“未见其止”与“老而愈妙”——以吴门书家王宠、文徵明为典型的比较研究

“Young But Grey”, “Old But Bright”: A Reflection upon Different Calligraphy Styles of Wang Chong and Wen Zhengming Both from The Wu School

孙过庭揭橥"人书俱老"这一命题,本义是一位书家老年时代的作品愈臻成熟与老练,但在后世的解读中,这种意义逐渐转换为风格形式上的"老苍"与"老态"。在明代吴门书派的代表人物中,王宠四十而卒,文徵明则寿臻耄耋。在当时的传记书写中,"未见其止"与"老而愈妙"是描述二人不同的关键词。但若从风格形式上论,王宠书作的古拙取向恰恰体现出"老"的形式意味,而文徵明则相反,他的作品直至晚年仍旧保持着精巧的特色。当把"老"作为一种可以习得的形式特征,而不完全指向时间的锤炼时,孙过庭"人书俱老"的命题实际上已经被消解。事实上,后世的传记书写对于王、文书法评价的调整,正是对"人书俱老"论述框架的突破。

In Book Charts (Shū Pǔ) by Sun Guoting is printed ‘ages make a calligrapher’(‘rén shū jù lǎo’ in Chinese pinyin) to respectfully comment on the works by a senior calligrapher who has grown a master of art while aged. However, with time passing by, what’s originally implied by him has got translated by later generations into ‘old-fashioned’ or ‘outdated’ to describe a kind of calligraphy style. A case in point is that Wang Chong is dead young at 40 while Wen Zhengming long-lived, both from the Wu school of the Ming dynasty. Actually, Wang’s handwritings appear conservative and rough, whereas Wen remains vigorous and graceful in his works of later years. Therefore it is thought in this paper that ‘ages or aged’ here does not necessarily goes along with what Sun Guoting explained when it refers to a kind of style or skill one can acquire by learning rather than ‘a longer span of life or years of practice’. The fact that both of their calligraphy styles have been studied from different points afterwards is a reflection of changed ideas of ‘ages make a calligrapher’.