When Yan Zhenqing was three years old, his father died of illness. Mother had to take him back to grandpa's house. Yan Zhenqing's grandfather is a painter and his mother is a sensible person. Seeing that Yan Zhenqing was clever, they taught him to read and write.
Yan Zhenqing practiced calligraphy with great care, never careless with strokes, and spent most of his time writing. The mother was both happy and sad to see her son practicing calligraphy so attentively. The good news is that my son will succeed in the future; What worries him is that his family is not well off, and where can he get spare money to buy him paper to practice calligraphy?
Yan Zhenqing is very sensible. Seeing that her mother was worried about having no money to buy paper, she quietly figured it out for herself. One day, Yan Zhenqing said happily to his mother, "I have a pen and paper, which costs nothing. Don't worry! " "Silly boy, how can pens and paper not cost money?"
"Look, isn't it?" Holding a bowl and a brush in his hand, Yan Zhenqing said happily, "This bowl is an inkstone, this brush is a pen, and the yellow mud in the bowl is ink!" "So ... where is the paper?" Mom asked again.
Yan Zhenqing pointed to the wall with his finger and said seriously, "This is paper. Do not believe me to write for you! " After that, he picked up the brush, dipped the bowl in mud, walked to the wall and wrote. When the wall was full of words, he washed them off with clean water.
Then write it again. Seeing that her son had a good way to practice calligraphy without spending money, the mother smiled happily. Because Yan Zhenqing is diligent and studious, he not only developed a good hand when he grew up, but also became a well-read young man.
Extended data:
Yan Zhenqing's story:
1, jade fish
Yan Zhenqing bid farewell to Zhang Xu and returned to Chang 'an. It wasn't long before the court made him an empire (an official in charge of supervising officials at all levels).
Once, Yan Zhenqing visited Longyou (now Gansu, Ningxia and Qinghai) and found that Wuyuan (now Yanchi County, Ningxia) had a case involving many people, which was an unjust case.
Although the parties and their relatives complained to the government many times about their grievances, the officials who handled the case did not pay serious attention to the trial. As a result, the case dragged on for a long time and could not be rehabilitated. Strangely, since this unjust case happened in Wuyuan, it has been a drought and a little rain.
The well dried up, the stream stopped flowing and the crops in the field withered. Man-made and natural disasters have made Wuyuan people live a miserable life. Yan Zhenqing is determined to rehabilitate this unjust case. After a thorough investigation, he finally found out the truth of the case and re-opened the case.
Finally, the wronged person was rescued and the dereliction of duty was punished. Wuyuan people are very happy. They all said, "Yan is really a good official who makes decisions for the people!" " It is said that it didn't rain in Wuyuan for several months on the day when Yan Zhenqing was rehabilitated.
Suddenly it rained and the yellow crops turned green in a few days. Wuyuan people associate this rain with Yan Zhenqing's vindication of unjust imprisonment.
Pass it around and say, "It must be the injustice that angered God and brought this drought to Wuyuan. Now Yan has wronged the suffering people and touched God, and this heavy rain is coming! " This rain is called' Yu Yu'! "
Quit your job and learn from your teacher.
At the age of 26, Yan Zhenqing took part in the imperial examination and was admitted to the Jinshi. Two years later, he became the school bookkeeper of the imperial court (the official responsible for writing inscriptions and eulogies). Later, the court asked him to go to Liquan County (now Shaanxi Province) to be a county magistrate in charge of local public security.
There is a lot of business in the county government, but Yan Zhenqing still does not forget to practice calligraphy. Although everyone praised him for his great handwriting skills, he thought that as the saying goes, "There are mountains outside the mountains, and there are days behind them", and his kung fu skills were not at home, so he had to worship a brilliant teacher.
Soon, he resigned from his official position, and with some words he wrote, he rushed to Luoyang to learn from the great calligrapher Zhang Xu. After listening to Yan Zhenqing's purpose, Zhang Xu carefully read Yan Zhenqing's handwriting and said to him, "Your handwriting is already very good.
Now, the country is the time to employ people. You are the pillar of the country's future. How can you spend so much energy on writing? As long as you practice hard, your handwriting will improve, so you don't have to worship me as a teacher. "?
Hearing Zhang Xu's remarks, Yan Zhenqing felt reasonable. Seeing that Zhang Xu was determined not to accept himself as a disciple, he set off for Chang 'an. Yan Zhenqing went home to be an official, but he was always uneasy about learning calligraphy from Zhang.
Soon after, he resigned again and went to Luoyang to find Zhang Xu. When Zhang Xu saw Yan Zhenqing quit his job for the second time to study calligraphy, he was moved by his sincerity, so he gladly accepted the apprentice.