There are few historical materials about Zhang Zhi. The biography of Zhang Huan in the Later Han Dynasty only records the most famous eldest son, and my younger brother is often good at cursive writing. Wei Heng (A.D.? -291year) wrote "four-style calligraphy", saying: "There was a cursive script in the Han Dynasty, and I don't know the author's name. When it came to Zhang Di and Qi, it was called a good work. Later, Cui Shi, Cui Yuanhe, also known as Dugong, became extremely clever because of advocating agriculture and Zhang Boying ... Zhong Wei would call them Cao Sheng. Jiang (179-252) was Wei Guanglu's doctor and a famous calligrapher at that time. He thought, "Du Shijie is strong, but his calligraphy and painting are thin. Cui Shi's law. The book is thick and the words are clever, but sometimes it is not satisfactory. Zhang Zhixi likes studying. Can be described as a saint. It can be seen that although Zhang Zhi took Du and Cui as his teachers, he came from behind and was "ahead of others and unique". Zhang Huaiguan, a famous calligrapher and critic in the early Tang Dynasty, elaborated Zhang Zhi with hundreds of words in his masterpiece Duanshu, which is an outstanding monograph in the history of calligraphy in China. Most calligraphers in past dynasties quoted and agreed with the expositions of Wei Heng, Sun Zi and Sun Zi. Since then, Zhang Zhi's position as a grass saint has stood impressively above the calligraphy circle in China and will shine forever.
Judging from the development track of China's calligraphy history, from Oracle Bone Inscriptions to the maturity of seal script in the Qin Dynasty, official script prevailed in the Western Han Dynasty, but there were also cursive scripts, which can be described as seal script, official script, grass, line and truth. However, at this time, the slow and turbulent official script and Cao Zhang, whose words are independent and official, can no longer meet the needs of people and social development, but are replaced by fast and beautiful writing. Zhang Zhi absorbed the artistic essence of cursive script from the folk and Du Fu and Cui, and created a kind of cross-era grass, that is, a kind of "calligraphy" different from others, which was also called "modern grass" at that time, and became famous all over the world for a time, with a cloud of scholars. Zhang Zhi's A Book "The style of characters is formed by strokes, occasionally interrupted, but the blood vessels are connected, connected, and the qi veins are staggered"; "If the water is fast-flowing, plucking lotus, for example, is involved up and down, or borrowing words up and down, although it is odd-shaped, it contains several meanings. For example, the ape in the county drinks the image of the stream, which is hooked and chained, deified and self-sufficient, and abnormal condition is not revealed "; "If Qingjian flows from a long source, infinite flow, wandering back to the cliff valley, let it be natural", "being good at it is the best in ancient and modern times"; "Max Zhang is full of bones, the head of the sages"; Boying is the ancestor of cursive script. (Zhang Huaiguan "book end" language)
Zhang Zhi's cursive script has influenced the development of calligraphy in China and brought unparalleled vitality to the calligraphy circle. Wang Xizhi, known as a saint in China, learned from and admired Zhang Zhi in his middle age and thought that cursive script was not as good as Zhang Zhi. Huai Su, the master of Weeds, also claimed that cursive script was obtained from two pieces (Zhang Zhi and Zhang Xu). Sun, a master of cursive script, also mentioned many times in his Book Score that his life was based on Zhang Zhi's cursive script, saying that "Zhang Zhi is a sage of cursive script, which is both expert and proficient, so that no one can match him". The history of China's calligraphy tells us that "from the late Han Dynasty to the middle Tang Dynasty, Dan Wei, Wei Guan, Suo Jing and Wei Heng emerged in the field of cursive calligraphy, and four brilliant masters, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Zhang Xu and Huai Su, all of whom studied under the first giant in China's calligraphy history-Zhang Zhi, the sage of grass" (see Ma Shixiao's Zhang Zhichuang).
It is no accident that Zhang Zhi won the honor of "Cao Sheng", which is closely related to his philosophy of life and academic attitude. Zhang Zhi was born in a famous family, and his father Zhang Huan was a famous minister of the Han Dynasty. "The son of a famous minister in Boying is young and energetic, diligent in learning ancient times and learning Ming, and the court has a way to levy it." ("Broken Book") Zhang Zhi was appreciated by the court for his "Tao" and asked to be an official, but he disdained it and was willing to make a cloth. This kind of ideological realm of not being greedy for high positions and high salaries is admirable. Zhang Zhi studied calligraphy assiduously, and her spirit of infatuation was amazing. "Every family's clothes and silks must be written before practice. Linchi Xueshu, the pool is full of ink. " (Wei Heng's Four-body Calligraphy) According to "Zhang Mo Zhi Chi" in Sha Zhou Du Fu Tu Jing, "Zhang Zhi studied here, and the pool was full of ink. His books are unparalleled and famous all over the world. Because Wang Xizhi's On Shu Fan said:' The book in the middle school in the pool is full of ink, and it is absolutely unique, which is beyond my reach.' There is a poem "Mo Chi Fu" in "Twenty Inscriptions on Dunhuang Monuments", which praises: "In the past, the seal cutting was exquisite and Zhang Zhimiao. The sacred grass is immortal and famous for a while. Shu Jian watches birds, studies ink and dyes fish. I want to be by the pool, and I want to talk about poetry. " Just like this, Zhang Zhi climbed to the peak of calligraphy art, and his book "won the treasure of the world, not an inch of grass left" became a well-deserved sage of China. Zhang Zhi's ink can be found in Chunhua Pavilion Post, which consists of five posts and thirty-eight lines. Zhang Zhi wrote five "Pen Heart", but unfortunately it has long been lost. Zhang Zhi is also an expert in making brush.
Zhang Chang, Zhang Zhizhi's younger brother, was also a famous calligrapher at that time, especially in Cao Zhang, and his books were widely read, which was called "elegant sage" by people at that time.