One day, Zhao Mengfu and his wife took a break from their busy work to climb up the rockery in the courtyard and enjoy the beautiful autumn scenery in the pavilion. Suddenly, the housekeeper sent a letter. His wife took the letter and read it. It turned out that it was from her mother's family. After reading it, she smiled and said to her husband: "I haven't been back to my hometown for a long time, and my family misses me very much. Auntie hopes that we can come back to our hometown to see you again!" Zhao Mengfu couldn't help but shook his head helplessly: "Why don't I want to go back to my hometown to enjoy family life?" It’s just that now that I’m in the officialdom and surrounded by worldly affairs, I can’t help myself!” Of course, his wife knew her husband’s ambitions and thoughts well, and Zhao Mengfu was also very considerate of his wife’s pain in missing her family. So the two discussed sending local specialties such as preserved fruits and candied snacks to their families. Zhao Mengfu knew that his wife’s family believed in Buddhism, so he also specially prepared a hundred incense candles as a gift for his wife’s aunt. After the things were prepared, the couple was excited He was very high and ordered someone to spread paper, study ink, and reply to a letter from home.
Although it is just a letter home to send greetings and gifts to my aunt, we can see that this letter home is completed in one go and has a flowing charm. This is the famous national treasure calligraphy "Autumn Deep Calligraphy" that has been passed down to this day and that we see now. "Qiu Shen Tie" is 26.9 centimeters long and 53.3 centimeters wide. It contains eighteen lines of characters. The entire post is in running script. The writing is solid, the body is slender, graceful and round, smooth and vigorous.
This family letter is written in the tone of Zhao Mengfu's wife Duan Sheng: "Dao Sheng knelt down in front of his aunt's wife's makeup. Dao Sheng had not written for a long time, and he was thinking too much. The autumn was getting colder, and Ji Weishu Goodbye." The season was approaching late autumn, and the letters expressed their longing for their elders. The letter also told her aunt about the family's interactions with relatives, "Mrs. Jinzundang and Master Ji, my nephew, have met here again and again, and I think my aunt also knows about it."
However, the signature at the end of the page is blurry. Although it is signed with the name of his wife, Guan Sheng, it can be seen at a glance that it has been altered.
Zhao Mengfu had a deep relationship with Mrs. Guan, so most experts believe that "Qiu Shen Tie" should have been written by Zhao Mengfu on behalf of his wife, Guan Sheng. Judging from the handwriting, the writing style of "Qiu Shen Tie" is gentle and elegant, which is consistent with Zhao Mengfu's running calligraphy characteristics. Experts speculate that it may be that Zhao Mengfu was replying to the family letter on behalf of his wife. He was forgetful when writing the letter and signed his own name at the end. After discovering this, Zhao Mengfu, who loved his wife deeply, felt that his own name was inappropriate, so he quickly changed it. .
Who wrote this letter home? Is it Zhao Mengfu's wife Duosheng? Or did Zhao Mengfu change the letter after signing his name? Zhao Mengfu and his wife never thought that this trace of alteration would leave endless conjectures and doubts for future generations...