Zhang Xu, born in the third year of Shangyuan of Tang Dynasty (675) and died in the ninth year of Tianbao of Xuanzong (750), was born in Wujun (Suzhou, Jiangsu). His first official position was Changshu Wei, and his later official position was Changshi in Jinwu, where he was known as "Zhang Changshi". His mother, Lu, was the niece of Lu Jianzhi, a calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty, and the granddaughter of Yu Shinan. The Lu family passed down their business through books from generation to generation, which is well-known in history. Zhang Xu is free and uninhibited, open-minded, outstanding, talented and knowledgeable. Being friendly with Li Bai and He Zhizhang, Du Fu listed the three of them among the "Eight Immortals in Drinking". He is a very unique cursive calligrapher. Because he often gets drunk, he screams and runs away, and then writes a book. He even writes with his hair dipped in ink, so he is also known as "Zhang Dian". Hou Huaisu inherited and developed his writing style, which was also named after cursive script, and was also called "Dian Zhang Zuisu". Zhang Xu has a bold personality and is fond of drinking. He often dances when he is drunk, then returns to the table, picks up the pen and writes ink, and writes in one stroke. Some people said he was rude and gave him the nickname Zhang Dian. In fact, he is very careful. He believes that everything he touches in daily life can inspire writing. What I get by chance is melted into my own calligraphy. At that time, as long as people got a scrap of his writing, they regarded it as a treasure and inherited it hereditary. At that time, Zhang Xu had a neighbor who was from a poor family. Hearing that Zhang Xu was generous, he wrote to Zhang Xu, hoping to get his support. Zhang Xu sympathized with his neighbor very much, so he wrote in the letter: As long as you say that this letter was written by Zhang Xu, the asking price can be hundreds of gold. The neighbor took the letter to sell on the street according to his words, and sure enough, it was sold out in less than half a day. The neighbor returned home happily and expressed his deep gratitude to Zhang Xu.
Zhang Xu’s calligraphy originated from Zhang Zhi and Er Wang, and he achieved the highest achievement in cursive script. Known as the "Grass Saint" in history. He himself is proud to inherit the tradition of the "Two Kings", and his every word is legal. On the other hand, he imitates Zhang Zhi's cursive calligraphy skills and creates wild cursive calligraphy that is free and upright, unpredictable and shocking to the world. According to legend, he saw the princess fighting with the bearer and learned the meaning of calligraphy from the advocacy. When he was in Ye County, Henan, he loved to watch Lady Gongsun dancing with the Xihe sword, and he became the god of cursive calligraphy. Yan Zhenqing resigned from office twice and asked him for advice on penmanship. Zhang Xu is a pure artist. He pours his full emotions into the dot paintings, as if there is no one else around, intoxicated and crazy. Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty praised it in his "Preface to Master Gao Xian": "Happiness, anger, embarrassment, sadness, joy, resentment, longing, drunkenness, boredom, injustice, whatever moves the heart, must be expressed in cursive writing. Looking at things, one can see mountains, rivers, cliffs and valleys, birds, beasts, insects and fish, vegetation and flowers, sun, moon and stars, wind, rain, fire, thunder and thunder, songs, dances and battles, changes in things in the world, joy and astonishment, all of which are contained in books, so the book of the rising sun , Changes like ghosts and gods, unpredictable, and will be famous for the rest of his life. "This is a true portrayal of a true artist's persistence in art. No wonder later generations have praised and criticized Ou, Yu, Chu, Yan, Liu, Su, etc. when discussing Tang calligraphy, but they all praise Zhang Xu. This is unique in the history of art.
Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty once issued a rare edict to the whole country: Li Bai's poetry, Zhang Xu's cursive script, and Fei Min's sword dance can become the "three wonders" in the world.
As soon as the edict arrived in Luoyang City, it immediately caused a sensation among the learned people. They all congratulated Zhang Xu and congratulated him on winning the highest award for his outstanding efforts. Zhang Xu bowed his head and thanked them all, and hosted a banquet in honor of Luoyang celebrities. At the banquet, someone suggested that Zhang Xu talk about the secret of perfect cursive writing. Zhang Xu refused and said modestly: "Everyone is laughing at me. I know I am humble. I am worthy of the emperor's reward. When it comes to the secret, it is nothing more than this. The word "careful"
Zhang Xu pondered for a moment, and he suddenly remembered the poem "Watching Gongsun's disciples dance with swords" written by Du Shaoling, and said: "Shaoling once said to Gongsun's disciples. Sword Dancer wrote a poem, one of which contains four lines: "It is as fierce as Yi shooting at the nine sunsets, and it is as powerful as the dragons flying; it comes like thunder and collects its wrath, and it ends like the clear light of the river and the sea." I think everyone in Ye County knows this. , I was lucky enough to see Mrs. Gongsun’s dance, and every time I saw it, it aroused my association: she waved her left hand over, and I immediately touched what word this gesture resembled; when he jumped and spun, I thought of the words in cursive script The galloping strokes of "Zhizhuan" should be like this! His whole dancing posture and sound inspired me with a comprehensive cursive script structure."
"Zhang Xu takes off his hat and tops his head in front of the prince. "The brushstrokes fall off the paper like clouds of smoke" - Zhang Xu in Du Fu's works is vividly displayed before our eyes, and his brilliance has always been dazzled by the world.
There are many saints in the history of our country. Needless to say, Sage Kong, there are also "Ya Sage", "Sage Zhu", "Sage Kang" and so on. In addition, there are "poetic sages" who write poetry, and there are "book sages" who write calligraphy. There are so many!
In modern times, it has become even more awesome. There are "love saints" who take the head of an admiral in a love situation as if they were searching for something; Hong Kong movies also created a "gambling saint" who holds cards and looks determined and strong. , regard death as home, and young people who have lost their feet call this "cool".
It seems that saints are very "cool". Zhang Xu is the "Sage of Grass" and writes "Kuaicao" with flying dragons and phoenixes, which few people recognize. Modern people have computers, but few can write a few decent characters seriously, and even fewer can recognize Zhang Xu's cursive handwriting. But even though everyone doesn't know him, they all know his cursive calligraphy, which is called "cool".
Taking off his hat and running wildly led the streaking clan
Zhang Xu was from Wu, roughly in the area of ??today's Suzhou. When talking about Suzhou, most people will think of small bridges and flowing water and Wu Nong's soft words, so they guess that Wu people are also delicate and gentle. In fact, this was not the case. Until the Tang Dynasty, Wu was known for its fierce folk customs. Don't forget, our most famous cold weapon "Wu Gou" is a local product there, and the famous swords "Gan Jiang" and "Moye" were also made here. There is still a main road named after "Gan Jiang" in Suzhou.
Wu Di’s style was passed on to Zhang Xu, and it became wild and uninhibited. People at the time nicknamed Zhang Xu “Zhang Dian”. Most people in the Tang Dynasty regarded wildness as beauty, and Zhang Xu's madness was even more impressive. Even Li Bai praised Lao Zhang highly.
During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, there were eight famous drunkards. Du Fu euphemistically called them the "Eight Immortals of Drinking". Zhang Xu and his best buddies Li Bai and He Zhizhang were all on this honor list. Everyone knows Li Bai's style, he is the master of "the emperor can't get on the boat"; He Zhizhang calls himself "Siming Kuangke" and is also an old naughty boy; Zhang Xu wears a pair of trousers with these people, and it doesn't matter what role he is. One can imagine.
Zhang Xu is also a super drunk, and his specialty is that he looks like he is drunk even before he starts drinking - he is already drunk before he drinks. In fact, the show has not started yet. As soon as he finished drinking, he started shouting at the top of his lungs, running all over the place, clamoring for a writing brush, and then writing with all his heart, writing in cursive with flowing charm. After sobering up, Zhang Xu could no longer write in that state. He even felt puzzled: I actually wrote this word. I am so awesome!
Zhang Xu spent all his life thinking about practicing calligraphy. His house was full of weeds and the walls were bare. Instead of being indifferent, he rolled his eyes and stared at the sky, not seeing it at all. Being so devoid of economic acumen, it was natural that he would not be able to survive in society, and he could only serve as grassroots cadres such as chief historian and county captain.
But as long as he drank wine, he felt as good as if he was an important minister of the country. In front of the princes and ministers, he threw his hat away and carried out his old business skillfully. In the Tang Dynasty, it was extremely rude to not wear a hat in front of people, so Zhang Xu took off his hat and ran around screaming in front of these nobles, which was similar to the streaking of modern performance artists. This was really shocking in the Tang Dynasty when streaking was far less popular than it is today. Once the mood strikes him, Zhang Xu uses his hair as a brush, dips it in ink and writes wildly in capital letters, and the words he writes are all of the highest quality.
This unique skill is indeed very handsome, and there are countless people who have copied it since then. There was a famous painting monk named Wen Riguan in the Yuan Dynasty. His paintings of grapes were particularly famous and were treasures in the royal collection. The monk's painting technique was exactly the same as Zhang Xu's. He got drunk first, and then started practicing by dipping his head in ink while yelling. However, Lao Zhang’s pen was a soft pen, while Wen Riguan’s was probably a hard pen.
His cursive script was designated by the emperor as one of the "Three Wonders"
Zhang Xu's calligraphy is unambiguously academic. When Zhang Xu was learning calligraphy in his early years, his uncle was his enlightenment teacher. And his uncle happened to be the Nth generation descendant of Wang Xizhi's father and son. Zhang Xu was an upright disciple of a famous family. But Zhang Xu was different from ordinary people. He realized something when he saw the porters swaying their burdens left and right while fighting for the road. Later, when he heard others playing drums and playing music, he finally understood the superior writing skills.
Carrying burdens and playing music are completely incompatible things, and they have nothing to do with calligraphy. However, Zhang Xu can find the true meaning of calligraphy from it. It can be seen that martial arts has reached the highest level, and both good and evil sects can do it. Different paths lead to the same destination, and everything comes from the same root.
Although this truth is mysterious, it at least tells us that we must concentrate on our work and do what we love. Emperor Caesar said that all roads lead to Rome. As for Zhang Xu seeing Aunt Gongsun dancing the "sword weapon" and thus appreciating the charm of calligraphy, it is natural. Only because of his unique talent and ability to draw parallels, he not only preserved Wang Xizhi's unique skills, but also carried them forward, and thus became a family of his own in the world.
The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Laozi, once issued an edict, designating Li Bai's poetry, Pei Min's sword dance and Zhang Xu's cursive script as the "three wonders" in the world. Based on the Tang Empire's status in the United Nations at that time, this was at least 10,000 times greater than the Nobel Prize awarded by the Swedish Royal Family. Lao Zhang is well-deserved for this lofty and lofty honor. Later generations of calligraphers commented on the great masters of the previous generation. It was inevitable that some would occasionally criticize Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang and other outstanding figures, but they had nothing to say about Zhang Xu. And it was concluded that only Cui Miao and Yan Zhenqing obtained Zhang Xu's true biography.
Yan Zhenqing asked for advice twice before he got the true biography
Yan Zhenqing can be said to be Zhang Xu’s disciple, and he is also his most famous disciple. In terms of skill, Yan Zhenqing is also worthy of Wang Xizhi’s sect. The new leader. However, Yan Zhenqing had to follow Zhang Xu twice before he obtained the unparalleled magic power.
For the first time, Yan Zhenqing learned from Zhang Xu respectfully for a while. Although he gained something, he still felt that he didn't scratch the itch. Later, I heard that someone had learned the brushwork from Zhang Xu, and said that this brushwork was so wonderful that it made the world go crazy. Yan Zhenqing muttered: It's impossible. I've been with the boss for so long, and the boss still has a hand with me. It's so disrespectful. Soon, Yan Zhenqing heard a new rumor that whenever someone asked Zhang Xu for advice, he would laugh and then write cursive in front of them. After I finished writing, I patted my butt to clear the way without saying a word.
Yan Zhenqing couldn't bear it anymore, so she resigned and ran to find Zhang Xu. At that time, Zhang Xu was living in the home of another calligrapher Pei Zhen. Yan Zhenqing asked Pei Zhen privately, "You have been with the boss for a year, have you done anything?" Pei Jian frowned: I have been well fed and served this year, but the boss only gave me a few screens and a few pieces of silk to write on. When I asked about the writing skills, the boss said that he would work harder to practice calligraphy, and the writing would be self-explanatory. .
Yan Zhenqing saw that there was no point in insinuating things, so he stayed at Pei Zhen's house for more than a month. One day I gained the courage and said to Zhang Xu: Boss, you see that you have already taught me everything, so why bother saving anything more? I can simmer it with just one spoonful. Zhang Xu didn't say anything for a long time, and then looked around for a while. The boss stood up and left unhappily. Yan Zhenqing felt good and followed Zhang Xu to the small hall of Dongzhulin Courtyard. Zhang Xu swaggered and sat in the middle. He asked Yan Zhenqing to sit next to him and said: Calligraphy is a mysterious and subtle thing that cannot be taught to people with high ideals. Today I will teach it to you. You, you have to feel it.
Only then did Yan Zhenqing receive the true biography, and from then on he officially set out to become a master. This passage is exactly the same as the story of Sun Wukong seeking enlightenment from Master Bodhi. Wu Chengen must have been inspired by Zhang Xu to write such a mysterious plot.
It is a pity that there are very few authentic works left by him
Among those who play art, Zhang Xu is one of the lucky ones, and he was famous all over the world during his lifetime. Unlike an unlucky guy like Van Gogh, who died of poverty while still living, but the price of his paintings skyrocketed after his death. What does a painting selling for $70 million have to do with Van Gogh himself?
Zhang Xu had a neighbor who was too poor to open the pot. He knew that although Zhang Xu's financial situation was not very good, he spent money like water and never took money seriously, so he complained to Zhang Xu about his poverty. Zhang Xu wrote him a letter and told him, just say this is a letter written by Zhang, and it should fetch a good price. This guy took the letter and ran to the auction house, and he sold it for a high price of one hundred gold. However, even though there was no agent plotting against him, Zhang Xu himself still did not make a fortune from selling calligraphy.
When times were tough, Zhang Xu also worked as a minor official in his hometown. An old man came to the Yamen with a petition to ask him for approval, and Zhang Xu approved it for him. Unexpectedly, the old man came again the next day to ask for his approval. Zhang Xu was angry: Boss, did you make a mistake? This is a government office. Do you want to use the lawsuit to create hype? When the old man saw that Zhang Xu was angry, he could only tell the truth: Your calligraphy is really amazing, and he wants to make more and keep them at home. When Zhang Xu heard this, he met a professional collector. After chatting, I found that the old man is a good judge of goods and has a collection of many famous handicrafts at home. Zhang Xu read all the fine calligraphers from the old man, and he reached a new level.
Zhang Xu’s problem is that he likes to smear whitewash on walls and screens when he is drunk. These things are not easy to preserve, so Zhang Xu’s original works are very rare and are often rubbings from previous dynasties. Jin Yong's "The Swordsman" describes that in order to rescue Ren Woxing, Xiang Wentian used Zhang Xu's "Sui Yi Tie" as bait to deceive the enemy. Among Zhang Xu's calligraphy left today, "Sui Yi Tie" is not among them. "Four Notes on Ancient Poems" was once considered to be the authentic work of Zhang Xu and was widely praised. The first person to identify it as Zhang Xu's handiwork was Dong Qichang. Dong Qichang's character makes people suspicious, and his words may be a little discounted. Mr. Qi Gong, who passed away last year, after careful research during his lifetime, believed that "Four Notes on Ancient Poems" was not a work by Zhang Xu.
Of course, this will not affect people's memory of this calligraphy giant who was sometimes crazy, especially his weird creative methods that are fascinating. There are still people who are learning calligraphy nowadays, but the method is getting weirder and weirder. Some write with the left hand, some write with both hands at the same time, some write backwards, some write backwards, some write with the mouth, and they just use everything. Those who don't use a writing brush... there are countless tricks, but none of them can be written well with the right hand, and none of them can be written decently. If we reluctantly call this Zhang Xu's legacy, it doesn't matter that there is no such legacy.
In addition to the regular script "Langguan Shizhu Ji", his handed down calligraphy includes "Belly Pain Tie", "Four Ancient Poems Tie", etc. in cursive script, which are relatively famous.
In order to commemorate Zhang Xu, the people of Changshu still retain a Shen "Zuiwei Street" near the square tower at the east gate of the city to this day. In the old days, there was a "Cao Sheng Temple" built in the city. There is a couplet in the temple - "The calligraphy is absorbed in the book, the paper is falling and the clouds are smoke, and the Eight Dharmas are passed down in ancient and modern times; the Cao Sheng is called Sa Kuang, and the hall is full of wind and rain. It is appropriate to offer three cups every year." ", expressing the people's deep respect for this sage of cursive script. The pond where Zhang Xu washed his brushes and inkstones was also preserved for a long time and was called the "Washing Inkstone Pond".
Zhang Xu had only been serving as county captain in Changshu for more than ten days. An old man went to the county government office to complain about a trivial matter. Zhang Xu wrote a verdict for him. Unexpectedly, a few days later, the old man came to the county government office again. When Zhang Xu came to seek judgment, Zhang Xu was very angry and scolded the old man: "How dare you come to seek judgment again and again for such a trivial matter? Noisy to the Yamen!" The old man replied: "I really don't come here to seek judgment again, but because I saw the wonderful calligraphy on your last judgment and wanted to keep some as treasures of calligraphy." When Zhang Xu learned during the conversation that the old man's family had a collection of his father's exquisite calligraphy, he asked him to show it. . When Zhang Xu saw the old man's father's ink, he exclaimed, "He is the best calligrapher in the world." From then on, Zhang Xu fully utilized the wonderful ideas of calligraphy, and his calligraphy skills greatly improved, becoming the most outstanding calligrapher of his time.