Eastern Xia culture and art attach great importance to the four words "spiritual spirit and wonderful energy". It is believed that the spirit, charm and soul of a person's life will be placed on the objects they carry with them.
So from ancient times to the present,
nobles like to keep jade pendants, tea ceremony masters like to keep purple clay teapots, and even the old men in the alleys like to play with beeswax and bracelets. , walnuts and so on.
The writing brush is where a painter’s spirit and energy rest.
A bamboo pen is passed down from father to son, and from son to grandson, forever and ever.
Brushes, like famous inks, can have a service life of hundreds or even thousands of years. Some well-preserved antique brushes from the Song and Yuan dynasties that have been unearthed can even be used to write books without any maintenance. Painting.
Even if the tip of a wolf-hair or sheep-hair pen is easy to wear, it is not troublesome to ask a skilled craftsman to repair it.
“When my father handed this mahogany box to me, he told me that there are three types of Chinese painting brushes: the jade pen with suet white jade or jade as the body, and the jade pen with wood or jade as the body. Bamboo paintbrush with a body made of bamboo."
"Which one do you think is the best?" Gu Tongxiang raised his eyebrows and asked.
Gu Weijing knew that there was a deep secret in Chinese painting brushes.
However, children don’t need very good pens.
The brushes he usually uses are the kind of modern pens that cost 20,000 kyats and are thrown into the trash can after use. They are not so particular.
At this time, he glanced at the bamboo brush in the box in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and tentatively guessed, "It's probably a bamboo brush."
"Huh, dishonest, kidding." What a clever person."
The old man saw the look in his grandson's eyes, patted the back of Gu Weijing's head, and blew his beard, "This is really unconscionable. How can a bamboo pen be more valuable than a jade pen? A large bamboo forest. When your great-grandfather asked me, I was much more honest than you and thought jade pen was the best."
"What next?" Gu Weijing was curious.
"Then"
The old man recalled the past and laughed slowly.
Gu Tongxiang looked at the painting box in front of him and said softly, "Then I was shocked by your great-grandfather, sighing that his family was unlucky and his body was full of copper stench. Alas, the poor people in the family were almost begging for food. Now, the old man is dying of illness in bed, but he still has the same sour look as that of an old scholar. He deserves to be poor for the rest of his life."
The old man obviously said something sarcastic about his elders, but his expression was extremely serious. There is remembrance and tenderness, and there are even tears flashing in the eyes.
The scene of that old-fashioned and square father handing this mahogany painting box into the hands of Gu Tongxiang, who was still a young boy, is still vivid in my mind now, as if it was yesterday.
In the blink of an eye, half a century has passed.
The elders have long been turned into a bunch of small loess tombstones, even their own grandchildren are as big as them.
The old man shook his head gently and looked at Gu Weijing.
"Actually, you answered very well. I just wanted to give you a quick slap to make you remember how precious this set of brushes is."
"Remember, I will use the mahogany brushes in the future. When handing the box to your child, you should also tell him that among Chinese painting brushes, jade brushes are the most expensive, but bamboo brushes are the best."
Gu Tongxiang recalled the time when his father handed the brush set to him. The scene in his hand, he narrated, "Most of the jade brushes are made by yamen such as the Imperial Household Office. The specially made imperial brushes are hard in nature and have uneven patterns on the surface. They are very beautiful, but they are difficult to hold." It’s actually not comfortable to look at.”
Jade pens are usually the most expensive category in the antique brush auction market.
You can often hear stories about storytelling. Most of the imperial brushes in the phrases "the imperial pen personally mentions" or "the imperial pen personally seals" are made of jade.
On the trading market in the past two years, royal jade brushes engraved with dragon patterns from the Yongzheng or Qianlong periods can easily reach millions of dollars.
However, the jade pen holder has no elasticity.
This kind of brush lacks a sense of communication with the paper when writing, and its ritual symbolic properties are greater than its practical properties. Emperor Qianlong wrote poems every day I don’t often use jade pens when writing poems.
It is completely a collectible cultural relic.
When buyers buy this kind of pen, they will lock it in a safe and wait for it to increase in value. I have never heard of any collector taking it back. I went home to write and draw.
The rest are wooden pens and bamboo pens.
“Some calligraphers like to use wooden brushes, but court painters believe that wooden brushes are dry and not as expressive as bamboo brushes. The material of bamboo brushes is Fugong Longzhu from the old Wudi. One, the five brushes in front of you are all made from this."
Gu Tongxiang stared at the set of brushes in the painting box, as if looking at some peerless beauty.
"For the scriptures, do you know where the most precious thing about this set of pens is?"
Mr. Gu gently picked up a medium-sized brush the thickness of an adult's index finger and showed it to his grandson. look.
"This is called Qinyu color. According to our jargon, this set of brushes has been cultivated and has a spirit."
This brush is straight and straight.
The place where the first half of the pen body comes in contact with the artist's fingers is actually green. It is obviously a bamboo pen, but it has a bright luster like emerald, and it has completely turned into jade.
“This is the refill of an old brush, which is very rare. The Fugong dragon bamboo was originally ginger-yellow when it was cut down, but it is said that the painter used this kind of brush to draw, and the painstaking efforts made it last for many years. Every month, a touch of emerald color will emerge from the pen barrel. The longer it goes, the darker the emerald color will become."
Gu Tongxiang smiled.
Scientifically, this phenomenon is explained as the chemical effect produced by the plant fiber of old bamboo over a long period of time between the warmth of human skin oil and the oxidation of air.
However,
the court painters were more romantic.
“My father told me that this jade color isThis is where the souls of ancestors from generation to generation reside. Every time they draw a picture, the dark ink and ink paint will slowly flow up the pen holder, dyeing the yellow bamboo pen holder into jade, so 039 Qin Jade Color 039 In the mouths of old painters, it is often called 039 Mo Cuise 039 or 039 Xinxue Color 039. ”
Gu Weijing glanced at the mahogany painting box.
In the box, a delicate outline pen as thick as a baby’s little finger and two small brushes have been completely covered. It turned into a bright emerald color, and the medium-sized brush in the old man's hand was almost entirely green.
Only the largest brush used for freehand splash-ink landscape paintings still showed obvious loess. Color, but one-third of it shows the characteristics of jade.
“A painter can only produce color spots as big as a grain of rice in spring, summer, autumn and winter all year round. A piece of jade the size of a fingernail will take ten years. To develop the look you see, it doesn’t take two or three months of non-stop writing, and don’t even think about it. "
"In the past there was an old bamboo pen, which was known as a hundred taels of snowflake silver. "
When it comes to the brushes passed down from his family, the old man's tone is a bit proud.
"I don't want to say how expensive the things are, but antique pens are common on the market now, and this kind of used The old pen is almost extinct. It is true that Mr. Cao Xuan is the leading master of Taishan Beidou painting, but I am afraid it is difficult for him to have such a set of old brushes passed down from his family. "
" Mr. Cao is probably envious. ”
Gu Weijing knew that although grandpa’s words had the element of Wang Po selling melons and bragging about herself, they were at least 70% true.
A person can keep a pen, and a pen can also be used.
In fact, paintbrushes are very much like musical instruments.
An antique violin made by the legendary violin maker Stradivari worth 10 million U.S. dollars and one worth 100,000 U.S. dollars. There may not be much difference in tone between the handmade violins made by the top contemporary violin makers.
At least the price difference is not as exaggerated as that of 9.9 million US dollars.
But in any other world. Top violinists will always choose antique violins to play. Some symphony orchestra chief violins have been passed down from generation to generation.
When you hold a famous violin in your hand, your mentality is different. .
The same goes for paintbrushes.
With a purchasing power of about one hundred dollars, you can easily buy them in stationery stores. The craftsmanship is definitely above the average level. Very useful brushes.
The reason why painters buy painting tools that are more than ten times or even hundreds of times more expensive is not because of any essential difference in the painting tools, but because they hold a hundred-dollar pen and A $10,000 pen has a different emotional state.
Just like a Japanese oil painter once used to only use a certain brand of expensive natural mineral pigments, there was also a well-known illustrator who claimed to only use German eikan. Pelikan custom-made platinum fountain pen illustrations for him. Otherwise, they had a private agency agreement with the painting equipment dealer.Discussion, otherwise it is this feeling and this tone that people are pursuing.
You can even understand it as vanity, but it is positive vanity.
Expensive paintings have an emotional bonus brought by wealth. Holding the pen makes you feel even more awesome.
The selling point of all luxury painting equipment dealers is often not craftsmanship, but stories.
For example, Lao Yang gave Gu Weijing kes, a master-class painting tools manufacturer. The slogan on its official website is always that Van Gogh liked to use our painting tools the most.
What the company focuses on is the emotional value of "if you buy our painting equipment, you will be closer to a great artist" to attract art students who are not short of money to buy.
Reasonably judge what good painting tools Van Gogh could afford based on his financial status at the time.
For traditional Chinese painting painters,
Holding a set of old brushes in their hands can naturally bring calm and stable power to their hearts, as if they have been given some kind of gift. Fu buff.
Masters of traditional Chinese painting who grew up in Eastern culture may regard money as dung and gold, silver and jewelry as nothing.
There are many masters who have three light meals a day and wear coarse linen clothes, but I have never heard of anyone willing to take the initiative to use pens, inks, paper and inkstones of poor quality.
Mr. Cao knows this kind of old pen passed down from his family, and indeed may even envy it.
Not just because of the age and quaintness of the old paintbrush.
The emotional connection and soul twisting brought about by this kind of bloodline inheritance have an impact on a painter's emotions that is completely different from the high-end painting tools inlaid with gold and silver introduced by Western luxury goods companies. Nothing compares to the excitement of vanity.
Not at all the same magnitude.
Ancestors are gods in Eastern Xia culture who protect descendants.
Gu Weijing can feel a kind of religious solemnity and solemnity just by looking at this set of brushes.
Like the bright moon at night, I suddenly hear the bell ringing in the middle of the night, and the sound of old monks singing sutras from the distance, with a kind of peaceful power.
Let’s put it this way.
When you draw with this set of strokes, it may be difficult to take the initiative to get a perfunctory evaluation unless it is due to the drawing method itself.
This is the quiet power of the spirit.
"Look, your great-great-grandfather, all the ancestors of my great-great-grandfather are looking at this generation of Gu family descendants."
Gu Tongxiang turned off the spotlights in the room , take out the candlestick from the cabinet.
The power supply in Myanmar is not very stable. Not only is the Good Luck Orphanage not connected to the power grid, but the prosperous tourist area where Gu’s calligraphy and painting shop is located occasionally has power outages. Every household is equipped with candlesticks and candles. .
The old man lit the candle with a lighter.
Gu Tongxiang held the pen body with his fingertips and carefully approached the candle lamp on the side. The flames jumped and the bamboo pen was like jade, reflecting the old man's entire fingers into a deep pool of deep green.
There is a sky on the surface of Fugong Longzhu.The natural eye-like patterns,
maybe an illusion, as the lights flicker,
it really looks like the ancestors of the past hundred years, through this small Paintbrush, watching this generation of Gu family descendants.
"They belong to you, use them to draw."
"This is too precious."
Gu Weijing even dared not follow his grandfather's footsteps. Take this pen in your hand.
He doesn’t care how much it’s worth.
Gu Weijing can use the painting tools given by Lao Yang every day easily and without any pressure. If it’s just a luxury item, it’s better to have it, not to have it. That's all.
If you really lose it, smile and laugh.
Just buy it again if you have money.
If something is passed down from the ancestors, if he makes a mistake in his daily life, it will really be a sin that cannot be made up for by gold and silver.
"There is no need to be stressed. Earthen pots are bound to break. Even if they break while painting, the paintbrush will have a better home than gathering ashes in the safe. The ancestors will not blame you. ”
Mr. Gu first comforted him.
He thought for a while, then turned his head and warned uneasily, "Of course, that's what he said. If I find out that you don't care for it, or knock it, I'll see if I can smoke it." I'll slap you."
"By the way, the first-class painter's official talisman is just a reminder, but you can also use the seal for your own paintings. As for your private seal, it’s time to officially use the seal.”
Oil painting is about signature, and traditional Chinese painting is about seal.
The seal is the most important personal mark of Eastern Xia culture.
Until now, a personal seal is more important than an autograph in Japan, and almost everyone has his or her own seal.
In calligraphy and painting works,
it is divided into the "introduction chapter" of the title of the work, the "border chapter" of the border that determines the boundary of the painting paper, and the "border chapter" that represents the identity. The symbolic "presser stamp" is also called the "signing stamp".
There are also more detailed annual seals, solar terms seals, etc. These can be stamped if you want to, but not stamped if you don’t want to.
Three mutton-fat white jade seals have completed the basic seal types.
Put this set on traditional Chinese painting rice paper or silk, and it will be stamped with Gu’s personal stamp.
In modern times, traditional Chinese painting painters have not paid so much attention, and the rules have become much more streamlined. If you find it troublesome, you can just stamp it with a stamp.
“When I was young, I only used the seal of diligence and self-reliance. The remaining seals of Master Gu and Master of Writing are Shen. I feel that putting them on my works insults the meaning of these two seals. , so I have never touched it. I hope that one day you, Gu Weijing, will be able to put these three-party seals on your works without blushing or heartbeat, and be worthy of your ancestors." said Mr. Gu. Please remember to collect it, the latest and fastest website is free to read without anti-theft