Therefore, Wang Xizhi himself treasured the Preface to Lanting as a family heirloom and passed it on to his seventh generation Sun Zhiyong. Zhiyong became a monk in Yongxin Temple and loved calligraphy. Naturally, he has no children behind him. Before he died, he passed the Preface to Lanting Collection to his disciple Cai Bian. Monk Cai Bian is very good at calligraphy. He knew the value of Preface to Lanting, so he regarded it as a treasure and hid it in a hole specially carved on the beam of the bedroom.
Li Shimin was a first-class figure in literature and martial arts. He admired Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, collected a large number of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy treasures, often copied and studied, and praised the original work of Lanting Preface. He asked for a lot of money many times, but to no avail.
Finally, one day, people sent by Li Shimin to make unannounced visits came back and reported that the manuscript of Preface to Lanting Collection was in the hands of a monk named Cai Bian in Huiji.
Li Shimin was very happy to hear the news, and immediately wrote a letter to Chang 'an, asking him to give up what he gave up, hoping that he would give up Mo Bao. Monk Cai Bian knew the reason when he received the order. Along the way, he has made up his mind that he would rather die than hand in the real thing. This plan is not only because he loves calligraphy, but also because the Preface to Lanting was entrusted to him by the master who was as close as his parents before he died. If it is unfortunately allowed to flow into the palace, I am afraid it will never succeed.
When Bian came to Chang 'an, no matter how persuasive he was, Bian just played dumb and said that he didn't know the whereabouts of the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. In a rage, Li Shimin wanted to kill the unattainable monk, but he knew that only by killing Cai Bian could he get the real thing. In desperation, I had to let go and go back.
Monk Cai Bian returned to the Jinyong Temple in Huiji. One day, he sat on the cloister and basked in the sun. He saw a man standing in the corridor, wearing a yellow gown and a bachelor's uniform, radiant and distinguished, standing alone in the corridor watching murals.
Cai Bian stepped forward to salute and said, "Where is the benefactor from and what are you doing here?"
The scholar said, "My name is Xiao, and I'm here to make tea for the exam. I heard that your temple is a treasure of Yuezhou, so I came to have a look. I'm lucky I didn't see The Exorcist today. "
Seeing the scholar's elegant speech and extraordinary appearance, he invited him into the meditation room and chatted. Although that Cai Bian is a monk, he was taught by Master Zhiyong since he was a child, and he was omnipotent in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, poetry and songs. I don't want an expert to teach that Xiao Yi, who can play, sing and dance.
The two chatted speculatively, and the more they talked, the more excited they became. Playing the piano for a while, writing poems for a while, all feel that it is a long time to meet each other. In the evening, Cai Bian simply left Xiao Yi in the guest room of Yongxin Temple and chatted with him every day. In a few days, the two became friends who had forgotten the new year.
In this way, more than ten days have passed. One day, Cai Bian and Xiao Yi were playing chess in the meditation room. Cai Bian brought a folding fan because it was very hot. After a while, Bian got up to pour tea and suddenly shouted behind him. Looking back, he saw Xiao Yi holding a folding fan and looked at himself in surprise.
"What's the matter?" Ask after distinguishing.
"Dare to ask the master, whose handwriting is the inscription on this folding fan?" Cai Bian took a look and said, "This is the handwriting of former teacher Zhiyong." Xiao Yi exclaimed in surprise: "I didn't expect this Yongxin Temple to be a treasure house with so many outstanding people!" "Why, do you know the master?" The monk asked. "Oh, no," Xiao Yi added, "I just heard that this wise monk is the seventh grandson of Wang Youjun, a great calligrapher in the Jin Dynasty. I wonder if this is true? " Cai Bian listened and said, "Yes, the former teacher Zhiyong is the descendant of Wang Youjun." Xiao Yi was overjoyed and said to Cai Bian, "My late father and I both like calligraphy, especially in the Jin Dynasty. Although my Xiao family is not a rich family, every time I see the original "Two Kings", I will not hesitate to pay a large price to buy it. If you really can't afford it, try to borrow it. I heard that Master Zhiyong is the descendant of the' Two Kings', but I have never seen it! "
As soon as he heard this, he became more and more surprised: "You said that you had the original works of' Two Kings'. Where is it now? " Xiao Yi said, "I left it in the inn when I came." Cai Bian said: "I also like the works of Two Kings best in my life, and I can't put it down. Since you have the original two kings there, can you show it to the old lady? "
After discussion, Xiao Yi came to Yongxin Temple as promised in the evening and brought some original works of Two Kings, which were full of praise after reading. After reading Xiao Yi's library, Cai Bian, a monk, took out several volumes from the inner room and showed them to Xiao Yi one by one.
That Xiao Yi is really knowledgeable and good at calligraphy and pen and ink. He can not only tell the creative background of each book post, but also judge the pros and cons of each word, which makes him convinced. Finally, Xiao Yi opened one of the stickers and exclaimed, "This is impossible! It's incredible! "
At first glance, it is Wang Xizhi's carefully collected Preface to Lanting. I heard Xiao Yi say again, "I didn't expect Xiao Yi to have this kind of fun in his life. I have long known that Wang Youjun's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion is "the best running script in the world", and it seems really extraordinary today. "
Xiao Yifei read it again and again, and suddenly exclaimed: "This Preface to the Lanting Pavilion is fake!"
"impossible!" I thought I heard wrong. "Master bravely gave it to me personally before he died. Where can it be fake? "
Xiao Yi said, "The Preface to Lanting is very realistic. It can be seen that the copyist himself has a certain calligraphy skill, which can reach the level of confusing the fake with the real. Unfortunately, as long as you look closely, you can still see that the connection between words is still blocked, which is definitely false. "
However, in any case, Cai Bian won't believe that his carefully collected Preface to the Lanting Pavilion is a fake. Xiao Yi didn't believe this argument when he saw it, so he said, "Tell you what! I'm going back to the inn today. I'll leave these original paintings of the two kings here. We'll know the authenticity by comparing it tonight. I'll come back tomorrow morning. "
The monk had to agree. After Xiao Yi left, Cai Bian ordered people to light some lamps and candles and spent the whole night comparing them, but he didn't understand why.
The next morning, Xiao Yi came again, and Cai Bian still decided that his Preface to the Lanting Pavilion was an original. Then suddenly someone came to send an invitation. It turned out that a benefactor named Yan Qian invited Cai Bian monk to be a vegetarian.
Yan Qian is the biggest benefactor of Yongxin Temple, so he didn't dare to neglect him, and set off with people at once. Yan Qian put down a vegetarian meal and waited for the monk to identify talents. Just half eaten, suddenly, the governor of Yuezhou, Qi Xingshan, sent someone to ask for talents.
Cai Bian did not dare to neglect him, so he left in a hurry and moved to Doudufu, but Cai Bian was very surprised. What happened today? When you arrive at the Taishou Mansion, please enter the patio and see Taishou of Yuezhou sitting there, familiar.
When the man saw Bian, he said, "I'm a court supervisor, and I've come to ask for the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion, and I've come to say goodbye to you."
Only then did I realize that I had a rude awakening and fainted to the ground with anger. It turned out that Xiao Yi first pretended to be a scholar and won critical trust. After half a month, I occasionally mentioned calligraphy, and then I played hard to get, pretending that I didn't want to take out the original "Two Kings" and let the discerning people take the bait.
After seeing the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion, Xiao Yi deliberately said that it was a fake, which made Cai Bian anxious to find out the authenticity that night. He didn't have time to put away the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion, so he took the opportunity to rush to the place where the local rich man had moved seriously, presented a secret letter and told him to send someone to invite Bian to be a vegetarian the next morning.
After he hurried to the appointment, he put away the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion. Xiao Yi took this opportunity to take it out of Yongxin Temple and went straight to the Governor's house, and really got the Lanting Preface. This is the story that the famous Preface to Lanting was brought into the imperial palace.
Later, Xiao Yi was eager to work and didn't stay long. Then he changed his official uniform, and the viceroy sent someone to escort the Preface to Lanting to Chang 'an day and night.
Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, was naturally happy when he heard that he had got the Preface to Lanting. Immediately, Xiao Yi was promoted to Prime Minister, Xiao Yi was rewarded with thousands of brocade, and Yuan Wailang was promoted. Also, considering that Cai Bian was old, he was given 3,000 pieces of cloth and 3,000 meters. Cai Bian used these to build a three-story tower in Yongxin Temple, which made his heart a little calmer.
After Li Shimin got the Preface to Lanting, he couldn't put it down, copied it every day, and sent someone to turn over 10 copies for the courtiers. He ordered Ou Yangxun and Chu Suiliang, the great calligraphers at that time, to write, and asked Feng Chengsu, the calligrapher, to copy with double hooks. Ou and Chu have their own styles of copying, but their copying is faithful to the outline of the original because of "using ink" and loses the aesthetic feeling of the smooth lines of the original.
In 649, Emperor Taizong was seriously ill and lived in the Hanfeng Hall of Yuhua Palace. Before he died, he passed his son Li Zhi to Li Zhi and said, "Now, I want to ask you something. If you really respect me, don't go against my wishes. "
Li Zhi quickly choked and said, "Dad, the child must do it."
"What I want is" Preface to Lanting ",you take it away for me!" With that, Emperor Taizong died.
When Emperor Li Zhi ascended the throne, Chu Suiliang, the secretary, said, "Lanting Preface is the most cherished item of the first emperor, and the first emperor should always take it with him." So the Preface to Lanting was hidden in Zhaoling as a sacrifice.
However, after Zhaoling was stolen, the whereabouts of Wang Xizhi's "The First Running Script in the World" and "Preface to Lanting" were unknown.
Dong Qichang, a famous calligrapher in the Ming Dynasty, commented on the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion in his Essays on Painting a Zen Room, saying: The composition is the first in ancient and modern times, and all words are reflected in the law, big or small, and whatever you want.
Preface to the Lanting Pavilion can be said to be admired and sought after by all calligraphers in later generations. Any calligrapher will copy Wang Xizhi's preface to feel the structure, shelf and momentum of the handwriting in the post, and understand the calligraphy with the author's mentality at that time.
Wang Xizhi's inheritance and development of ancient calligraphy laid a solid foundation for today's grass, today's line and today's model. On the basis of inheriting and carrying forward the calligraphy of the "two kings", later generations promoted the process of calligraphy. Because of this, Wang Xizhi's most representative work "Preface to Lanting" was called "the mother of all laws" by later generations.
Li Shimin