Zhangzhi
The date of birth is unknown, and he died in the third year of Chu Ping of Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty (about AD 192). He was born in Jiuquan, Dunhuang (now Gansu) and is good at Cao Zhang. After that, he got rid of his old habits and preserved Cao Zhang's stippling, becoming a "modern grass". Call him "learning Cui (Ji)". The font is written in one stroke, occasionally interrupted, but the veins are continuous and even connected. Dan Wei, a calligrapher of the Three Kingdoms, called him a "sage of grass". Jin Wang's book only praised Zhong (Yao) and Zhang (Zhi) for Han and Wei calligraphy, but thought the rest were not satisfactory. It had a far-reaching influence on the cursive scripts of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi.
Zhang Zhiqin's spirit of practicing calligraphy has become a historical story. Wei Heng's "Four-body Book" records: Zhang Zhi "Where clothes and silks are at home, you must write before you practice (boiling and dyeing);" Learn books in the pool, and the pool is exhausted. "Later generations called calligraphy" Linchi ",that is, from this. You Cao have the reputation of "sage of grass". At that time, people even cherished his Mo Bao to the point of "not leaving an inch of paper". The evaluation is quite high, especially the cursive script.
Xu Zhang
Zhang Xu, born in Wu Jun (Suzhou, Jiangsu), was born in Gaobo and Ji Ming. At first, he was a commander in Changshu. Later, he became the commander of Jin Wu, known as "Zhang Changshi". His mother Lu is the niece of the calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty, that is, the granddaughter of Yu Shinan. Lu's books have been handed down from generation to generation, which is famous in history. Zhang Xu is free and easy, generous, outstanding, brilliant and knowledgeable. Du Fu befriended Li Bai and He Hao, and was listed as the "Eight Immortals of Drinking". He is a master of cursive script with great personality. Because he is often drunk, clamoring for madness, then writing books, and even writing with his hair dipped in ink, he has the nickname "Zhang Dian". "Zhang Xu has three cups of grass saints, and before he took off his hat, he was like a cloud." -Du Fu's Zhang Xu is vividly displayed before our eyes, and his expression has always been dumped by the world. After Huai Su inherited and developed his brushwork, he also got his name from cursive script and called it "drunk". Tang Wenzong once wrote a letter, regarding Li Bai's poems, Pei Min's sword dance and Zhang Xu's cursive script as "three unique skills". He also wrote poems, and was called "Four Gentlemen of Wuzhong" with He, Zhang and Bao Rong.
Zhang Xu's calligraphy began with Zhangzhi and Erwang, with cursive script as the highest achievement. He himself is proud of inheriting the tradition of "two kings" and writes very well. On the other hand, he imitated Zhang Zhi's cursive art and created an unpredictable wild grass, which shocked the world. According to legend, he saw the princess arguing with her husband, and he heard the advocacy and got the meaning of brushwork; When I was in Yexian County, Henan Province, I loved watching Gong Sundaniang dance the sword of Xihe River, so I got the grass god. Yan Zhenqing resigned twice and asked him for his brushwork. Zhang Xu is a pure artist. He pours his emotions into stippling, and no one looks at it, and he is as intoxicated as a madman. Tang Hanyu praised in "Preface to Send a Noble Sage to a Master": "Emotion, embarrassment, sadness, happiness, resentment, longing, drunkenness, boredom and injustice, if moving in the heart, must be expressed in cursive script. Looking at things, we can see mountains and rivers, cliffs and canyons, birds, animals, insects, fish and flowers, the sun, the moon and stars, storms and fires, lightning and thunder, singing and dancing battles, and changes in heaven and earth. Congratulations, one is in one book, so the book of Xu is still as unpredictable as ghosts and gods, and it will eventually be praised by later generations. " This is a true portrayal of a real artist's obsession with art. No wonder later generations talked about calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, and praised Europe, Yu, Chu, Yan, Liu and Su, but they all praised Zhang Xu, which is unique in the history of art.
There are "Stomach Pain Sticks" and "Four-character Poems" handed down from ancient times.