The study of Xiaokai in Ming Dynasty

[[abstract]]楷書於魏晉成熟，至唐代則發展興盛，然而宋代一反前朝森嚴的矩度，在尚意書風的影響下，擺脫法度桎梏，著重抒情適性，楷書因而不受重視。自元人趙孟頫力倡復古，溯源魏晉，強調二王傳統與筆法，小楷的書學地位再次躍升。元末至明初的臺閣書家大致處於趙孟頫書風的影響，以典雅唯美為主流，難以突破傳統而自立一格，後人對其評價不高。明代書家寫小楷的現象與風氣甚為顯著，尤其中葉以後，祝允明、文徵明、王寵，乃至末年董其昌、黃道周、王鐸等，無論在創作數量或品質上均有可觀的成就。 臺閣體、刻帖、題跋的盛行，及趙孟頫、文徵明等大師的影響，加上熱絡的文人交遊，皆促成明代書家善寫小楷的風氣，而追求適的生命情懷、尚友古人，及尋求不朽的心願，皆提供文人書寫小楷的內在依據；明末動盪不安的時代氛圍，增益書家的使命感，使他們嚴格審視自我道德人格的價值，並以小楷書寫經文，以利教化之用及內心的安頓。 明中葉時期，以吳中地區書家成就較顯，影響最著，以文徵明、祝允明、王寵為代表，多為仕途失意的在野文人，並於詩、書、畫三者兼善，其小楷在數量與水準上均有可觀之作。復古風氣與鍾繇書體的日益盛行，使得樸拙居於唯美風格之上，加上對於唐、宋書體的繼承融合，使其小楷有不同的發展；明末在浪漫思潮的衝擊與篆隸逐漸興起、書家審美、臨古觀念的改變，小楷的創作雖非佔極多的份量，然行草方面的卓越的表現，帶給小楷新的發展與面貌。 文字脫離不了內容，而書法的表現形式，往往受時代、書家審美觀念的影響。筆者從書學的角度、各個時期的審美觀念出發，列舉各具代表性的書家，探索其書學思想、藝術風格，及小楷的特色與變化，審視明代小楷的繼承與創新處，另從書寫內容探究明代小楷的書寫意涵，以更瞭解文人的心境與書體選擇之間的關聯，希望能更深一層瞭解人文與藝術之間的互動。[[abstract]]Regular script was mature in Wei-Jin Dynasties and prosperous in Tang Dynasty. However, in Song Dynasty, under the influence of the Shang-I-Shu-Feng , calligraphy was countered the serious style in pervious dynasty and got rid of the rule shackles, thus calligraphers started to emphasis the expression of emotion. Regular script is not taken seriously. Because Zhao Meng-fu emphasizing the Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi writing techniques, advocated to restore the old style tracing to Wei-Jin Dynasties, Xiaokai’s status jumped high once more. From the late Yuan Dynasty to early Ming Dynasty, the Tai-ge calligraphers were influenced by Zhao Meng-fu writing style, so the graceful and elegant writing technique became the mainstream. It was hard to break the tradition style to buildup their own standard. The appraisal of this kind of writing technique was not high. The tone of writing Xiaokai is obvious in Ming Dynasty. The calligraphers had considerable achievement of Xiaokai works in quality and quantity especially from the middle to late period time in Ming Dynasty, such as Wen Chengming, Zhu Yunming, Wang Chong, Dong QiChang, Huang Daozhou, and Wang Duo. The calligraphers in Ming Dynasty, being good at writing Xiaokai, pursuing the feelings of naturalism, adoring ancients and finding the immoral aspiration are pushed by the prevalence of Tai-ge-ti, Ke-tie (words carved on the wood), and Ti-ba (related comments or poem written on the painting, the affection of famous calligraphers such as Zhao Meng-fu and Wen Chengming, and the interaction of literators. That was offered literators the internal basis to write Xiaokai. In the last Ming Dynasty, the turbulent atmosphere gave calligraphers a sense of mission to survey their own worth of morality. They wrote the scriptures in Xiaokai in order to educate and settle their heart. In the middle Ming Dynasty, the calligraphers had achievement and affection obviously especially in Wu-Chang area. Wen Chengming, Zhu Yunming, and Wang Chong are the representative. The majority of them are literators who had no political position and were good at poem, calligraphy, and painting. They all had the considerable achievement of Xiaokai works in quantity and standard. Xiaokai has several development not only by the prevalence of the atmosphere of revival and Jung Yau calligraphy form but also by the fusion of the calligraphy form in Tang and Song. The simple style was important than graceful style. In the late Ming Dynasty, because of the impact of romantic thought, the rise of clerical script and Seal script (Official script), the change of calligraphers’ esthetic standard and the idea of mimic ancients, there was not many Xiaokai works, however, the remarkable performance of the running script (Semi-cursive Script) and grass script (Cursive script) had given Xiaokai the new development and appearance. The words could not be separated from the content. The epoch and the calligraphers’ esthetic standard always affect the expression of calligraphy. The author enumerates some representative calligraphers through the angle of calligrapher and the esthetic standard of each epoch for discovering the thought of calligrapher, the style of art and the feature and change of Xiaokai. The writer studied not only the tradition and innovation of the Xiaokai in Ming Dynasty but also the meaning of Ming Dynasty Xiaokai by the written contents in order to understand the correlation between the calligraphers’ mood and calligraphy style choice and further comprehend the meaning of writing and the interaction of humanities and art.[[note]]碩