive script, one will not achieve anything no matter how hard you have been writing for decades.

写字是从篆隶两体入手，都要下过一番苦功，因为写篆书，可以练习圆笔，写隶书，可以练习方笔，把圆笔方笔的基础弄好之后，那就无论写那一体的字，都事半功倍了。如果学字，不从篆隶入手，而先写行书草书。那就任你埋头埋脑写字几十年，也无所成就。

Father told me this when I start learning for a few days. As my father is an epigraphy scholar (jinshijia 金石家) who has collected many ancient stele rubbings (beitie 碑帖), I had a large number of calligraphy models (fanben 范本) for my childhood study. Moreover, relatives and father’s friends often asked him to write, so he took this opportunity to teach me calligraphy skills, especially the method of holding and wielding the pen. Although I was only eight or nine years old, with my father’s explanation and guide every day, I was able to understand the way of writing calligraphy, and the characters I wrote were a bit decent in less than half a year.

当我起手习字的几天，父亲就是这样的教训我。父亲是金石家，珍藏古代碑帖很多，故我幼年学书的时候关于范本一层，是没有什么问题。况且许多亲友常常请父亲写字，父亲边写边讲给我听，尤其是执笔用笔的方法。我年纪虽然只有八九岁，但是天天听父亲的讲解指导。得了门径，心领神会，不到半年的时候，所写的字，居然有点像样了。

Any achievement requires a lot of hard work, and of course, studying calligraphy is no exception. You only can see the improvement after imitating stele rubbings for about a dozen years or no less than three years and taking an amount of time every day to only practice one style. There’s no achievement if you write seal script today, semi-cursive script tomorrow, and regular script of the North Wei Dynasty (wei bei 魏碑) on the next day. Moreover, it is said that “shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars (qufahushang, jindehuzhong 取法乎上，仅得乎中).” Even though calligraphy is a niche culture, it still requires a strong mind and a high standard. For example, if you prefer the style of He Zizhen (何子贞 1799-1873), you should practice the works of Yan Zhenqing (颜真卿 709-785). If you want to write like Zhao Huishu (赵㧑叔 1829-1884), you should start with statue style from the Six Dynasties (liuchao zaoxiang 六朝造像). There will be a few improvements without interest if you select the works of He and Zhao as practice models. The best way of writing calligraphy is to view the stele rubbings extensively, no matter ancient or modern, to take the strength of each style and integrate it so that one’s own calligraphy style will form. The way that some people like the calligraphy of Kang Youwei (康有为 1858- 1927) and practice in Kang’s style, and copy Shen Zipei’s (沈子培 1850-1922), calligraphy when they see Shen’s works is invalid. Because they have worked hard on calligraphy for decades so they can always form their own calligraphy styles, if you follow them, you are as good as them at best. However, they have already been famous. As a consequence, people do not value your calligraphy. Besides, it is not easy for you to achieve their level in calligraphy. To say the least, if it is true that you have considerable talent and quality, why not create a different style with your unique features instead of being a slave of others?

想着某一件事件的成就，便要下过一番苦功，学书自然也不能例外。因此临摹碑帖，多则十几年，少则三数年，天天有相当时候来学习一种碑帖，才能够有进境，如果今天学篆书，明天写隶书，后天又改写魏碑，过了几天，又写行书，见异思迁，这样子绝对没有成功的可能。而且学书虽小道，但立志不可不坚，同时也不可不高，须知取法乎上，仅得乎中。比如要学何子贞的字，要从颜真卿入手，想学赵㧑叔的字，要从六朝造像入手。若果你拿何子贞赵㧑叔的字做范本，那就趣味过低，太不长进了。其实学书对于古今碑帖，应该博览，使之融会贯通，取各家之长，而自成一体，那是最上的。有些人见了康有为的字，便学康字，见了沈子培的字，便学沈字，那是不必的。因为他们对于书法都不过几十年苦工，总能够自成一家，你如果学他，充其量也不过如康沈一样，但是他们已经成功，你的字便不为人所重视。况且你的不容易写到他们的境地，就退一步说，要是你有相当的天资和工力，何不另辟途径，自树一帜，又何必去做他人的奴隶呢？

These are my learning experiences and understanding of writing calligraphy.

这是我学习的经过和对于写字的见解。

I wrote calligraphy for more than one hour every day, copying those famous seal script stele rubbings dozens of times. My calligraphy works in the following five years were reviewed and praised by many senior artists. But I remain too young to be complacent, so I still practice hard every day. Once, the principal of a charity for raising funds for the floods heard that I write calligraphy quite well and invited me through my father to write calligraphy at the venue. At that time, the screen couplets (pinglian 屏联) I wrote had sold for more than HK$ 600. This was my first time writing calligraphy publicly, and it was also the starting point for me to serve the community during which time I was only 13 years old.

每天写一个多钟头的字，有名的学篆碑本，都写过数十通，经过了五年的辰光，所写的字，许多老前辈评阅，都承他们的奖许。我年纪还轻，不敢自满，还是天天用功，恰值有一次筹振水灾的卖物会开会，会中主事的闻得我懂得写字，就和父亲商量，请我到会场里即席挥毫，写些屏联，卖了港币六百多元，这是我头一次公开写字，也是我服务社会的起点，那时我只有十三岁哩。

My father tried to develop my artistic achievements when he observed my interest in art. In addition to teaching me to write, he also taught me to draw and invited some famous painters of Chinese and Western-style paintings to guide me. As a result, I started to paint every day as well as writing calligraphy. Fortunately, painting and calligraphy are homologous and easy for me to learn. In addition to writing and drawing, I also learned to write poems and essays. I found it very interesting when I immersed myself in literature and art day by day. With the encouragement of relatives and friends, I established a school of calligraphy and painting school for women when I was sixteen years old. The school with open enrolment taught calligraphy, painting, and embroidery. The advertisement attracted dozens of people after being posted for two days. The students were taught in separate classes, and in less than half a year, all students had considerable improvement. Therefore, I believe women are relatively close to art. Some of them who are rich in artistic genius find it easier to be successful, but even women whose talents are not as strong find it easy to get started because of their similar temperament with art. After half a year of trial operation, the school continued for more than four years. Although I dare not say I achieved fantastic success, I saw that some students later worked as teachers in the school, or went on to study for further education, or just continued to study hard by themselves, and many of them even became masters. Personally, I have always been an art addict for two decades, engaged in art movements such as the organization of the ChineseWomen’s Calligraphy and Painting Society (zhongguo nüzi shuhua hui 中国女子书画会).[1]

[1] Translator’s note: Chinese Women’s Calligraphy and Painting Association (zhongguo nüzi shuhuahui 中国女子书画会) was the first women art association of China established in Shanghai in 1943.

父亲见我嗜好艺术，就努力的培养我的艺术成功。除了教我写字之外，更教我绘画。并请些中西名画家切磋指导，因此一来，每天除了写字之外，兼画起画来。好在中国的书画是同源，很易上手。在写字绘画的时候，又学习作诗撰文，天天在文艺圈子里翻跟斗，觉得十分有趣。到了十六岁的时候，因为有许多亲友的怂恿，就设立女子书画学校，公开招生，教授书画和刺绣了。广告登了两天，报名来学的，竟有数十人，分班教授，不到半年的功夫，各生都有相当的成绩。因此我觉得女子对于艺术，是比较接近的。当中有些固然富有艺术天才，成就比较容易，就是资质差一点的，因为性情所近，也容易入门。经过半年的试验，就继续办了四年多，虽然不敢说有什么惊人的成绩，但见他们后来在学校担任教员，或者升学再求深造，与乎自己继续用功，而成为名家，也有不少。在我个人呢，二十年来，始终是一个艺术的嗜好者，从事艺术运动，如中国女子书画会的组织，但是一例。

Next, I will discuss women’s interest in researching art.

现在我要谈谈妇女对于研究艺术的旨趣了。

Art emphasizes truth, beauty, and goodness (zhenmeishan 真美善). Art is able to strengthen people’s mentality, develop a noble personality and personal intentions, fully express the author’s unique state, and individual opinions. Artists ignore (mukong 目空) the entity and view the world (liuhe 六合) spiritually (shenyou 神游), regard the nature (zaohua 造化) as the guide and the universe as the subject. Those true, beautiful, kind, peace, excellent, clean, grand, bright, and loving natures which are the most suitable for the female personalities only can be expressed by art. Every word and action of the person with artistic accomplishment is poetic and implicit, which is very different from those reckless and clumsy and stupid people. Women are equal to men in national laws, but our responsibilities in society are slightly different from those of men. If we promote women like my father did to develop their interests in exploring literature and art, which are close to women’s nature, what women have accomplished is not only related to themselves but even undoubtedly affects the entire society.

艺术是注重真美善的，提高人们的精神，使人有崇高伟大的人格，发挥个人的旨趣，充分表现作者独创的境界，抒写个人的胸臆，目空千古，神游六合，而已造化为师，宇宙为物件，这些都是真的，美的，善的，和平的，优越的，清洁的，伟大的，光明的，和爱的，惟艺术才能够表现。最适合妇女的个性。有了艺术修养的人，他的一言一行，都是诗意，而有含蓄，与那些鲁莽咩裂粗笨愚呆，自然有很大的分际。妇女在国家法律上，是和男子平等，但我们在社会所担任的责任，实际说起来，和男子略有不同。要是我们父女引其性之所近，从事文艺的研讨，那他所成就的，不只关系他的本人，简直影响整个的社会，是无疑义的。

In the third special issue of the Chinese Women’s Calligraphy and Painting Association, I mentioned several elements for the prospect of the Women’s Calligraphy and Painting Society. Such as organizing research classes to study for further education; recruiting members widely for discovering talent; holding exhibitions in various places for providing channels of communication; gathering friends to visit places of interest when the weather is good to broaden minds and increase knowledge, and compiling and printing periodicals to inform  people of recent research. These are the most closely related and crucial elements to the study of art.

记得我在中国女子书画会第三次特刊中，对于女子书画会的展望，曾举出几种要素，如组织研究班，切磋琢磨，以求深造。广征会员，以求人才的集中。在各地举行展览会，以资观摩。春秋佳日，集约会友旅行名胜古迹，以期广拓心胸，增加见闻。编印定期刊物，以通消息，而供研究。这都是和研究艺术最有密切关系，不可偏废的。

In the end, some people claimed that art is an aristocratic self-entertainment and a pastime for the people above the middle class (zhongdengjieji 中等阶级). This idea is wrong. Even national boundaries do not apply to art. How can it be class-oriented (jiejixing 阶级性)? We can compare this to eating rice. Rice is the same everywhere, but the way one eats it is different. Art is general and universal and the way one use and appreciate art is different. In my personal experience, everyone needs an interest in appreciating art, especially women. Because art is closely related to personal cultivation (xiuyang 修养), which can change people’s temperament, life, and thought. The value of the strong touch that art gives is eternal, which is unforgettable and memorable.

末了，有些人估量艺术是贵族式的自娱，是中等阶级以上的消遣品，这种观念，是错误的。其实艺术，国际界限都没有，怎能有阶级性呢？比如吃饭。什么饭都是一样，只有吃的方式不同，犹之乎艺术是一般的，普遍的，只看你运用与欣赏的方式怎样罢了。在我个人的经验说来，人人都要有欣赏艺术的趣味，尤其是我们妇女要研究艺术，这是和个人修养有密切关联，因为艺术能改变人的性情，生活与思想的，他能给人们一种有力的感动，他的价值，是永远不变，值得人纪念而不能忘却的呀。