In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there was a great calligrapher named Yan Zhenqing who was famous throughout the ages. He is a native of Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi'an, Shaanxi), and his ancestral home is Langya Linyi (now Linyi, Shandong). When Yan Zhenqing was three years old, his father unfortunately passed away. Later, his mother, Mrs. Yin, taught him personally. When he grew up, he was knowledgeable and very filial to his mother.
Through his arduous path of study, Yan Zhenqing was very accomplished in poetry, with 34 works handed down to this day. Among them, this concise and concise quatrain "Encouraging Learning" is the most educational:
The lights are on at three o'clock and the chickens are on at five o'clock, which is when men are studying. Black-haired people don't know how to study diligently early, and white-haired people regret studying late.
This poem is exactly the experience Yan Zhenqing summed up in his hardships, encouraging students not to be inactive, but to cherish their time and make a difference.
As for Yan Zhenqing's identity, in addition to the most famous label of "Great Calligrapher", he is also a famous Tang Dynasty minister and an outstanding military strategist.
When Yan Zhenqing first came into contact with calligraphy, he began to learn from the works of Chu Suiliang. Later, he became a teacher of Zhang Xu, the leading "Cao Sage" in the Tang Dynasty. At first, Zhang Xu just introduced some calligraphy books by famous artists to Yan Zhenqing, and then simply pointed out the characteristics of the calligraphy books and asked Yan Zhenqing to practice by himself. Sometimes, when Yan Zhenqing was tired from practicing calligraphy, Zhang Xu would take him out for fun. Either climbing mountains or swimming, or shopping or listening to plays. After such a lap, he took Yan Zhenqing home with him. Either let Yan Zhenqing practice, or watch him write furiously.
A few months later, Yan Zhenqing felt that she could not get the master's calligraphy secrets, so she directly raised her questions and requests to Zhang Xu. He hoped that Zhang Xu could teach him the secret of calligraphy practice.
Zhang Xu smiled faintly and still said: "My teacher takes you out to 'tour mountains and rivers' on weekdays. In fact, it is to let you observe the forms of all things, so that you can understand their essence, and finally inspire you. How do you practice calligraphy?" Yan Zhenqing did not realize the master's good intentions. As a last resort, Zhang Xu had to use the method of Wang Xizhi, the calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty: the so-called "secret" is to study hard and practice hard, there is no other way.
From then on, Yan Zhenqing began to study hard. In this way, he understood the essence of writing from life, and eventually became a great calligrapher. He conducted in-depth research on the calligraphy of Er Wang, Chu Suiliang and others, and formed a unique "Yan style" after learning from each other's strengths. Moreover, he is also known as "Yan Liu" together with the calligrapher Liu Gongquan, and has the reputation of "Yan Jin Liu Gu".
Yan Zhenqing’s regular script is dignified and vigorous, combining hardness and softness. The strokes are thick and strong, simple and grand. These characteristics of calligraphy are also the charm of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Yan Zhenqing studied calligraphy all his life, and has more than 40 calligraphy works that have been handed down to later generations. People are familiar with the inscriptions with obvious characteristics such as "Duobao Pagoda Stele", "Magushan Immortal Altar Story", "Yan Qinli Stele", "Yanjia Temple Stele"...
In addition to regular script, his cursive script Also because the charm is coherent and flying, it exudes a unique charm. His "Nephew Memorial Manuscript" was also praised as "the second running script in the world" by later calligraphers. There is also a sad history about this work.
In 752 (the eleventh year of Tianbao), the upright Yan Zhenqing was disliked by Prime Minister Yang Guozhong for a long time, so he was transferred from the capital to serve as the governor of Pingyuan.
This Pingyuan County was originally under the jurisdiction of Anlu Mountain, and the thoughtful Yan Zhenqing soon discovered some signs that Anlu Mountain was about to rebel. In order not to alert the enemy, he used the excuse of "uncertain rain" to secretly raise the city wall. In addition, he also dredged the moat and recruited strong men to prepare for emergencies.
In order to better numb An Lushan, Yan Zhenqing drank and had fun on the cruise ship with a group of people every day. An Lushan never imagined that these were "smoke bombs" set off by Yan Zhenqing. Sure enough, two years later, An Lushan rebelled in Fan Yang under the pretext of "cruising against Yang Guozhong under a secret edict".
Most of the counties and counties in Hebei were quickly captured by the rebels. Only Pingyuan City, Yan Zhenqing's jurisdiction, was tightly defended. At this time, Yan Zhenqing promptly sent Li Ping to join the army and rushed to Chang'an to report to Xuanzong.
At that time, Xuanzong thought that all twenty-four counties in Hebei had been captured by the rebel An Lushan. He did not expect that Yan Zhenqing turned out to be a wise minister with both civil and military skills and careful conduct.
Pingyuan County originally had only 3,000 troops, but Yan Zhenqing recruited 10,000 more soldiers. He made an impassioned speech with great righteousness, and the whole army was inspired and filled with enthusiasm. After that, the governors of Raoyang, Jinan, Qinghe, Jingcheng, and Yejun all came to join him. The imperial court also sent the governor of Beihai, Helan, to the Ming Dynasty, leading 5,000 elite soldiers to cross the river to help.
At the same time, Yan Zhenqing's cousin Yan Gaoqing was serving as the prefect of Changshan (now Zhengding, Hebei Province), and his son Yan Jiming followed him and fought bravely against the enemy. In 756 (the fifteenth year of Tianbao), An Lushan led the rebels to surround Changshan. Unfortunately, Yan Jiming was captured. An Lushan took this opportunity to force Yan Gaoqing to surrender. But Yan Gaoqing was unwilling to succumb to the rebels, so he cursed An Lushan angrily. Soon, Yan Jiming was mercilessly killed by the rebels. After the rebels invaded Changshan City, Yan Gaoqing was also captured and taken to Luoyang. He was still angry and scolded the treasonous An Lushan. Finally, An Lushan saw that he was unwilling to surrender to him, so he brutally killed him. In the Anshi Rebellion, more than 30 members of the Yan family were killed.
In 758 (the first year of Emperor Suzong's reign in the Tang Dynasty), Yan Zhenqing finally found an opportunity and sent people to Hebei to retrieve the head of Yan Jiming, his nephew. "Manuscript of Nephew" (full name "Manuscript of Memorial to Nephew and Praise to the Good Doctor Ji Mingwen"). In this manuscript, Yan Zhenqing recounted the story of his cousins ??Yan Gaoqing and Yan Jiming, father and son, who were killed while fighting against the enemy.
Because the calligraphy in this work incorporates the grief of the author Yan Zhenqing, the whole article is full of emotions. The calligraphy is majestic and uninhibited, and a feeling of indignation and passion is vividly written on the paper. Therefore, later generations praised it as "the second running script in the world", second only to Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection" which is known as "the best running script in the world".
In 784 (the first year of Xingyuan), the steadfast and unyielding Yan Zhenqing was hanged by a rebel general. All the soldiers of the three armies cried bitterly for him...
Yan Zhenqing experienced Xuan, Su, Dai, During the four dynasties of Germany, he served four times as imperial censor, six times as minister of the six ministries, and was promoted to crown prince and grand master. He was given the title of Duke of the Founding of Lu County, and the world respected him as "Gong Yan Lu". The man has passed away, but his character remains. Later, many emperors, generals, ministers, poets and poets spoke highly of him.
Today, there are still many calligraphy enthusiasts who copy his works every day. While practicing calligraphy, I was also feeling his upright and valuable spirit...