Wei's calligrapher is good at writing big characters on the list. According to legend, there is a Lingyun Pavilion in Wei Mingdi, which is very tall. After Gao Song was completed, Wei Mingdi decided that Dan Wei would write "Lingyun Pavilion" in three Chinese characters. Unexpectedly, the construction workers actually hung up and nailed the plaque that had not been finished. So, we had to let Dan Wei sit in the basket and pull him up with a pulley rope to write the inscription. This pavilion is very high, 25 feet above the ground. Dan Wei was very scared, and his legs were weak. When he finished writing and put him down, his breath was so weak that his beard and hair turned white. Dan Wei threw his pen on the ground and lit it. From then on, he never wrote again, and warned his descendants never to write big characters on the list again. He also wrote it as a family motto.
Indeed, it is difficult to write big letters on the list. At that time, Xiao He, the prime minister of Han Dynasty, actually meditated in March in order to inscribe the plaque of Weiyang Palace. However, today, many people don't understand the particularity of book style, and making a list is like a child's play. I once saw a master painter write a three-character plaque for a restaurant in Guangzhou. The strokes are scattered and look like dry wood and dead branches piled up at will, without brushwork. Calligraphers often write aphorisms such as "Jing Yuan" for people, but they write wildly and angrily. Do you want your master to be unhappy when he sees them every day? Even in calligraphy such as Qigong, everyone can't write the big characters on the list. It is common for his signboard to be inscribed. After enlargement, it looks cold, frugal and exquisite, like a thin and listless patient.
Of course, it is not only common for modern people to write bad bills, but also for ancient great calligraphers. Look at how Mi Fei criticized the ancients who were not good at reading lists in Song Dynasty: "Lao Du wrote the poem" Huipu Temple in Xuecheng ":"The three characters are gloomy and the dragons are intertwined. "I want to look at stones today, but the pen is like a steamed cake. The word' Pu' is like a person holding two fists and standing with open arms. It is ugly and difficult." He also criticized: "Ou Yangxun's catalogue' Dowling Temple' is cold and frugal. Liu Gongquan's list book' Treasury West Collection' is out of proportion and exhausted. "
List book, also known as official book, is a kind of writing form with high practicability and artistry. Except seals, most of them are inches or longer, even as big as a foot. So, what is the difficulty in writing a list? Kang Youwei said: "Writing is different from fine print, and it has been difficult since ancient times. There are five difficulties: first, the pen is different, second, the management is different, third, the shape is abrupt, fourth, it is difficult to imitate, and fifth, it is difficult to use the pen. There are five. Although there are people who can write and are familiar with the method of fine engraving, they suddenly list books. They lost their way and covered up their potential. " In fact, if you ask me, the difficulty of the list lies in "big" and "potential".
Let's talk about "big" first: writing a book list requires special practice, and the writer must master its unique writing rules, writing rules, ink rules and font rules. Zhang Jiuling, a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, often did this exercise. Du Fu said, "Nine-year-old calligraphy is big." Throughout the ages, calligraphers rarely write big characters. When he needs to write big characters, he wants to enlarge the small characters he is used to writing, but the handwriting, calligraphy, ink and font have not changed. As a result, the written words completely lost the luster of the fine print and became lifeless. Therefore, when Mi Fei saw that the plaques of Ou Yangxun and Liu Gongquan were so poorly written, he sighed: "On it, there is no truth in ancient times." Few calligraphers write well in ancient and modern times. Xiao He and Wei Shiwei in Han Dynasty became famous and powerful figures because they were good at writing lists.
Let's talk about "momentum" first: the list book must have momentum, but this momentum is not a grotesque appearance like King Kong's glare, but should be a tall and elegant hall. Why? This is because the book list or the plaque in the study hall is used to decorate the lintel; Or the book motto encourages self-cultivation; Or book brand name, used to give others a name; Or the plaque in the study room to show your mind. This unusual special use makes the list look like a family facade and a person's face. How can I squint at my nose, blow my beard and stare, or look shabby?