Even Laozi, the founder of Confucianism, specifically asked Laozi for Tao. When he came back, he sighed to his disciples:
"Bird, I know it can fly; Fish, I know it can swim; Beast, I know it can walk. Pedestrians can be useless, swimmers can be nylon, and fliers can be clumsy. As for the dragon, I didn't know it took the wind and cloud to heaven. I met Lao Tzu today, and he is still evil! "
Some people say that a person who has read the Tao Te Ching is a wise practice. Even Lu Xun, a madman who looks at thousands of fingers coldly, once said:
If you don't read the Tao Te Ching, you won't know the true meaning of China culture and the universe!
Not many people in history have read the Tao Te Ching and gained great wisdom, but all of them have made some earth-shattering undertakings.
In terms of calligraphy art, Zhao Mengfu, who is familiar to everyone, is one of them!
At the age of 63, he copied the book Tao Te Ching by hand, with neat and beautiful fonts, steady brushwork and unique style. Now it is collected in the Palace Museum as a "treasure of the town hall".
Some people think that Zhao Mengfu is a "traitor" in later generations, and even like Fu Shan and others, calligraphy is "vulgar because of familiarity" and "delicate without bones"!
Never underestimate the people who have read the Tao Te Ching!
Zhao Mengfu's realm is beyond anyone who has read some books on Confucian knowledge. Although he was a former prince and grandson, he did not choose the road of "dying for his country", but went directly to see Kublai Khan, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, for the sake of the people at dawn.
Kublai Khan was surprised to see that Zhao Mengfu was brilliant and radiant: "Fairy man", let him sit on top of you and ask him to draft all the important documents of the imperial court!
With his talent and wisdom, Zhao Mengfu conquered several emperors in the Yuan Dynasty and told them to lay down their butcher knives and be kind to the people. For the people of Dawn, he ignored his reputation and dealt with officials of the Yuan Dynasty!
Tao Te Ching says that this is the wisdom of "being good as water", and it is better to pretend to be inferior, and to shelter evil people from evil to accommodate everything!
It is said that his former good friend received him because of his face, and asked him to throw away his chair after he left, which shows his contempt and disgust.
Facing the misunderstanding of others, he said, "I know exactly where I came from, and I don't want to live."
Death, for a person, is too simple. This is glorious, but not great! The real greatness is to save the "world" and live with humiliation.
As romain rolland said:
There is only one true heroism in the world, and that is to love life after recognizing the truth of life.
Zhao Mengfu who knows the Tao Te Ching is the real hero!
Heroes are also people. It was not his intention to be an official in the Yuan Dynasty, but his heart was very painful and depressed. He used this depression in calligraphy and painting, and created an original "Zhao Ti", which surpassed the Song people and was called the four masters of regular script with Ou Yangxun, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan!
He advocated learning from the Jin and Tang Dynasties, held high the banner of "restoring ancient ways" and reversed the decadent style of calligraphy after the Song Dynasty by his own efforts! Known as the "crown of Yuan people" by later generations, it influenced the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties and even continues to this day!
Mr. Ma Zonghuo commented:
Zhao Ziang in the Yuan Dynasty was famous for his calligraphy, and he started writing like a storm. He can write ten thousand words a day, and his name is impressive. Tens of thousands of monks in Tianzhu came to ask for his books and returned to China to collect them.
Zhao Mengfu loved the Tao Te Ching all his life and copied it many times, especially when he wrote this volume of Tao Te Ching in his later years, which has reached the realm of "everyone writes old books". His calligraphy is rigorous, his pen is precise, his words are delicate, his precision is quiet, and his steadiness reveals the spirit of agility. The whole volume is full of fine print of more than 5,000 words, and his head and tail are full of energy, which seems to be in one go.
Here is a full-volume HD version of Tao Te Ching written by Zhao Mengfu at the age of 63. I hope you like it!