What did Wang Duo experience on his way to learning calligraphy?

He studied books since he was a child, starting with the preface to the holy teachings. On this basis, he read widely, especially for the "two kings" school. Ceng Yun said, "Chunhua, Shengjiao, Chulan Pavilion, what should I do for sleeping!" (Postscript of Wang Duo's Quchuang's Preface to the Holy Teaching). From the middle of the apocalypse to the early years of Chongzhen, Wang Duo devoted himself to imperial academy, and his collection in the Imperial Palace was fully appreciated. He can not only see all kinds of good styles of Chunhua Pavilion posts, but also see a lot of Song and Yuan Dynasties. After years of research and study, Wang Duo can even achieve the goal of "shining like a lamp, leaving no trace" on the calligraphy of Wei and Jin Dynasties, especially the calligraphy of the two kings. But during this period, he suddenly found that the poet Mi Fei was the one who won the spirit of the two kings the most.

Wang Duo said in the postscript of the book Poems on the Boat of the Wujiang River: "Mi Fei's books are full of poetry and dedication, flying freely and flying immortals! I won the imitation of Lanting method and gave me incense to lie down. " From then on, he chose the word "rice" as the starting point to deepen his tradition and establish his personal style, so as to get a glimpse of the two kings.

In the process of imitating Mi Fei, Wang Duo put the spirit of Mi Fei's "irregular imitation" into his creative efforts, and put the pen characterized by the word "brush" in Mi Fei into his central twist, making the contrast between dotted lines and ink blocks with the flow and rise of ink, which is endless.

At the end of Chongzhen, Wang Duo, who was in his fifties, had gradually matured his book style. This also confirmed the prediction of his good friend Huang Daozhou: "Walking grass pushes Wang Juesi closer, and Juesi is in full bloom. Seeing that he is 50 years old, if you want to be rough, if you want to be muscular, if you want to pitch, you can't help it. " (Huang Daozhou's Calligraphy Theory) In his later years, Wang Duo's books have reached the state of perfection. On the one hand, although he held a high position in the Qing court, he did not actually gain trust and reuse. His depressed mood can be imagined, but he still sent a sigh of relief to comfort himself. On the other hand, Wang Duo never stopped studying the traces of ancient books all his life, especially in his later years.