From the perspective of modern calligraphy, Yan Zhenqing and Wang Xizhi are the two most dazzling constellations in the history of calligraphy. They came from the same town and formed two completely different artistic and aesthetic systems, each with its own characteristics. For thousands of years, it has been the most important object of calligraphy research. As for Yan Zhenqing's position in the history of calligraphy, it is generally believed that he has made great achievements in calligraphy innovation. But before the Northern Song Dynasty, Yan Zhenqing was only regarded as one of the many calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty, and his lofty position in calligraphy could hardly be found in the discussion at that time.
From the history of calligraphy, it can be clearly seen that Yan Zhenqing's words were not accepted by the mainstream calligraphy circles of his time, because the calligraphy evaluation criteria at that time were just like what Du Fu said, "Books are expensive, thin and hard, but vivid", including the ink and paper inkstone handed down from ancient times (although it may be concealed by later generations), which also clearly stated that calligraphy was the top grade, and it was called "ink pig", which belonged to the inferior category, so we can see the four major European countries in the early Tang Dynasty.
In the eyes of the scholar-officials, the characters of Emperor Yan represented all the ancient laws, that is, what later generations called breaking the law. In the upper class at that time, they even laughed at the thick strokes and the heavy dots at the beginning and end of the characters, just like children holding two biscuits and steamed bread in their hands. However, regular script has a very broad foundation and strong vitality among ordinary people, and it is a font with very strong affinity. Coupled with Yan Lugong's honest experience all his life, Yan Tizi has been developing and growing behind him, and finally formed a very huge system.
So how was Yan Zhenqing's position in calligraphy established?
Yan Zhenqing's lofty position in calligraphy was first put forward by Su Shi. After Wu Daozi's paintings, he wrote a postscript: "As for poetry, as for Han tui, as for Yan Pingyuan, as for painting Wu Daozi, the changes of ancient and modern times have passed." In this passage, Su Shi mentioned four people, among whom Du Zimei was called "poet saint" by later generations, Wu Daozi was called "painter saint", and Han Yu had the evaluation of "the decline of eight generations of literature". This arrangement clearly shows that Su Shi intends to push Yan Zhenqing to a higher position. This sentence became the beginning of people's understanding of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy achievements, and the response he caused was probably unexpected even by Su Shi himself.
Later, Zhu's "Continued Book Break" listed Yan Zhenqing as the first magical power in the Tang Dynasty. Not only that, he also believes: "Since Xi 'an, there has been no equality."
In the calligraphy circle before Yan Zhenqing, Wang Xizhi took the beauty of neutralization as the highest pursuit, which was also in line with the China people's ideological tradition of moderation. The special significance of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy lies in his "archaizing method".
Yan Zhenqing inherited the basic principles of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy tradition. On the basis of inheritance, he completed a revolutionary style change in the history of China calligraphy, creatively endowed calligraphy with a brand-new style of form and spirit, and made Wang Xizhi's calligraphy style vigorous and hearty. Yan Zhenqing further standardized the real calligraphy since Wei and Jin Dynasties and the regular script since the early Tang Dynasty from the aspects of structure, brushwork and form, making regular script a fully mature new style.
Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy absorbed the artistic nutrition since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and extensively studied the stroke characteristics and font structure of various calligraphy such as seal script, official script, running script, regular script and cursive script. Yan Zhenqing is not only good at using Tibetan forwards and centers skillfully, but also pays more attention to his lifts and setbacks. His brushwork is extremely elastic and is known as "Yan Jin" in the world. In the aspect of regular script structure, Yan Zhenqing absorbed the characteristics of seal script and official script, used seal script into regular script, and made use of positive momentum to make the left and right vertical paintings slightly curved, horizontal light and vertical heavy, and the overall structure was extremely tense, which became a model for later generations. Yan Zhenqing's running script not only contains the brush seal method, but also carries the spirit of stone. The brushstroke refers to the wrist, and the turning point of the brushstroke is rich and natural, especially the use of a large number of dry pens, which adds to the extraordinary momentum of the work and gives people a vigorous, dynamic and profound aesthetic feeling. For example, the masterpiece "Sacrificing a Nephew" highlights these artistic features of Yan Zhenqing.
More importantly, Yan Zhenqing is loyal and honest, giving up his life for righteousness. His calligraphy is like a loyal martyr, full of vitality in the temple, giving people a feeling that Zhong Ding is sitting on the bench, aboveboard, rich and vigorous. He pioneered the brushwork of "middle stroke", "reverse stroke" and "hiding the head and protecting the tail", all of which are rich and colorful, so they are very powerful.
When evaluating Yan Zhenqing in past dynasties, they first praised his life as a moral gentleman and a loyal martyr. Yan Zhenqing served as a minister in the four dynasties of Xuanzong, Suzong, Daizong and Dezong, and finally gave his life for the Tang Dynasty. Although he didn't wear the title of "Book Sage", in the hearts of calligraphers of past dynasties, he was on an equal footing with the book sage Wang Xizhi.
Wang Xizhi built the first monument of China's calligraphy with the beauty of harmony, and Yan Zhenqing built another peak of China's calligraphy with his beauty of temperament. Yan Zhenqing completed a great change in the history of China's calligraphy, and Yan-style calligraphy creatively endowed China's calligraphy with an unprecedented mental outlook. Yan calligraphy is dignified, majestic and sublime, which makes people have to respect it. Through his own life practice and pen and ink art, Yan Zhenqing made the moral demeanor and ideal person advocated by Confucianism extraordinary, so that Ouyang Xiu, a great writer at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, said with emotion, "Uncle Yan is a loyal martyr and a moral gentleman, who is strict and respectful. People are afraid at first sight, and the longer they are, the cuter they are. "