Mi Fu, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Cai Xiang of the Song Dynasty are also known as the "Four Great Calligraphers" of the Song Dynasty.
The calligraphy of the Song Dynasty "shangyi" changed from the traditional calligraphy style of "shangfa" since the Tang Dynasty, which focused on the expression of personal style and personality. This era created the four great masters of the Northern Song Dynasty, known as "Cai Su Huangmi". Su Shi is natural, Huang Tingjian is vigorous, Mi Fu is elegant, and Cai Xiang is subtle. Each has its own demeanor and can be called a masterpiece. The four schools of the Song Dynasty drew heavily on the heritage of the Jin and Tang Dynasties, and were determined to innovate, each with its own strengths. The beauty of the four families is fully revealed here.
Scholars believe that "Cai" should be Cai Xiang, a calligrapher in the early Northern Song Dynasty. But in terms of the "age" ranking that the ancients attached great importance to, if "Cai" is Cai Xiang, "Cai" should be ranked before "Su". "Su, Huang, Mi" are all arranged according to age. As a person in the late Northern Song Dynasty, Cai Jing was called "Cai". There should be no dispute.
Later generations believe that Cai refers to Cai Jing, because Cai Jing's reputation was too bad, which led to the fall of Huizong, and his historical status cannot be compared with those of his predecessors. Therefore, later generations prefer to think that Cai refers to Cai Xiang.
Su Shi, courtesy name Zizhan, also known as Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan (now part of Sichuan). He, his father Su Xun, and his younger brother Su Zhe are famous for their poetry and prose, and are known as the "Three Sus" in the world. His calligraphy absorbed nutrients from the "Two Kings", Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan, Chu Suiliang, Xu Hao, Li Beihai and Yang Ningshi, and worked hard to innovate on the basis of inheriting the tradition. When he talked about his calligraphy, he said: "The method of writing calligraphy requires limited knowledge and limited knowledge. In the end, the three cannot be perfect. I have both mind, eye and hand." When he talked about his calligraphy art creation process, he said: "I calligraphy There is no way to create what you want, so the dots and paintings can be made by hand." He focused on writing "meaning" and expressed his feelings in the dots and paintings written by "hands of hand".
Huang Huang Tingjian, courtesy name Luzhi, also known as Valley Taoist, Fu Weng, was born in Fenning, Hongzhou (now Xiushui, Jiangxi), and was known as "Huangshan Valley" in the world. The poet of the Northern Song Dynasty, together with Zhang Lei, Chao Buzhi and Qin Guan, traveled to study under Su Shi's family. He was known as the "Four Scholars of the Su family" in the world and founded the Jiangxi Poetry School. Cursive calligraphy is highly praised by Zhang Xu and Huai Su for its flying and free charm, but also has its own style. The writing style is tight and sharp, with sharp and thin strength, strong momentum, and varied structure. Huang Tingjian's cursive calligraphy volume. It was written when Gu Gu was fifty-seven years old in the first year of Jingguo's reign. The title at the end of the volume says: "When I arrived in Huainan, I saw the old things and showed them. How can I compare with Huang Luzhi's calligraphy written by Yuan You?" This reflects his proud writing in his later years. Wen Zhengming of the Ming Dynasty commented on it: "It is really wonderful to break hairpins and leak holes in houses." There is a photocopy of it.
Mi Mi Fu, whose courtesy name is Yuan Zhang, lived in Taiyuan for a long time and later settled in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province. Huizong was awarded a doctorate in calligraphy and painting, and was known as "Mi Nanguan". He was also known as "Mi Dian" because of his crazy behavior. "History of the Song Dynasty·Wenyuan Biography" said: "Fu Te is better than calligraphy and ink, calm and flying, and captures Wang Xian's brushstrokes." "Xuanhe Shupu" says of him: "Most of his calligraphy is imitated by Xizhi, his poetry is after Li Bai, and the seal script is a historical hoop, which is suitable for the master. Official; he said, "Those who are good at calligraphy only have one stroke, and I only have four sides." Those who knew it understood this. When Fang Fu was writing, people were trying to sell them as treasures." He was inheriting the calligraphy tradition of "Two Kings". After hard work, one can enter the palace. He can write in Zhen, Cao, Li, Zhuan and Xing, but is particularly good at Xing'an.
Cai Cai Xiang, courtesy name Junmo. He was originally from Guangzhou, lived in Xianyou (now part of Fujian Province), and moved to Futian. He became a bachelor in Duanming Palace and knew Hangzhou. He was given the posthumous title Zhonghui. Gong Zheng, Xing, Cao, Li Shu, and can also fly white script. He tried to use loose brush to make cursive script, which is called "San Cao" or "Fei Cao". The world ranks Cai Xiang first in running script, second in small regular script, and third in cursive script.
In the history of calligraphy, when it comes to calligraphy in the Song Dynasty, there are four great calligraphers: Su, Huang, Mi and Cai. They are considered to be typical representatives of the calligraphy style of the Song Dynasty. Among the "Four Song Schools", the first three refer to Su Shi (Dongpo), Huang Tingjian (Fu Weng) and Mi Fu (Xiangyang Manshi). Only "Cai", who is listed at the bottom of the four families, who exactly refers to it has always been controversial.
It is generally believed that the so-called Cai refers to Cai Xiang (Jun Mo). His calligraphy is based on the Jin and Tang Dynasties, and pays attention to ancient meanings and laws. Its regular script is dignified and calm, its running script is pure and graceful, and its cursive script uses the Feibai method, which is called "scattered grass". It is self-contained and very exquisite. However, since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there has been another theory: judging from the order of the four families and the characteristics of the calligraphy style of the times, "Cai" originally referred to Cai Jing, but later generations disliked him as a person, so they replaced him with Cai Xiang. he.
"Cai Jing's Theory" had great influence during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. To be fair, the proposal of "Cai Jing's theory" does have some truth. Cai Jing's calligraphy art is characterized by grace, boldness, joy and calmness. Compared with Cai Xiang, who preserved more "ancient methods", Cai Jing's calligraphy seems to be more innovative and better reflects the "Shangyi" calligraphy of the Song Dynasty. Aesthetic appeal. Therefore, he already enjoyed a high reputation at that time, and many people in the government and the public studied his calligraphy. Secondly, Cai Xiang's calligraphy was regarded as "the best in this dynasty" in the early Northern Song Dynasty. However, since the new style of Song Dynasty calligraphy was formed in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, people gradually criticized Cai Xiang's calligraphy. Although Su Shi always insisted that Cai Xiang was the first, at least in the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty, people's evaluation of Cai Xiang was no longer so consistent. Thirdly, from the perspective of the ranking order, there is an obvious age order among the three families of Su, Huang and Mi. Cai Xiang was from Renzong's time and was the oldest. He was listed after Mi Fu who was under Zhezong and Huizong. There are indeed some doubts. It seems that "Cai Jing's theory" is not nonsense, and "Cai Xiang's theory" is also reasonable and well-founded. Because it is difficult for Cai Jing's people to accept him emotionally, people tend to lean towards Cai Xiang's theory. However, the final conclusion on this issue seems to await confirmation from Song Dynasty documents.