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 is full of words, he washes them off with clear water before writing.
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.
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.
Zhang Xu listened to Yan Zhenqing, carefully read Yan Zhenqing's words and said to him:
"Your calligraphy 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 definitely improve, and 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.
Extended data:
Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy was a beginner of Chu Suiliang, then he learned to write in Zhang Xu and discussed calligraphy with Huai Su. He deeply studied the calligraphy of Erwang and Chu Suiliang, absorbed their strengths, completely got rid of the style of the early Tang Dynasty and created a new era of calligraphy style. Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy style is called "Yan Ti", and it is also called "Yan Liu" with Liu Gongquan, and has the reputation of "Yan Liu Jin Gu".
Yan Zhenqing's original calligraphy is magnificent and dignified, and its handwriting has changed from slender in the early Tang Dynasty to square and has a centripetal force. The pen is vigorous and powerful, and the central brushwork is good. Full of bones and muscles, but also sharp. Generally, horizontal painting is slightly thinner, vertical painting, point, skimming and pressing are slightly thicker.
This book is magnificent in style and momentum, and has the spirit of flourishing Tang Dynasty. His cursive script is vigorous, expressive, calm and vigorous, which opens up a complete life for the cursive script after Wang School.
Yan Zhenqing's running script is vigorous and vigorous. This style also reflects the prosperous style of the Tang Dynasty empire and conforms to his noble personality. It is a typical example of the perfect combination of calligraphy beauty and personality beauty, so it is praised as "the second running script in the world" by later generations.
It is more dignified and vigorous, and Yan's tablet is also his work, but the fine strokes are different from other tablets. Yan's Temple Monument is rich in calligraphy, which is also his masterpiece in his later years. Compared with his early works, it is more vigorous and atmospheric, which is his masterpiece in his later years.
In the history of calligraphy, Yan Zhenqing created a unique realm of calligraphy with "Yan Ti". His calligraphy is characterized by excellent spirituality and natural magnificent realm; It is cast by its powerful soul, and its realm is naturally vigorous; It enriches the people, and the realm is naturally broad.
In his youth, Yan Zhenqing asked Zhang Xu "how to be equal to the ancients". This is the aspiration of Yan's calligraphy, and it is also Yan's flying mandarin fish. This strict Miao descendant who used a loess broom to sweep walls and learn calligraphy since childhood stood at a towering starting point of calligraphy almost from the beginning.
In calligraphy, Kun Peng spread his wings, and it took almost thirty or forty years of experience to become his own face and climate. Then after decades of hard work and enrichment, the "face and body" has both form and spirit.
In his later years, he still pursued perfection and perfection. "Yan Ti" finally stands tall in the book world. As stated in "A Brief History of China": "Ou, Yu, Chu and Xue in the early Tang Dynasty were only the inheritors of the calligraphy style of the two kings, and Yan Zhenqing in the prosperous Tang Dynasty was the creator of the calligraphy style of the Tang Dynasty. "
Yan Zhenqing's regular script, especially after the year of India, has formed a paradigm, and there are many learners in later generations, and there is even a saying that "learning books is beautiful"