Calligraphy is the most classic national symbol in the five thousand years of development of traditional Chinese culture and art. Calligraphy can be called China's "fourth religion", with strong attraction, sense of ritual and public participation. Over the past five thousand years, China has been filled with representative figures from various periods. Today I would like to introduce to you the story of the most accomplished calligrapher in Chinese history.
Digging graves and stealing art
Zhong Yao was born in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was very dedicated and enthusiastic about the study of calligraphy, almost to the point of madness. It is said that he once studied in Baodu Mountain. In order to practice calligraphy well, he wrote all the rocks and trees in the mountain black. Once, he was discussing calligraphy brushes with Cao Cao, Wei Dan and others. He was so interested that he kept copying the drawings before going to bed, and even cut several holes in the quilt.
Wei Dan was also a calligrapher at that time. It is said that he had the "Bi Lun" written by Cai Yong, a great calligrapher of the Eastern Han Dynasty, so his calligraphy level was very high. People at that time praised his calligraphy and considered it The first calligrapher of his time. Zhong Yao wanted to borrow this "Bi Lun" from Wei Dan, but Wei Dan refused and refused again and again. Zhong Yao was so angry that he beat his chest and vomited blood. Fortunately, Cao Cao saved his life with the Five Spirit Pills. After Wei Dan passed away, Zhong Yao sent someone to dig out the book from the grave, studied it repeatedly, and finally understood the secret of using the pen.
? Zhong Yao's regular script "Declaration Form" (part)
Wang Xizhi came to Tiantai Mountain to become a disciple
Wang Xizhi came to Tiantai Mountain before practicing at Lanting, and was attracted by Tiantai Mountain Attracted by the beautiful scenery, he settled on the top of the mountain. He enjoyed the wonders of the sunrise and the sea of ??clouds and mist, and at the same time he kept practicing calligraphy and washing his pen and inkstone, even turning a clear blue pool black. This is how Mochi got its name.
One night, Wang Xizhi practiced calligraphy until late at night. He looked and thought about it word by word. He was still not satisfied with his calligraphy. He read and practiced again and again, but he was too tired from practicing. , holding the pen and leaning on the case. Suddenly, a gust of breeze passed by, and a white cloud floated over. There was an old man with white hair and silver beard on the cloud. He looked at him with a smile and said, "Your handwriting is good!"
"Where, where!" Wang Xizhi replied humbly while giving up his seat. When he saw the old man looking at his handwriting carefully, he asked for advice: "Old man, please correct me."
Seeing Wang Xizhi's sincerity, the old man said: "Stretch out your hand. ”
Wang Xizhi wondered, what should the old man do? Seeing that the old man was serious and not joking, he slowly stretched out his hand. The old man took the pen and said with a smile: "I see that you are sincerely learning to write, and I will let you understand a writing technique that will be useful in the future." After the old man finished speaking, he wrote a word on Wang Xizhi's palm, and then nodded. Say: "You will make progress faster." Say it. Wang Xizhi hurriedly shouted: "Where does Mr. live?" He heard a faint voice in the air: "White clouds on the rooftop..." Wang Xizhi saw that the palm of his hand was the word "Yong", and he gestured. Yeah, I wrote and practiced, and finally I realized: the secrets of horizontal and vertical hooks, dots and strokes, the strokes of square characters and the structure of the frame are all reflected in the word "Yong". What Mr. Baiyun taught me is really good writing skills! After that, Wang Xizhi practiced more diligently, and his calligraphy became more free and wonderful.
Afterwards, Wang Xizhi returned to Shaoxing, and while gathering with literary friends in Lanting, he wrote the "Preface to the Lanting Collection", a calligraphy treasure that has been passed down through the ages. Wang Xizhi never forgot Mr. Baiyun's "Yong" strokes in Tiantai Mountain, so he sincerely wrote a "Huang Ting Jing" and placed it in a steep and steep cave on the top of the mountain. Later generations called it "Huang Jing Cave". Today, some brave tourists want to climb up the Huangjing Cave to see if Wang Xizhi's "Huangting Jing" is still hidden in the cave?
Wang Xizhi's "Huang Ting Jing"
Wang Xizhi's representative works: "Lanting Preface" is known as "the best running script in the world", Taizong's only favorite, "Quick Snow Shiqing Tie" , was also the favorite of Emperor Qianlong.
"The Preface to Orchid Pavilion" by Wang Xizhi, "the best running script in the world"
Qi Mi Tie (Tang Dynasty)
Yan Zhenqing was an old minister of the three dynasties of the Tang Dynasty. He was loyal and upright, and his name was Within the heavy sea. However, because he is honest and self-sufficient, he will never be greedy or take anything in vain, so he often cannot support himself in food and clothing. He once wrote a letter begging for rice to Li Taibao at that time, indicating that he was poor at childbirth and had a lot of index fingers at home. The family had been living on porridge for several months, and now there was no rice again. It was very disturbing. He hoped that in the past In terms of friendship, I asked him to give him some rice. That situation is really pitiable. Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy achievements have always been respected by future generations, which was somewhat inspired by his personality.
Liu Gongquan worked hard to practice calligraphy
One day, Liu Gongquan and several friends held a "book meeting". At this time, an old man selling tofu saw the words he wrote: "I can write about Feifeng family and I dare to praise it in front of others." He felt that the child was too proud, so he frowned and said, "These words are not well written." Okay, it's like my tofu, it's soft and has no bones or muscles. Is it still worthy of being praised in front of others?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Gongquan said unhappily: "If you have the ability, write a few words for me to read. Look."
The old man smiled heartily and said, "I don't dare, I don't dare. I'm a rough man and can't write well. But there are people who can write better than you with their feet. There are so many! If you don’t believe it, go to Huajing City and have a look.” The next day, Xiao Gongquan got up early and went to Huajing City alone. As soon as he entered Huajing City, he saw many people gathered under a big locust tree. He squeezed into the crowd and saw a thin, black old man with no beard and arms, sitting on the ground with bare feet, his left foot pressing the paper, and his right foot holding a pen. He was writing couplets freely, and the handwriting looked like a group of horses galloping, The dancing dragons and phoenixes won bursts of applause from the onlookers.
Part of the Diamond Sutra in regular script by Liu Gongquan? Collection of the Paris Museum, France
Little Gongquan knelt down in front of the old man with a plop and said: "I am willing to worship you as my teacher, please." Tell me the secret of writing..." The old man hurriedly picked up Xiao Gongquan with his feet and said, "I am a lonely person. I was born without hands and have to rely on my feet to make a living. How can I be a role model for others?" Xiao Gongquan begged. , the old man spread a piece of paper on the ground and wrote a few words with his right foot:
"Write eight tanks of water, and the inkstone dyes the pond black; win hundreds of parents, and only then can dragons and phoenixes fly." Liu Gongquan kept the old man's words in mind and worked hard to practice calligraphy from then on. Thick calluses formed on my hands, and my clothes and elbows were patched up layer after layer. After hard training, Liu Gongquan finally became a famous calligrapher in my country.
There were four major calligraphers in the Song Dynasty
The most famous are Su, Huang, Mi and Cai. Su is Su Shi, that is, Su Dongpo; Huang is Huang Tingjian; Mi is Mi Fu; these are all beyond reproach. But what about "Cai"? Some people say it’s Cai Jing, others say it’s Cai Xiang. Who is it? There are different opinions.
The most common theory is that this Cai was originally Cai Jing. Although people recognized his calligraphy attainments, they particularly hated his character, so they were unwilling to recognize his status as a calligrapher. During the Yuanyou reign of Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, in order to eliminate dissidents, he called Sima Guang and others "traitors", and personally wrote inscriptions on their "crimes" and engraved them into monuments and erected them across the country. At that time, many stonemasons refused to carve this stele, and as a result, they were all imprisoned and executed. As soon as Cai Jing died, people immediately smashed the "Monument to the Yuanyou Party" to pieces. People also called him the "Four Traitors" together with Gao Qiu, Tong Guan, and Yang Jian who controlled the government at that time.
Cai Jing has a very bad character. How can people tolerate him being among the "Four Great Calligraphers"? So he was fired. But "Su Huang Mi Cai" was smooth again, so Cai Xiang was replaced.
Cai Xiang is good at learning from the essence of his ancestors, and he works very hard. His calligraphy is very distinctive. Therefore, people think that he should be ranked first among the "four families" and should not be ranked last due to Cai Jing's involvement.
Cai Xiang not only has high attainments in calligraphy, but also has excellent character. When he was an official in the court, he dared to speak out, and even some powerful officials were afraid of him. When he was an official in Quanzhou, Fujian, he built the Luoyang Bridge, which later became very famous, and also built a seven-mile boulevard, which was welcomed by the local people.
From this point of view, character is more important than book quality. If a person can only write well but cannot do good deeds, the people will despise him and will not give him honor even in the book world. Leave a small status.
Su Dongpo gave way
One day, Su Dongpo, a great scholar of the Song Dynasty, was out on an outing and saw many farmers carrying mud from ponds to fertilize their fields. He strolled to a small field ridge, not wanting to run into a bunch of peasant women. The two faced each other, neither giving way. Su Xueshi made a big statement: "Everything is inferior, but reading is high. I am a scholar, you woman should give way to me." The woman smiled and said, "Since you call yourself a scholar, how can you be right?" Dongpo said : "Of course you can do it if you have a bullfight hidden in your chest!" The woman then blurted out: "A heavy load of mud is blocking the road."
Su Dongpo was shocked and speechless for a long time. People on both sides of the field were returning from sending mud. They all looked at his embarrassment and laughed. Seeing this scene, Su Dongpo suddenly realized something, and hurriedly "borrowed the ladder" to get off the stage and said: "The two lines of masters are smiling back."
Although he got the second couplet right, he still had lingering fears. I thought to myself, there is such a smart peasant woman in the village, I can no longer ignore her and behave like this. Then he took off his shoes and socks and went into the paddy field, giving way.
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Huang Daozhou was a famous calligrapher in the late Ming Dynasty, and he was particularly fond of justice through the ages. Legend has it that there was a Huang Wu in Zhangzhou who was notorious. Once he wanted to ask Huang Daozhou to inscribe a plaque for his newly built "Shanggong Ancestral Temple". Zodiac Zhou was disgusted and resigned. Huang Wu bribed Huang Daozhou's maid, promising her "if she gets a single word, she will be rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold." The maid deliberately practiced calligraphy in front of Huang Daozhou. When Huang Daozhou saw that his handwriting of the word "temple" was not good, he wrote a letter saying "Let's go." She copied it, and the maid then secretly sent the word "Temple" to receive the reward. A few days later, he followed the same pattern and got the word "ancestor". Another day when he was practicing the word "上", Huang Daozhou thought about it and suddenly realized it, so he fired the maid. The maid had no choice but to secretly impersonate Huang Daozhou's calligraphy and write the character "上" and hand it over to punish her. As a result, the finished plaque "Shanggong Ancestral Temple" was very awkward.
Huang Daozhou's "Miscellaneous Books", silk edition, regular script, 24.5×12cm ×24
Unchronologically collected by Yunnan Provincial Museum