At the age of 54, he became a junior official in imperial academy. In his early years, he was not allowed to take the provincial examination because of his poor handwriting, so he became angry from embarrassment and worked hard to be strong, and finally became an all-rounder in poetry, literature and painting. In painting, he became a "martial school" with his disciples; Together with Shen Zhou, Tang Yin and Chou Ying, they are also called "Ming Si Jia"; Calligraphy was excellent in all aspects, especially running script and regular script, which was famous at home and abroad at that time, and because he died at an advanced age (nearly 90 years old), there were many students, which had a great influence on future generations; His sons Wen Peng and Wen Jia also made great achievements in calligraphy, among which Wen Peng was a master of seal cutting in Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Wen Zhiming's small letters are particularly fine and neat, mainly from Zhong You, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang and Ou Yangxun. They have strict statutes, elegant brushwork, dignified posture and elegant style. After the age of 80, Xiaokai is especially famous for its kung fu. The running script mainly draws lessons from Huai Ren's Preface to Wang Xizhi's Shinto and Zhi Yong, and its writing style is vigorous and smooth. In his later years, he learned Huang Tingjian's big characters, and his style became vigorous and elegant. There are a lot of ink handed down from ancient times, including Before and After Red Cliff Fu, Gu Chun's Tibetan Painting Axis and Nine Classic Poems of Li Sao. The running script includes the early South Window, the middle five poems and the later Xiyuan poems. All his works are neatly written, which is extremely rare among China calligraphers, even though he is nearly ninety years old.
original text
Wen Zhiming wrote A Thousand Words, at the rate of ten books a day, and the books made great progress. I have lived in books all my life, and I have never hesitated, or simply answered people, and I have never taken pains again and again, so the older I get, the more subtle I am. (from the book Forest Chronicle)
(1) Pro: Copy.
(2) Day: Every day
(3) Rate: standard.
(4) Book: the level of calligraphy.
(5) Then: So, just.
(6) Yu: Right, right.
(7) life: life.
(7) Taste: once.
(8) Can get by: perfunctory, casual and sloppy.
(9) or: sometimes.
(10) Simplified letters: letters, letters.
(1 1) Shao: pass "omitted", omitted.
(12) Yi: change, change.
(13) Never tired: Never tired. Tired: bored, bored.
(14) So: So.
More and more.
(16) The word "book" in the book is calligraphy.
(17) The word "book" born in the book: writing.
Wen Zhiming copied "thousands of words" and wrote ten books every day as the standard, and his calligraphy made rapid progress. He has never been careless in writing all his life. Sometimes I am a little dissatisfied with answering people's letters. I have to rewrite it over and over again, not afraid of trouble. Therefore, the older he gets, the more exquisite and wonderful his calligraphy becomes.
Wen Zhiming's calligraphy tells us that no matter what we do, we must persevere, we must not give up halfway, and we must not be careless; As long as there is a certain accumulation, there will be quality. If you want to do it overnight, or if you are careless, you will not succeed. We students should also learn knowledge like Wen Zhiming's calligraphy, so as to be successful.