When it comes to practicing running calligraphy, Wang Xizhi’s "Preface to the Holy Religion" is undoubtedly the first choice for most people to copy. I have studied the Preface to the Holy Teachings many times, and each time I have had different gains and insights. Starting from the "Preface to the Holy Religion", I have reviewed the "Seventeen Posts" and almost most of Wang Xizhi's biographies and ink posts. I have also studied the cursive calligraphy of many other ancients. After summarizing, I have deeply understood from my practice that the calligraphy techniques and rules of later generations of calligraphers originated from Wang Xizhi's calligraphy. Therefore, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is unprecedented. It is unprecedented and is the foundation of running script.
I have just finished studying the "Preface to the Holy Religion", and I have learned a lot. I just want to say one thing, the "Preface to the Holy Religion" is engraved on a stele, and its strokes are incomparable with the ink book. In the process of practicing, you must express the strings. If you cannot do this, the calligraphy will be quite dull and you will not be able to learn to express the essence of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy.
Let’s talk about something else. I am a beginner and I don’t want to talk about calligraphy for fear of embarrassing myself in front of experts. Let’s focus on the content of the Preface and the unfolding history and literature.
At the end of the "Holy Religion Preface" it is clearly engraved that the person who cut the stone was Wen Linlang Zhuge Shenli, and the person who carved it was Zhu Jingzang, the military cavalry officer. Let’s just talk about these two people.
"Wenlin Lang" is an official name. In the Tang Dynasty, it was a civilian official from the ninth rank. In ancient times, the civil official rank was ***eighteenth level. From the ninth rank, it was an eighteenth-level official, that is, The smallest official. Moreover, a casual official is an official without any rights, it is just a title. Therefore, Wen Linlang Zhuge’s divine power is even lower than that of Zhi Zhima, and he has no rights at all.
Let’s talk about Zhu Jingzang. "Martial Cavalry Lieutenant" is also a title for a casual official. It is an official title without any rights among military commanders. In the Tang Dynasty, military generals set up twelve ranks of honorary officers. The twelfth rank was Shangzhuguo, the second-rank official, which was the largest military officer. The following were Zhuguo, Shanghujun, Hujun, Shangqingche Duwei, The rank of Qingqi Commander, Mounted Cavalry Commander, Cavalry Commander, Xiao Cavalry Commander, Flying Cavalry Commander, Cloud Cavalry Commander, and finally the Martial Cavalry Commander, from the seventh rank officer. Therefore, Wuqiwei is the youngest military attache. If you want to be promoted to Shangzhu Kingdom, your waist will be broken.
I think that the person who is called "Zhuge Shenli" must have the surname Zhuge, and his real name may not be Zhuge Shenli. "Shenli" means strong energy. It is probably the stage name he got from playing with rocks. Similar to the nature of a pen name. The surname of Zhu Jingzang should be Zhu, and "Jingzang" should also be his stage name. I think the word "Jing" means respect, and Jingzang should mean reverence for Tripitaka, which refers to the scriptures of the Indian Buddhist scriptures. Tibet, Vinaya Tibet, and Commentary Tibet. Another possibility is that there was an eminent monk named Jingzang in the late Sui and early Tang Dynasties. The name of the engraver may be related to the name of this eminent monk.
The people who cut the stone and carved the "Preface to the Holy Religion" were all small people, but such small people can leave their names in history along with great calligraphy works. I think these two people are very lucky.
Let’s talk about what Leshi is. Leshi is a method of printing calligraphy works on the stone surface by adding red paint on the back of the calligraphy work. In layman's terms, if you want to carve a calligraphy work on a stone, you must first paint the back of the calligraphy work according to the original shape of the calligraphy work, then press the calligraphy work on the stone, click it, and print it on the stone. The carver then used a carving knife to engrave the entire work on the stone.
There is an idiom called Le Shi Yanran, which comes from "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". Dou Xian, a very famous general in the Eastern Han Dynasty, led his army to defeat the Northern Xiongnu, sealed Yanran Mountain, and recorded his merits with stones. Mountain sealing is a ritual performed by victors in ancient times to express their victory. "Feng Yanran Mountain Inscription" records that "the upper part is to express the anger of Gao and Wen, and to light up the mysterious spirit of the ancestors; the lower part is to stabilize the descendants, expand the realm, and revitalize the voice of the Han Dynasty." What does it mean? It means that my Han Dynasty defeated the Northern Xiongnu and set up a stone monument on Yanran Mountain to mark it. From now on, this place will be mine.
There is another idiom as famous as "Le Shi Yanran" - "Fenglangjuxu". It seems that Fenglang Juxu is more famous than Leshi Yanran. The allusion of sealing the wolf to Juxu occurred in the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ordered Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to lead an army of 50,000 cavalry each to go deep into Mobei to find and annihilate the main force of the Xiongnu. Huo Qubing led his army to the north for more than 2,000 miles and fought against the Xiongnu Zuoxian King's tribe, wiping out 70,000 enemies and capturing more than 80 leaders, big and small.
Huo Qubing led his troops to take advantage of the victory and pursue them to Langjuxu Mountain in today's Mongolia. They held a heaven-sacrifice ceremony at Langjuxu Mountain and a Zen ceremony at Guyan Mountain.
The phrase "Seal the Wolf to Live in Xu" in the poem of Xin Qiji, a great patriotic figure in the Southern Song Dynasty, refers to this allusion, which is used to express his great ambition.
That’s all, I don’t know how white the east is.