'The Tao begets one, one begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. All things are negative yin and embrace yang, and they are impulsive and peaceful. 'The five elements of yin and yang, mutually reinforcing each other, constitute everything in the universe.

Everything in the world has a corresponding substance in the universe. The five elements correspond to the five stars of gold, wood, water, fire and earth in the sky, and the five substances of gold, wood, water, fire and earth on the earth, and the five virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith in man.

In ancient times, the fate of human beings was calculated based on the mutual influence of the three worlds of heaven, earth and man, and the mutual restraint of the five elements. Adjust yin and yang, follow the four seasons, order the five elements, respect the heavens and know the fate, and value virtue and do good, so as to be safe and auspicious.

"Heaven and earth are in harmony with their virtues, and the sun and the moon are in harmony", "Heaven and earth are born with me, and all things are one with me", "Great happiness is in harmony with heaven and earth, and great gifts are in harmony with heaven and earth". Man and nature are integrated and close to each other, heaven and man are one, heaven and man are inducted, and the world is holographic.

Respectful, upright, calm-hearted, completely settle down your heart, no distractions, no hurry, calm, the spirit of the whole body is harmonious, and the universe is connected with the Taihe qi. Be in harmony with God, and be in harmony with the Word.

How similar is this to cultivation? I have always felt that ancient Chinese culture is a culture of cultivation. In terms of the ancient literati's qin, chess, calligraphy and painting, it is leisurely and elegant, but also self-cultivation, and those with profound attainments can reach a very high level.

In ancient China, Zhengyin Yale was respected, with 'quiet and plain' as the top, not as the trend of loud and lively. Qinse, flute, huqin. All of them have soft timbres, tranquil and long rhymes, and behind such graceful and elegant music is a rich cultural heritage.

Confucianism attaches great importance to the 'education' of social ethics, respects the beauty of neutrality, is stable and modest, subtle and elegant, and rejects the indulgent and noisy music and lewd music.

Taoism advocates nature, tranquility, non-action, weakness, and harmony. Lao Tzu said, 'Da Yin Xi Sheng,'

Zhengsheng should be 'simple and quiet', so that there will be an ethereal and distant sense of space, and a spiritual experience of oneness with all things. Zhuangzi put forward 'easy and tranquil' as the ideal of life. 'If you are easy and tranquil, you will not be able to enter into trouble. Evil spirits cannot be attacked. Therefore, its virtue is complete and God is not lost. ‘

Literati Yishi, meet friends with the piano, look for bosom friends, do not compete and do not seek. No showmanship. Don't show off. Stay away from fame and fortune, and entertain yourself. The understanding of the piano art is deep and the requirements are high. Impressive.

'Only when the body and hands are quiet can they be integrated with the wonderful way and communicate with the gods. ‘

Therefore, the Qing people, the original hands of the elegant are like Luan Feng and Ming, and the turbidity will be calm and tactful to the degree of chastity and grandeur. ‘

'God is idle, snow is restless, release his competitiveness, sweep away the hustle and bustle under his fingers, and there is chastity on the strings. ''The heart is cold, and the body is full of immortal energy. ''Concentrate on the gods and move the ghosts and gods.'' This is simply the realm of cultivation.

"Between the ancient pine flowing water, only the sound of chess can be heard", "idle knocking on the chess pieces and falling lanterns", "victory is happy, defeat can also be happy", the fun of the ancients playing chess can be seen. In his spare time, he plays chess to make friends and increase his wisdom.

Playing chess is about chess quality. There are various situations in the game of chess, which often show the character cultivation of chess players. Pan Shenxiu, the minister of the Song Dynasty, compared the way of Confucius and Mencius to Go, saying: "The way of chess is to be silent, and the choice is urgent." Benevolence can be complete, righteousness can be kept, etiquette can change, wisdom can be both, and faith can be restrained. The gentleman knows the five, and he can talk about chess. ‘

Emperor Wu of Liang was good at playing chess, and his writings were mostly based on experience. 'If the situation has been won, it should not be too light, the disaster will be caused by ignorance, and the success will be lost. ‘

Although the chessboard is small, it is subtle and changeable. Such as: heaven and earth yin and yang, royal government, the art of war and so on. The chess game is like a battlefield, and the black and white sides transport troops to set up formations, capture the royal guard, and fight wits and bravery. Ying Ling, a scribe of the Eastern Han Dynasty, said: "The way of the game is rigorous. 'It is necessary to have both a general plan for birth and a detailed plan for entering the WTO.

Historically, representatives of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, as well as politicians, military strategists, writers, mathematicians, philosophers, etc., have praised Go and believed that it benefited a lot.

Calligraphy is a very popular art form in ancient China, which can be appreciated by both the elegant and the vulgar, and the practice of calligraphy can regulate the mind and cultivate the mind, and live a long and healthy life. Ouyang Xun, who wrote "Jiucheng Palace" in the Tang Dynasty, lived to be 85 years old, and Yu Shinan, who wrote "Confucius Temple Tablet", lived to be 89 years old. Contemporary calligraphers such as Su Juxian in Shanghai and Sun in Beijing are both over 100 years old??????.

Tang Taizong said in "On the Writing Tips": "When you want to write, when you watch and listen, you are absolutely worried and concentrating, and your heart is right, then you are in tune with the wonderful" Ouyang Xun also said that when practicing calligraphy, you should be clear and calm, and be upright. 'It is necessary to get rid of distractions, forget all honor and disgrace, concentrate on it, and attain a state of concentration and single-mindedness. Then, the intention is to move the hands, wrists, elbows, and arms flexibly and freely, mobilize the strength of the whole body, and organically convey it to the point, horizontal, vertical, apostrophe, and the layout between the lines of the word through the end of the pen, that is, the so-called 'use it with the power of the qi of the whole body', promote blood circulation, and make people energetic, which coincides with qigong.

Zhou Xinglian's "Linchi Guan Jian" pointed out: "If you sit quietly and write a few crosses or hundreds of characters in regular script, you will feel irritable and calm. Therefore, 'the main book is quiet to cure the movement,' which shows that practicing regular script can nourish qi and calm the nerves and eliminate irritability. And Lishu because of its calligraphy is calm and beautiful, like a forest spring as quiet and refreshing, so that headaches, insomnia people's qi and blood are calm, and their emotions are self-adjusted. This is the reason for the longevity of calligraphers.

Although the shape of the character is on paper, its expression and interest are in addition to the paper and ink, and all the dynamics in the natural environment have their own compatibility. Just like Lao Tzu's 'Tao of Nature'. The so-called 'one sand and one world, one leaf and one spring and autumn.' 'Astronomy, geography, humanities, there is a Tao in the image.

Wang Xizhi's view of the goose's paw to pluck the water and get the penmanship, Zhang Xu's view of the grandson of the grandmother to dance the sword and get the cursive method, Huang Tingjian's view of the woodcutter and the gesture of the calligrapher to hang the wrist of the pen, the palm is empty, fast but not urgent, slow but not sluggish. Capture the posture of 'Luan Dance' and the state of 'Dragon Teng', and you can reach the state of unity of heaven and man who are completely forgetful.

Ancient calligraphy theory generally focused on the relationship between morality and calligraphy, that is, there is a saying that 'books are like people'. Zhu Hetang of the Qing Dynasty wrote in "Linchi Heart Solution": "Calligraphy is only a skill, but the product is the first pass." Those who are high-quality, a little bit of painting, have their own upright, elegant and upright atmosphere; those who are under the quality, although they are passionate and frustrated, are considerable, and the vertical and horizontal are violent, and they are inevitably exposed. ‘

Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, loved the art of calligraphy, attached great importance to the cultivation of calligraphy talents, excavated and sorted out the relics of the Wei and Jin dynasties, established Wang Xizhi's status as a calligraphy saint, made great contributions to the prosperity of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, and occupied an important position in the history of calligraphy.

Tang Taizong also had a unique view on calligraphy, emphasizing the 'muscles' and 'spirit' of the book, and also advocated that calligraphy should have 'the spirit of harmony'. 'Medium is positive. The right one, the word of harmony is also. ''With the edge is not as good as the rush and the air, the natural wrist is light, and the edge is calm. Taizong personally wrote "The Biography of Wang Xi" and wrote the immortal masterpiece "Hot Spring Ming". Vigorous and vigorous, graceful and elegant, Lang run and handsome, the whole article is full of a heroic and heroic and holy and superb spirit.

Literati painting pays attention to comprehensive cultural accomplishment, advocating 'reading 10,000 books, traveling 10,000 miles', which must complement each other with poetry, calligraphy, painting, and printing, and that character, talent, learning, and thought are indispensable. In terms of subject matter, most of them are landscapes, flowers and birds, as well as plum orchids, bamboo chrysanthemums, etc., symbolizing the indifferent and quiet secluded life, the pure and honest gentleman's style, and the spirit of pure and loyal personality.

Literati painting pays attention to the charm and the taste of the brush, and the artistic conception is timeless and intriguing. There are four types of paintings, Yige, Godhead, Miaoge, and Nengge. 'Gai can not be wonderful, not as wonderful as God, not as good as God. ‘

With Yipin as the highest realm, beyond the general artistic level, into a higher aesthetic creation world, elegant out of the dust. It seems to be plain and naïve, but it is incomparable. Concise and vivid, natural, and inemulatory.

Wang Wei, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, is revered as the ancestor of landscape painting. He is good at writing and painting scenes, fresh and bright, elegant and refined beauty in silence, giving people spiritual edification and physical and mental aesthetic pleasure. Su Dongpo praised him, "There are paintings in poems, and there are poems in paintings." ‘

According to the record in "Tiaoxi Yuyin Cong Words", Qin Guan, a poet in the Song Dynasty, once suffered from gastrointestinal diseases and could not be cured repeatedly. One day, a friend gave him a painting of Wang Wei's "Rim River". Whenever I see this beautiful picture, I feel as if I have entered that charming painting, I feel refreshed, relaxed, and the symptoms of gastrointestinal discomfort are swept away. After a few days of 'painting in the middle of the tour', Qin Guan's illness gradually improved.

Wang Wei resigned and retired to the countryside. Eat fasting and worship Buddha, burn incense and chant scriptures, play the piano and write poems, sing and sing on the boat, convey the spirit of calligraphy and painting, and are full of Zen. Profound Buddhist attainments and rich cultural cultivation are integrated into the brush and ink, and the pure energy and cool breath slowly emanate from the painting, which is pleasing to the eye, refreshing the spirit, and quite helpful to health, which is beyond the reach of medicinal power.

Huang Gongwang, the head of the 'Four Yuan Families', is also a cultivator, he has experienced ups and downs, he is precocious and talented as a young man, because he disagrees with the powerful, and then he was imprisoned, and he was free at the age of 50. He meditated and cultivated, and his painting style became ethereal and transcendent, reckless and majestic. He has traveled for seven years and won the charm of mountains and rivers. Nearly eighty years old, he finished painting the "Fuchun Mountain Residence Map", and his achievements were very high, and he was known as the "Orchid Pavilion in the Painting", which had a far-reaching influence on later generations. Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty said that when he saw this painting, he had a feeling of 'heart and spleen'.

Among the many top literati painters, there are many cultivators, the most prominent is the 'Four Painting Monks' in the early Qing Dynasty, whose painting characteristics are quiet and indifferent, but each has its own characteristics. Among the four monks, the eight mountain people and Shi Tao had a great influence.

A good painting can make people's distracting thoughts disappear, wash away the dust and clean the heart, and gradually get better. It can be seen that the character, talent, and cultivation skills of calligraphers and painters are extraordinary, and the ancient calligraphy and painting monographs talk about 'fixing the spirit', 'channeling the spirit', 'divine quality', and 'elegant product'. (To be continued......)