Ti An: The Techniques of Pressing and Lifting the Brush 笔法：提按

There are three structural forms essential to calligraphy. They are strokes, character structure and line composition, which join together to reflect the beauty of the calligraphic work.

Among these three, strokes are basic, because all the characters and lines are composed of strokes. The characters and lines are the tracks of movements or arrangement forms of the dots and strokes. Vigor, shifting, rhythm, change and harmony are key elements of the beauty of the dots and strokes, and are also the key elements of the beauty of the characters and lines. Certainly, these key elements demonstrate different proportions in the strokes, characters and lines.

When writing with a brush, the key element is the vigor of the strokes. There are several ways to demonstrate the vigor of the strokes, and the two most important ways are Zhong Feng and Ti An, a technique of pressing and lifting the brush.

In Chinese, Ti means lifting up and An means pressing down. Lifting up the brush a little makes the strokes delicate, powerful and smooth, and pressing down on the brush makes the strokes thick, vigorous and powerful. So Ti and An are the main ways to express vigor and rhythm in calligraphy.

While lifting or pressing the brush, the calligrapher should deal with another pair of ways to use power: moving the brush forward and holding it in position for a while, or moving the brush slowly - like a basketball player who moves forward while bouncing the ball on the ground. Such a skill is the result of hard practice.

Various scripts have different frequencies of transfer of lifting and pressing.

The wild cursive hand features swift movements of brush and fewer changes of lifting and pressing. The changes are more frequent in the lesser cursive and walking styles. The official script demonstrates more transfers between lifting and pressing, especially in writing horizontal strokes, which starts with a silkworm's head and ends in a wild goose's tail, and right-downward strokes. The standard kai-script illustrates the highest frequency of changes of lifting and pressing. But the seal script demonstrates no lifting or pressing at all.

.

.

书法有三个主要的构成形式。它们是笔画、结字与章法，它们合成书法之美。

这三个构成形式中，笔画最为基本，因为字与行都是由笔画合成的。字与行是点画运行的轨迹和排列组合形式。点画的许多形式美要素，如力感、动感、节奏、变化与和谐等，也是字与行的形式美要素。当然，在这三这构成形式中，这些要素的比重是不同的。

笔画所着重的是笔力。用来显现笔力的方法不少，其中两个重要的是中锋与提按。

提就是用力将笔向上轻提；按就是用力向下按着。提笔可以使线条显得精细、有力与流畅；按笔则十线条粗重、沉重与有力。所以提按是造成书法力感与节奏感的重要手段。

写字时将笔向上提或向下按时，还要应付另一对不同的用力方法：行与留，就如一个篮球运动员带球前进，一面拍着球，一面带球跑动。这种技巧需要苦练。

各种书体的提按变化的频率有所不同。

狂草书追求快速行笔，提按变化较少。小草与行书提按变化较多。隶书提按变化较多，尤其是书写要表现蚕头雁尾的横画与右下捺刀划。楷书用提按最多。但是，篆书却几乎完全没有用到提按。