Tang Wenzong once issued a rare imperial edict to the whole country: Li Bai's poems and songs, Zhang Xu's cursive script and Fei Min's sword dance can become the "three wonders" in the world.
As soon as the imperial edict arrived in Luoyang, it immediately caused a sensation among those knowledgeable people. They congratulated Zhang Xu on winning the highest prize for his outstanding efforts. Zhang Xu bowed and thanked them one by one, and hosted a banquet for Luoyang celebrities. At the banquet, someone suggested that Zhang Xu talk about the secret of cursive script, but Zhang Xu politely declined. He said modestly, "You laughed. I know I am humble. The emperor gave me something, and I feel guilty about it. When it comes to secrets, it is nothing more than the word' intention'. "
Zhang Xu thought for a moment. He remembered Du Shaoling's poem "Watching Gong Sundaniang's Disciples Dance Sword" and said: "Shaoling once wrote a poem about Gong Sundaniang's sword dance, four of which were as fierce as shooting for nine days, and the wings of a flying dragon were as swift as angels; She started like a thunderbolt, venting its anger, and ended like a shiny and calm river and sea, you must know. In Yexian, I was lucky enough to see Gong Sundaniang's dance. Every time I look at it, it reminds me: she waved her left hand and I immediately felt what this gesture looked like; He jumped up and spun. I think the gallop of the' turn' pen in cursive script should be like this! His whole dance and voice inspired me with a comprehensive cursive structure. "
The emperor practiced calligraphy.
Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, was an emperor in China's feudal society. When dealing with political affairs, he often devotes himself to practicing calligraphy in his spare time. At that time, Yu Shinan, known as one of the four great calligraphers in the early Tang Dynasty, worked in the palace. Because he is proficient in ancient and modern times, his words are like gods, so Emperor Taizong has always respected him and often copied and studied Yu Shinan's calligraphy.
In the process of practicing calligraphy, Emperor Taizong deeply felt that the word "ge" in Shinan font was the most difficult to write, and it was not easy to write its spirit. On one occasion, he practiced "Yan" for fear that his writing would be bad and disgraceful, lest ministers read its jokes and deliberately leave the word "Ge" blank and privately ask Yu Shinan to make it up.
In order to show his progress in calligraphy, Emperor Taizong invited Wei Zhi, an admonition officer, to watch some works and asked Wei Zhi's opinion: "Do you think my handwriting looks like that of Yu Shinan, a bachelor?" Wei Zhi looked at it respectfully and carefully, and kept silent with a smile. At this time, Emperor Taizong asked him anxiously: "Is it like it? Why not talk? " Wei Zhi immediately said, "I dare not comment on your handwriting." Emperor Taizong said, "You can speak frankly. I forgive your innocence. " At this time, Wei said, "According to the minister, only the' Ge' in the right half of the word' Yan' is basically the same as what Yu wrote, and the rest are quite different." Hearing these words, Emperor Taizong sighed deeply and admired Wei Zhi's eyesight, thus realizing that learning calligraphy can't be fake at all. You must work hard if you want to succeed.
perspicacious
Shops that used to do business generally had signboards, and they always gave their shop numbers auspicious names, such as "Guangyuan Ji", "Mao Yuan Ji" and "Kangtai Ji", and so on. Just say that there is a store that has a good business, expanded its facade, added goods and wanted a new signboard. Don't underestimate this signboard, it has a considerable impact on business. Therefore, signboards are generally made of good plates. Coincidentally, someone found a board that was once used to worship the gods, and the board was full of sacrificial words. At first, people didn't care. The shopkeeper had the strokes on the blackboard cleaned so that he could write new content. But after rubbing for a long time, the strokes on the board did not erase, but became clearer. If it can't be washed out, it will be planed, and the board will be planed for a layer, and the handwriting will be faintly visible; After scraping the board twice, the handwriting can still be seen. People are surprised: who wrote this word? It was so profound and powerful that an old gentleman who knew calligraphy came to see it and immediately cried in amazement. Looking at his amazing appearance, all the people present were very strange and gathered around to see. The old man said, "This is the handwriting of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi! This word is too deep and powerful, really penetrating! "
"quit beads"
Why is Wang Can Xi Zhi's calligraphy so extensive and profound? This is related to his regular exercise. There is a story of "abstaining from beads" to illustrate this point from the side.
It is said that Wang Xizhi has a beloved pearl. This pearl is not only for entertainment, but also for viewing. Wang Xizhi often rubs his hands when writing to enhance his wrist strength. One day, the pearl suddenly disappeared. I looked and looked, but I couldn't find it. Wang Xizhi is very upset. Who stole it? Except for a monk who lives in his house, no stranger has been around him ... so he became cold to the monk. The monk found that Master was suspicious of him, so he starved to death in the name of "making China". Later, when the family slaughtered the white goose, pearls were found in the belly of the big white goose. It turned out that the big white goose swallowed the beads. When things were made clear, Wang Xizhi deeply felt that he had wronged the monk, regretted it and was very sad. In memory of this innocent monk, he converted his house into "Zhu Jie Temple", saying that he should take the incident of throwing pearls as a lesson, treat his friends with sincerity, and don't easily doubt others and let them be wronged. As a calligrapher, Wang Xizhi not only pays attention to exercising wrist strength and enhancing writing ability, but also strictly demands future generations. His son Wang Xianzhi studied calligraphy under the guidance of his father when he was very young. On one occasion, Wang Xizhi stood quietly behind him in order to check his dedication. While he was concentrating on writing, he suddenly held the writing brush in his son's hand with his fingers and pulled it up. Who knows that the pen is tight and the brush is not taken off. Wang Xizhi was very satisfied with this, and he said happily; "This child will become a calligrapher in the future." And wrote a word on the spot to present it. This incident shows that the calligrapher's brushwork has been developed through hard work.
Occasionally flying white
Cai Yong in Han Dynasty was not only a writer, but also a famous calligrapher. Flying White Paper is his original work. What is a "flying white paper"? You will know after listening to this story.
Cai Yong is not a person who reads and writes behind closed doors. He travels a lot in order to capture inspiration and rich experience. On this day, he sent the written article to Hongdumen of the Royal Library. The people there are very arrogant, so anyone who comes will have to wait outside the door for a while. While Cai Yong was waiting for an interview, several craftsmen were painting the walls with brooms dipped in this lime water. He just stood by and looked at it.
At first, he just wanted to kill time. But looking at it, he can see some "doorways". I saw the craftsman go down with a broom, and a white mark appeared on the wall. Because the broom seedlings are thin, they can't be soaked with too much lime water, and the wall is not very flat, so after a broom goes down, there are still some places on the white road that show the wall. I can't help but shine at the moment. He thought that before writing with a pen dipped in ink, the strokes were all black. Isn't it more vivid and natural to show some silk or paper with a black pen like a craftsman painting a wall? Thought of here, he suddenly fell into a mood. Hand in your article and run home at once.
Cai Yong returned home, forgot to rest, and prepared his own pen and ink. Thinking of the craftsman painting the wall, he began to write. Who knows it's easier to think of than to do? At first, the paper was not exposed or the exposed part was too hard. Far from being discouraged, he tried again and again. Finally, he mastered proper limit from the aspects of how much ink he dipped in, how much ink he used, and how fast he wrote. He wrote a faint white brush stroke in black, which made the words elegant and flying, and had a unique flavor.
Cai Yong's original style of writing soon spread and became a "flying white book". Until today, it has been used by calligraphers.
They were replaced by four famous calligraphers in Song Dynasty: Su, Huang, Mi and Cai. Su is Su Shi, namely Su Dongpo; Huang is Huang Tingjian; Rice is mifei; This is beyond reproach. But what about Cai? Some people say it's Cai Jing, others say it's Cai Xiang. who is it? Opinions vary.
The most common saying is that this Cai was originally Cai Jing. Although people recognize his calligraphy attainments, they especially hate his character, so they are unwilling to recognize his status as a calligrapher. In Yuan You, Song Zhezong, in order to crowd out dissidents, he called Sima Guang and others "traitors", and wrote down their "crimes" in his own handwriting, engraved on monuments all over the country. At that time, many masons refused to carve this monument and were executed by Kantou. When Cai Jing died, people immediately smashed the "Yuan You Monument to the Party History". People also called him "the four treacherous court officials" together with Gao Qiu, Tong Guan and Emperor Wen of Sui, who were in charge of state affairs at that time.
Cai Jing's character is extremely bad. Among the "four great calligraphers", how can people tolerate him? So I fired him. But "Su Huang Camouflage" is hard to say, so let Cai Xiang take the place of Cai Xiang. Cai Xiang is good at absorbing the essence of his ancestors and works very hard, and his calligraphy is also very distinctive. So people think that he should be at the top of the "four schools" and should not be dragged down by Cai Jing.
Cai Xiang not only has a high attainments in calligraphy, but also has an excellent personality. When he was an official in the DPRK, he dared to speak frankly, and even some powerful ministers were afraid of his three points. When he was an official in Quanzhou, Fujian, he built the famous Luoyang Bridge and Qili Avenue, which were welcomed by the local people.
From this perspective, character is more important than books. If a person can only write good words, but can't do good deeds, the people will inevitably abandon him, even if they don't leave him a small place in the world of books.
The wise and brave monk "returned to the tomb"
Zhiyong monk, a famous calligrapher in Sui and Tang Dynasties, is the seventh grandson of Wang Xizhi. It is said that he once lived above Yongxin Temple and studied hard for thirty years. There is a big bamboo basket next to it. He throws his bald pen into it and fills it with five baskets. Later, he took the bald pen and buried it together, which was called "returning the pen to the tomb". He wrote more than 800 copies of Qian Wen Zi, which were scattered in temples in the south of the Yangtze River. "As long as the kung fu is deep, the iron pestle is ground into an embroidery needle", and Zhiyong eventually became a famous calligrapher at that time. Every day, people come to write to him in an endless stream, stepping through the threshold of his house, so they are wrapped in iron sheets, which is called "iron gate limit". The ancients said, "A drop of water wears a stone, but a rope saws a wood.". Isn't that a portrayal of the monk's wisdom and courage?
Red leaves can be used as books, and Zheng Qian has three wonders.
Zheng Qian was a famous scholar and calligrapher in Xuanzong period of Tang Dynasty, and his knowledge was very profound. When he was young, he liked writing and painting, but sadly, his family was so poor that he couldn't even afford paper. How does he practice calligraphy? There are several houses in Jionji nearby. Persimmon leaves, he moved to live in a temple, used persimmon leaves as paper every day and studied hard. After a long time, I finished writing persimmon leaves in several rooms. Things are troubled and Zheng Qian finally achieved great success. His calligraphy, painting and poetry have made great achievements, which surprised Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, and he called it "Zheng Qian's Three Musts".
The predecessors said that "plum blossom fragrance comes from bitter cold". Isn't the story of learning books from Zheng Qian a great inspiration?