The so-called "three major running scripts" refer to Wang Xizhi's "Lanting Preface", Yan Zhenqing's "Manuscript for Nephew Sacrifice" and Su Dongpo's "Han Shi Tie" ("Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Manuscript").
On the third day of March in the ninth year of Yonghe, Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, 50-year-old Wang Xizhi, more than 40 friends, relatives and friends, including Xie An and Sun Chuo, came to Kuaiji Shanyin Lanting, a place surrounded by mountains and rivers. It was the custom at that time to hold an exorcism ceremony by the waterside. In the feast of flowing water, everyone drank and wrote poems. Finally, Wang Xizhi wrote the preface. Wang Xizhi picked up the pen and spread the paper while being slightly drunk, leaving behind "Preface to the Lanting Collection", a masterpiece of calligraphy and writing that will nourish future generations and become a masterpiece of calligraphy and writing. A monument in the history of Chinese calligraphy and literature.
This calligraphy work "Preface to the Lanting Collection" is an impromptu draft written by Wang Xizhi. There are traces of erasure in many places. It is said that Wang Xizhi later wrote it many times, but his brilliance was not as high. This work marks the maturity of Chinese characters and the perfection of writing. It embodies Wang Xizhi's rigorous and soothing personality and talent. His brushwork and line transfer are lifelike, and the changes in font structure and composition have reached unparalleled heights. Among the 324 words in the whole text, the word "Zhi" alone appears in 20 places. The writing is not the same, but it achieves the harmony and unity of the whole text. In the early Tang Dynasty, Taizong Li Shimin admired the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi so much that he deceived the "Preface to the Lanting Collection" from Wang Xizhi's descendants in an indecent way. After his death, he took Wang Xizhi's original calligraphy to his tomb. . The best version that has been handed down to this day is one made by Feng Chengsu in the Tang Dynasty with double hooks. Because it is stamped with the seal of Zhongzong Shenlong's reign, it is also called the Shenlong version. First."
The "Manuscript of Sacrificing My Nephew" written by Yan Zhenqing in the Tang Dynasty is called "the second running script in the world". Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection" reveals the elegance of spring outings, while Yan Zhenqing's "Manuscript of a Nephew's Commemoration" is full of grief and indignation at the loss of a loved one. "Manuscript of Sacrifice to My Nephew" is a national article written by Yan Zhenqing when he was serving as the prefect of Pingyuan. After recovering the lost land of Changshan that was plundered by the rebels, he found the remains of his cousin Yan Gaoqing and nephew Yan Jiming who died guarding Changshan. A tribute written by enemies and stained with blood and tears. Yan Zhenqing was relatively calm when he first started writing "Manuscript for Nephew Memorial". He first stated the year and then his identity, and then revealed sentimental memories and praise of his nephew Ji Ming's youthful talent. When he wrote "The Thief" "I don't save you, I am surrounded by a lonely city, my father is trapped and my son is dead, and my nest is overturned." Yan Zhenqing's hatred for the self-interested villain and the sadness of his brother and nephew could no longer control his mood. The calligraphy lines were heavy with grief and indignation, and were sad and sharp. , forming the climax of the sadness and indignation of the entire calligraphy.
In the third year after he was demoted to Huangzhou, Su Shi wrote "Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Manuscript", which was praised by later generations as the third running script in the world. Su Shi followed the tradition of the Tang Dynasty in learning calligraphy. In his early days, he mostly studied calligraphy from the two kings. Later, he fell in love with Yan Zhenqing's upright and simple calligraphy style. Most of his characters are flat, wide and plump. The contemporary calligrapher Huang Tingjian jokingly called Su Shi's calligraphy a "toad pressed by stone" style. "Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Manuscript" also represents this characteristic of Su Shi's calligraphy style. However, "Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Manuscript" is a rare work in Su Shi's calligraphy with great emotional fluctuations and strong sense of rhythm.
When appreciating this work, you should not abandon its content and only look at the calligraphy. The poem expressing sadness and anger through the feeling of cherishing spring is the emotional foundation of this calligraphy. Judging from the works, Su Shi was in a very peaceful mood when he started writing, and narrated in a straightforward and vernacular manner: "I have been here in Huangzhou for three years." His writing was calm, and his precise knotting revealed an air of beauty, without revealing any sadness. , like the bass prelude of a symphony. When he wrote, "The empty kitchen is cooking cold vegetables, and the broken stove is burning wet reeds. I knew it was cold food, but I saw a black paper holding it." Su Shi could no longer restrain the grief and anger deep in his heart, and there appeared something rare in his calligraphy. Exposed emotions and flamboyant personality, changing the usual subtlety of the brushwork, using both side and center strokes, successively releasing the last stroke of the word "reed" and the word "paper", full of anger, especially the last stroke of the word "paper" Use the center to pull it down, like a sharp sword stuck in the head of the character "Jun".
He started writing from a peaceful mood, and as his emotions transformed, the words became bigger and bigger. When he wrote "broken stove", there was a climax of sadness and indignation. The last line ended with only one word, creating a kind of calm beauty after the storm. , the composition also echoes the first three lines, making the whole work appear ups and downs, wild but not wild.