Resigned to become a disciple
When Yan Zhenqing was 26 years old, he took the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination. Two years later, he became a school clerk in the imperial court (responsible for writing Officials of inscriptions and sacrificial inscriptions). Later, the imperial court asked him to go to Liquan County (now Shaanxi Province) to serve as a county captain specializing in managing local security.
There are many official matters in the county government, but Yan Zhenqing still doesn't forget to practice calligraphy. Although everyone praised his calligraphy skill, he thought, as the saying goes, "Beyond the mountains there are mountains, and beyond the sky there is sky." He was not good at calligraphy, so he had to learn from masters. Soon, he resigned from his official position, took some of his handwriting, and rushed to Luoyang to become a disciple of the great calligrapher Zhang Xu.
Zhang Xu listened to Yan Zhenqing’s explanation of his purpose and said to him after carefully reading Yan Zhenqing’s handwriting:
“Your handwriting is already very good. Now, the country is in the process of It’s time to employ people. You are the future pillar of the country. How can you spend so much time on writing? As long as you practice hard, your writing will improve, so there is no need to worship me as your teacher.”
After listening to Zhang Xu's words, Yan Zhenqing felt that it made sense. Seeing that Zhang Xu refused to accept her as a student, she said goodbye and returned to Chang'an.
After Yan Zhenqing returned home, he became an official in the imperial court, but he could not bear to learn calligraphy from Zhang Xu. Soon after, he resigned from the official position again and came to Luoyang to find Zhang Xu.
When Zhang Xu saw Yan Zhenqing resigning to study calligraphy for the second time, he was moved by his sincerity and happily accepted him as his apprentice.