What are the Buddhist calligraphers

The Sui and Tang Dynasties were the most developed period of Buddhism in China, and also the most developed period of monk calligraphy. There are many monks and calligraphers. According to Tao Jiucheng's Book History Society, there were 28 outstanding calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty alone.

Ji Fa, a calligrapher between Chen and Sui Dynasties, is the grandson of Yongxing Temple monk Wang Xizhi VII, and is called "Yong Zen Master". Zhi Yong is close to inheriting the family law, far involved in Zhang Zhi, and works on the script. His calligraphy is called a bridge from the Southern Dynasties to the Tang Dynasty. His existing ink is rich and Return to Tianfu, among which money is the most famous. Qian Wen Zi was originally an ancient children's literacy textbook. Qian Wen Zi, written by Zhiyong, hides his head and protects his tail with a pen, which is full of twists and turns, combines rigidity with softness, implicit rhythm, regular font, symmetrical structure and dense combination, and has the legacy of "two kings". He commented on this in the Qing Dynasty: "Pens and pens come from the air and live in the air. Although there are leaks in the house, it is not enough to say. " Zhiyong studied in Yongxin Temple for 40 years. In 40 years, he carefully copied 800 copies of Thousand-Character Works and distributed them to temples all over the south of the Yangtze River. By the time he finished writing 800 thousand words, he was over 80 years old, and his bald pen was filled with 10 urns. In addition, Zhiyong has also made great achievements in studying the basic brushwork of calligraphy, that is, "the eight techniques of water characters, which have been passed down from later generations, were applied to thousands of words by Professor Cui Wang, making Zhiyong more interested and awarded to Shinan". "Eight Methods of Yongzi" has been widely recognized and accepted by the calligraphy circle since it was organized and promoted by Zhiyong. It is said that there was an endless stream of people asking for words from Zhiyong at that time, which was actually stepping on the wooden threshold.

Shihuaisu, a famous monk in the middle Tang Dynasty and a disciple of Master Xuanzang, is famous for Wild Grass. Huai Su likes drinking and has a wild personality. His name is "Zui" and Zhang Xu is also called "Zhang Dianzui", both of which are representatives of cursive art. Compared with Zhang Xu, Zhang Miao is better at being fat, while he is better at being thin. The feature of Huai Su's cursive script, in a word, is "thin and hard". The works that remain in the world include autobiographical notes, bitter bamboo shoots, and essays in books, among which the most famous is bitter bamboo shoots. Li Bai, who loves Huai Su's cursive script, praised it as "cursive Song Xing" and said that he was "obsessed with novelty and disorganization", obsessed with writing and found another way. In short, Huai Su's cursive script is unrestrained and smooth, and the stroke turning is subtle, round and straight; Pen found guilty, return to the center. As for the writing speed, Huai Su is quite fast, which can be said to be accomplished in one go, skilled and free, reflecting the word "agile"; However, his brushwork is vigorous and dignified, with setbacks and toughness, which embodies the word "astringent". When the ancients talked about the beauty of calligraphy, they only used the words "smart and astringent". Huai Su's cursive script is "neat and astringent" and extremely difficult to write. However, there are many "gods", and the structure of Huai Su's cursive script is strange and dangerous, which is amazing, which makes people shy away from it and can only be amazing.

Shi Yaqi, a monk in the late Tang Dynasty, said in "Xuanhe Pu Shu": "If you like to write big characters, you will get the pen of Zhang Dian. When he was in Zhao Zongguang, he wrote cursive script for the temple and gave him two purple robes, which made him proud. " He himself once wrote "The Queen of Imperial Books", saying, "I got the Xuanmen through Zen brushwork, and my relative Chang 'an is the supreme gift. Don't wonder how angry you are when you come out. Cursive script once praised saints and monarchs. "This shows that Yaqi is proud of her calligraphy. In the Ming Dynasty, Ye Li's "Two Paintings of Liuyanzhai" said that "the elegant calligraphy of Kaiyuan Temple is rich in brushwork, which is also a miracle in the late Tang Dynasty. "Yaqi is not only accomplished in calligraphy practice, but also a rare calligraphy theorist. He likes to discuss books. In On Books, he put forward the famous viewpoint that "all books are changeable", and thought that "change" was the key to the success of calligraphers. He said, "All books are easy to change. Wang became a white cloud body, Ou became a right army body, Liu became an Ouyang An body, Yong Zen Master, Chu Suiliang, Yan Zhenqing, Yu Shinan and so on. And they all changed their bodies in order to carry on the family line, hence the name. If the law enforcement remains unchanged, even people can be divided into three points, also known as book slaves, but they are not self-reliant. This is the main viewpoint of calligraphers. Yaqi's tendency to attach importance to "change" embodies the spirit of Zen, which is consistent with the identity of Yaqi-style monks. Yaqi is good at cursive script, but Huang Tingjian said that "cursive script is not as good as Yaqi", which just reflects Yaqi's "changed" calligraphy style from one side. The Book History Society's evaluation of Ya is: "If you like to write ci, you must have the brushwork of Zhangdian. Every time I talk about the point cloud:' People only know Zhang Diandian, but they don't know whether it is actually a point ...' This elegant girl is unique, but the secular language may not know it.' Although Yaqi got Zhang Xu's pen, he didn't become Zhang Xu's "book slave". He had his own "uniqueness". As the saying goes, "Zen is unique and implicit".

Compared with the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there are few outstanding calligraphers who are truly unique in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the achievements of monks in calligraphy are relatively dim, which is somewhat related to the decline of Zen after the Song Dynasty (the so-called "long practice kills people" in Buddhism). With the decline of Zen Buddhism, the overall cultural quality and artistic accomplishment of Buddhism declined. Most monks become monks not because they are good Buddhists, but because of other reasons, such as avoiding chaos and seeking seclusion, and being poor and seeking food. As you can imagine, under such a motive of becoming a monk, there will naturally be fewer monks who are really interested in calligraphy. However, there are still a few monks who have made great achievements in calligraphy during this period, such as Yin, Dahuilai, One Mountain and One Ning, Shi Tao monk and Badashan people. Among these people, monk Shi Tao and Badashan people should be the two most outstanding.

Monk Shi Tao, also known as Bitter Melon Monk, is a famous monk who is good at painting and calligraphy. His books contain many official meanings in real books and running scripts, and have the style of writing classics in the Six Dynasties. He is clean, healthy and elegant, quite elegant. At the same time, his calligraphy, like his paintings, is full of wild flavor, which reflects the decisive role of the aura of mountains and rivers acquired by monk Shi Tao in the process of wandering the rivers and lakes all his life in the formation of his aesthetic consciousness. Monk Shi Tao's calligraphy motto is "Write everything in the world with pen and ink, and Tao Yong is also about me".

Badashan people, namely Zhu Da, are the imperial clan of the Ming Dynasty. The names of monks are Zhuan, Bian 'an, Geshan, Geshan Donkey, Wu Ge and Donkey House. Badashanren's calligraphy style is like Suo Jing's, and his running script is close to Mi Fei's. All cursive scripts are healthy and fresh, combined with Fiona Fang's pen, with strange and correct vertical and horizontal strokes, like scattered but not scattered, sparse and elegant, which develops the interest of bald pen and forms a subtle and harmonious personal style.