In Chinese history, there is such a strange person. He was talented and good at calligraphy, but he often pretended to be crazy and acted like a fool, always making others think he was a fool. It was such a strange person who became prime minister, and even the emperor respected him. In the end, it was one of his Dharma posts that made him famous throughout the ages, and to this day, his Dharma posts are still talked about by people. Who is this strange man?
He is Yang Ningshi, a great calligrapher in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties period. Maybe many readers have never heard of it, but it doesn’t matter, I will introduce it to you. Yang Ningshi was born in a scholarly family and was very talented since childhood. He passed the Jinshi examination at a young age and entered an official career. In addition, Yang Ningshi was still a "second-generation official". His father Yang Su was the prime minister during the Yizong period of the Tang Dynasty, and the Yang family had been important prime ministers in the imperial court since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, so his family's power was also quite impressive. But no one could have imagined that Yang Ningshi would embark on the road of pretending to be crazy and acting stupid.
The reason why Yang Ningshi pretended to be crazy and stupid was completely forced by the situation. The Huangchao Uprising broke out at the end of the Tang Dynasty, completely ending the more than two hundred years of rule of the Li Tang Dynasty. Changes of dynasties were often accompanied by killings and bloodshed. At that time, the Yang family was in a high position and was on the cusp of this crisis. Therefore, Yang Ning Shiki then chose to act crazy and act stupid in order to protect himself. Of course, we all know the result: not only did he escape this disaster, but he also became the prime minister during the Five Dynasties period. It was during this period that he wrote "Leek Flower Calligraphy" which had a profound influence on later generations of calligraphy.
The content of "Leek Flower Tie" is actually very simple. The content is: After sleeping in the daytime, I woke up suddenly. When a leaf announces the beginning of autumn, it is the beginning of the flavor of the leek flower. Helping them to become fat is really a rare thing. After filling their stomachs, it is unforgettable. I would like to thank you for revising the petition. Fu Wei will inspect it and submit the petition.
This is a letter of thanks. If you explain it a bit, the person he is thanking is the person who sent him the chive flowers to eat. Because Yang Ningshi ate the chive flowers that day and found them very fresh and delicious, so she wrote a letter to express her gratitude. So what is so valuable about this copybook? Can it still be circulated to this day and be regarded as the "fifth running script in the world"?
First of all, because it is an authentic work of a famous person. There are many copies of "Chive Flower Tie" in existence, but there is only one authentic copy, which is the "Chive Flower Tie" collected by Luo Zhenyu, a famous scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, and now exists in the Palace Museum in Beijing. After expert evaluation, this "Leek Flower Tie" is known as the fifth running script in the world.
Secondly, it’s because of Yang Ningshi’s exquisite calligraphy. Yang Ningshi's "Leek Flower Tie" has elegant brushwork, rounded fonts, natural appearance, lively and natural appearance. The composition and structure are even more clear and coherent, and they can be said to be coherent. In terms of the author's brushwork and spiritual intention, it can be said to be the calligraphy work closest to the "Preface to the Lanting Anthology", but in terms of the structure and layout of the font, there are still some places where it surpasses the "Preface to the Lanting Anthology".
Finally, it’s because of the scarcity of paper. After expert research, it was discovered that the paper used in "Leek Flower Tie" was hemp paper. This is a kind of paper that emerged in the Han Dynasty. It was mostly used in the Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, but very few have been preserved. By the Song and Yuan Dynasties, hemp paper was rarely used, and by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was almost gone. So now It has also become very difficult for people to imitate hemp paper. Therefore, by studying the paper used in this "Leek Flower Tie", it will be possible to imitate the hemp paper from thousands of years ago in the near future. Obviously, this will definitely be a grand event in the world of calligraphy and painting.
Calligraphy is an important part of traditional Chinese culture, but now with the development of science and technology, people have begun to forget about writing, and they don’t seem to care so much about learning traditional calligraphy.