The term "Yan Liu Golden Valley" was first put forward by Fan Zhongyan in the Northern Song Dynasty. At that time, he only evaluated the calligraphy works of calligrapher Shi at that time, calling them "Yan Gu". Later he used it to comment on regular script calligraphy. "Zhang Dian drunk" is the collective name of two cursive writers Zhang Xu and Huai Su in the Tang Dynasty. The cursive script was formed in the Han Dynasty and entered a glorious period in the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Xu and Huai Su are two calligraphers with the highest achievements among many cursive writers.
Let's start with the birth time of these four great calligraphers.
First, Zhang Xu. His cursive script is comparable to Li Bai's poems and Pei's sword dance. At the same time, his poems are unique, in Du Fu's Drinking Eight Immortals. Wine and weeds, in Zhang Xu's eyes, must be the best match. Every time he gets drunk, he growls. He needs pens and ink to catch people. His name is Zhang Dian. In fact, not everyone can reach this level. I think Zhang Xu's love for calligraphy art has reached a feverish level, even when he was drunk and unconscious. No wonder later generations called him "Cao Sheng".
The second Yan Zhenqing. He is good at running script and regular script. At first, he studied Chu Suiliang's calligraphy. Later, he learned from the wild grass Zhang Xu and wrote his own regular script. Yes, he studied crazy grass, but what he is best at is regular script. I can't figure it out. In fact, this also shows that calligraphy is not static. Yan Zhenqing learned Zhang Xu's brushwork, but eventually it became his own, which is called the inheritance and development of many things mentioned now. Yan Zhenqing is also good at poetry and prose, and has many collections. Unfortunately, it's all lost. Otherwise, if they can be handed down, it will be extremely precious calligraphy masterpieces.
Third, Huai Su. To say that Zhang Xu loves drinking and writing after drinking, so does Huai Su. Money, whose real name is money, has been a monk since childhood. You may not believe it. At the age of ten, he suddenly had the idea of becoming a monk. His parents couldn't stop him, so he had to agree. This is probably the disciple chosen by the Buddha, a born Buddhist teenager. Huai Su's cursive script is thin and naturally flying, which can be said to be rapidly changing. However, although there are many changes, the reason is the same. At the beginning of his study, he was still outside the orthodox calligraphy. After years of practice, I finally reached the peak of cursive script, which is as famous as Zhang Xu.
The last one is naturally Liu Gongquan. He is the youngest of the four. He was an official in North Korea and experienced seven dynasties. He is definitely an old hand. In calligraphy, he first studied Wang Xizhi, and then studied the calligraphy of various calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty. He absorbed the strengths of Yan Zhenqing and Ou Yangxun, combined with his own characteristics, and created his own "six-body", which is famous for its infinite strength and is as famous as Yan Zhenqing. In addition to many inscriptions and copybooks, he is also good at writing poems, including five complete poems of Tang Dynasty and one external compilation of complete poems of Tang Dynasty.
The so-called Yan Gu and Yan Shu are vigorous, although the stippling is tolerant but not sloppy and frivolous, there is a kind of vitality in it, so it can give people a strong appeal. Zhang Dian is drunk, and both of them love to drink. After drinking, they like pens. Probably, only through this kind of drunkenness can they show better "crazy" nature.