The record of Zhang Fei's calligraphy was first seen in the Record of Sword by Liang Taohongying in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. He wrote:
"At the beginning, Zhang Fei paid homage to the new pavilion, claiming that the craftsman tried to forge Chishan iron as a knife. Ming said: the new pavilion Hou, Shu general also. Later, Fan Jiang killed him and killed him in Wu. "
some people explained that Zhang Fei wrote the inscription of the new pavilion Hou Dao himself. But now that the original has been lost, there is no way to prove it.
It seems that few people have talked about Zhang Fei's calligraphy since then. In the Ming Dynasty, there was a General Record of Dan and Lead, and there was another record about Zhang Fei's calligraphy:
"There was Zhang Fei and Diao Douming in Fuling. Its writing is very skillful, and it is also written by Fei. Zhang Shihuan's poem says: The hero in the world is only Yuzhou, and Auntie doesn't * * * hate God. The mountains and rivers are divided into three countries; The universe is famous. Jiang Shangci often Yan Jianpei; Diao Dou on earth sees a silver hook. Spare Zhuge Qin Chuan Biao, who is left to be Liu! "
From this record, it seems that the inscription was written by Zhang Fei himself. Unfortunately, I have never seen this inscription, and I wonder if any friend can find its original or reliable rubbings. Readers in Pengshui County, Sichuan Province, in particular, had better check in the local area to see if there is Diao Douming written by Zhang Fei. It would be great if you could find it and publish it for everyone to study and appreciate.
in addition, in the Ming dynasty, another cliff stone carving was discovered in Jiang Liu county, Sichuan province. This is the so-called "Zhang Fei Ma Ming", also known as "Eight Monks Cliff", and Chen Jiru's "Taiping Qing Hua" and other books in the Ming Dynasty have long been recorded. The inscription reads:
"General Han flew, with a fine death rate of 1, people. The first piece of the big thief was combined with Bameng, and the inscription was immediately made."
Only one rubbings of this inscription can be found in Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. According to Hu Shengyou's inscription in the late Qing Dynasty, "Huan Hou immediately wrote the inscription, and it was said that it was a spear? ? Stone writer, in Shibi, Quxian County, Sichuan Province. This wall is cracked and the word is destroyed. In June of the seventh year of Guangxu, I checked the family's collection of rubbings and re-hooked the stone. " For this rubbings, many people have appraised it, thinking that it is not like an inscription in the Han Dynasty, but may be made by later generations. At the same time, according to Sichuan Zongzhi, the word "Jun" in the inscription is "Zhang" and the word "Ming" is "Ming", which is different from the rubbings. The original trace is in Jiang Liu County or Quxian County, and the statement is inconsistent. If readers in Sichuan can go to these two places to see if there are any remnants or ancient rubbings of this cliff stone carving, I think it is not difficult to find out the truth by judging from the real thing.
In addition to the handwriting handed down from Zhang Fei, we might as well mention Zhang Fei's paintings by the way. According to the Ming Dynasty Zhuo Erchang's Interpretation of Painting Essence Yuan,
"Zhang Fei ... likes painting beauties and is good at cursive writing."
It's a pity that we can't find the original Zhang Fei's painting now. Moreover, it seems that the evidence is too weak to prove exactly what Zhang Fei's paintings are.
From this point of view, no matter what Zhang Fei's books or paintings are, we have no reason to make a positive or negative judgment casually. We can neither arbitrarily say that he can't write and draw, or that he can't write and draw well; Nor can we arbitrarily say that he is a calligrapher and painter. Because no matter what kind of judgment you make, I'm afraid you can't come up with reliable evidence. However, now that someone has officially announced that Zhang Fei is a calligrapher in ancient China, readers certainly have reason to ask for the publication of Zhang Fei's handwriting. It takes someone who tied the bell to solve the problem. I'm sorry I can't take the place of the blister.
Having said that, I would like to raise one more point, and please pay attention to the fact that Yue Fei's handwriting, such as "Return my mountains and rivers" and "Learn from others", has now been proved to be not the original work of Yue Fei. Yue Fei's handwriting is not like that at all, but a different face from the handwriting such as "Give me back my mountains and rivers". In recent years, Yue Fei's letters are published in the Southern Song Dynasty rubbings Feng Shu Tie collected by Shanghai Cultural Management Association, and his font is very close to Su Dongpo's. I hope to find ancient rubbings or pictures again one day, which may be lucky enough to contain Zhang Fei's paintings and calligraphy. Thank God, everyone can be happy.
This is not entirely an illusion, because the ancients, like today, can write and draw something if they dare to write and draw, even if they are not good. Zhang Fei was a great hero in the Three Kingdoms period. Didn't he have the courage to write and draw boldly?