Wuyue's literature and art first became famous on the stage of China literature and art by calligraphy. The earliest famous calligrapher in Jiangnan was probably the Wu calligrapher emperor in the Three Kingdoms period. The emperor elephant is from Jiangdu, Guangling (now Yangzhou), with the most exquisite skills. His calligraphy style is calm and natural, and he has the reputation of "solid but not simple, flashy but not real". Its official script and seal script also have their own characteristics. Lu Ji was also a calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His "Reply Post", between Cao Zhang and Cao Jin, is the first celebrity ink painting in the world. Huang and Lu represent the early style of wuyue's calligraphy.
The fame of wuyue's calligraphy can't be separated from the credit of "Two Kings". "Two Kings" refers to Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. The ancestral home of "Erwang" was Linyi, Shandong Province, but he stayed in Yin Shan, Huiji (now Shaoxing), and was influenced by Jiangnan culture. When Wang Xizhi was young, he learned from his wife and generally wrote Li. Later, he studied cursive script from Zhang Zhi and regular script from Zhong You. He combined the strengths of Han and Wei dynasties, changed the simple style of Han and Wei dynasties, and created a beautiful and convenient modern style, which marked the highest level of calligraphy in the Six Dynasties. Wang Xizhi's ci "powerful words, such as the sky in Yue Long, the tiger lying in the phoenix pavilion" (Liang Wudi's Book Review of Ancient and Modern Times) has the reputation of "the sage of books". Wang's original works no longer exist today, only 20 volumes remain, the most famous of which is Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. Preface to Lanting is not only a beautiful essay, but also a unique calligraphy skill, which is called "the best running script in the world". Fang Xiaoru of the Ming Dynasty said, "Literati regard Lanting as what literati are to language and Mencius (The Book in the Forest, Algae Mirror).
Wang Xianzhi is the seventh son of Wang Xizhi. He is brilliant, wild and uninhibited, and his wild brushwork is free and easy. His words are often written in one stroke, and sometimes they are written in one go, so Mi Fei called it "a book", such as Mid-Autumn Festival Post.
Wang Xueliu, founded by the "Two Kings", has a far-reaching influence on China calligraphy, especially in Jiangnan calligraphy circle.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the famous writers who inherited the calligraphy department of Wang School were Zhiyong, Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang. Zhiyong was a calligrapher in Sui Dynasty. He is the seventh grandson of Wang Xizhi. His books are elegant, elegant and elegant at the same time. They are neat, gentle, charming and elegant, and won the bone marrow of the "two kings". It is said that he is famous for his calligraphy, and the book seeker stepped on his threshold, so he had to wrap the threshold with iron sheet, which is called "iron gate limit". Yu Shinan, a native of Yuyao, Yuezhou, is a "five wonders" because of his talent. I learned it from the Wangs when I was a child. His books are round and rich, soft on the outside and firm on the inside. The masterpiece handed down from ancient times is "The Monument to the Confucius Temple", which is charming without losing its strength. Chu Suiliang, a native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou), studied the books of the two kings and made some innovations. His books are fluent, colorful and varied, which have a great influence on later generations, and there are many handed down works. Together with Ou Yangxun and Xue Ji, they are called the four great calligraphers in the early Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, there was also Li Yong, a "fairy hand in the book". Li is from Yangzhou. He learned from the two kings, but he was able to find another way and become a master. His books are elegant, charming, handsome and fluent, and there is a saying that the North Sea is like an elephant. After Li Yong, the most famous calligrapher of Wang School was Zhao Mengfu in Yuan Dynasty. Zhao, an imperial clan in the Song Dynasty, was born in China, and was called "the sage of books". Zhao studied in his early years and worked hard in his middle age. He dabbled in more than 10,000 Prefaces to Lanting, and in his later years he studied Li Yong and Liu Gongquan, forming a Zhao Ti full of charm and vivid charm. Zhao's seal script is really cursive, all of which are excellent works, and there are many works handed down from generation to generation, such as Luo Shenfu and Tao Te Ching, which are all treasures in the book. His wife, brother and son are all good books.
In addition to the main line of development of harmony in Qing Dynasty, Jiangnan calligraphy has a wild sub-line. Tang Zhang Xu's cursive script is regarded as one of the "three musts" in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Xu, a native of Suzhou, is proficient in regular script, and is even more famous for Weeds. It is said that Zhang Xu often gets drunk and shouts crazy words, and then writes books, or writes books with his head dipped in ink. When he woke up, he regarded it as a god and could not get it back. His name is Zhang Dian. Zhang Xu's cursive script is "like a god soaring in the sky, and Song Hua in Xia Yun, with strange dreams and immeasurable" (Song, Zhu and Wen Chang's Continuation of Books), which people call "a masterpiece". There are four kinds of ancient cursive poems and ancient poems handed down from ancient times. Both Tang Yan Zhenqing and Huai Su learned his brushwork. Yang Weizhen in Yuan Dynasty was also good at cursive script, with strong font, ups and downs of brushwork and recluse characters, so he was called "Iron Cliff Style". There were "Three Songs" in the early Ming Dynasty, especially Song Yu, the second son of Song Lian.
Calligraphy developed to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and talented people came forth in large numbers. There are Wujiang School and Songjiang School. Wujiang School of Calligraphy, represented by Wen Zhiming, began to learn wisdom and later joined Huang Tingjian. It is smooth and vigorous, especially good at fine print and ending. Songjiang School is represented by Dong Qichang. Dong Shi studied the brushwork of Yan Zhenqing, Yu Shinan, Zhong You, Wang Xizhi and Li Yong, claiming that his brushwork was beautiful and his branches were white and elegant, which had a great influence on calligraphy in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Xu Wei's calligraphy is also very famous in Zhejiang, and some people even say that it is above Wen Zhiming. For example, Yuan Hongdao's Biography of Xu Wenchang says that his book is "as bold and unrestrained as his poems, rich and graceful". As far as his "book god" is concerned, "the eight methods are scattered and the words are narrow." Indeed, Xu Wei's weeds are bizarre, the weather is fantastic, and his spirit is easy to escape, so it is difficult to determine the local gains and losses. The cursive script prevailed in the late Ming Dynasty, and some people even rebelled against Dong Qichang's plain and naive style of writing, such as Zhejiang Ni. Its grass is first-class and exquisite. In addition, Wang Shuchang also wrote a seal script and founded a seal script school. Zhu Yizun started the official script school. He divided Han Li into three categories: square, elegant and strange. He imitated Liu Lixue, and his official script was rigorous and elegant. Mammals are famous for writing big characters.