During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the famous calligrapher Zhang Zhi was born in Yuanquan Town, Guazhou County (now the old town of Sidaogou, Guazhou County, Jiuquan City, Gansu Province).
Zhang Xiang, the grandfather of Zhang Zhi of the Menxian clan, once served as the prefect of Hanyang (today's water). Zhang Zhi's father, Zhang Huan, was even more famous. He was ambitious when he was young. He often said: A real man should serve the country and make contributions to the frontiers. Later, he served as a general who protected the Huns, a general who conquered the Liao Dynasty, and a great minister, etc., and he made many meritorious deeds. . Zhang Zhi's mother was a lady from a wealthy family, Shuhui was virtuous, and Zhang Zhi grew up in such a family.
Zhang Zhi is the eldest son of Zhang Huan, named Boying. He was very upright when he was young. Although he was born in an eunuch family, he was not a dandy. He was diligent and studious, and devoted himself to calligraphy. The imperial eunuch at that time thought that he would not be a dandy in the future. Wenzong is the general. He was called to serve as an official many times, but he refused sternly, so he was known as "Zhang Youdao". He devoted himself to the study of calligraphy, especially cursive calligraphy, and learned from Cui Du's method. In order to facilitate the Zhang Zhi brothers to practice calligraphy, his father Zhang Huan forged stone tables, stone benches, and ink ponds by the river. From then on, the Zhang Zhi brothers used silk as their I used paper to learn calligraphy near the pond. I first practiced writing and then rinsed it before using it. Day after day, year after year, the water turned black, and it was later called Zhang Zhi's ink pond. He also became familiar with Cui Du's brushwork, and finally got rid of the old customs and created an original one. The style of the characters is formed by one stroke, with occasional discontinuities but continuous blood circulation; the energy and energy of the handwriting are connected and the alternate lines are continuous. The ancients said: "One stroke of whiteness" opens a new world of calligraphy. Masters of calligraphy in the past dynasties praised Zhang Zhi's cursive script as "One Stroke Script" and respected Zhang Zhi as the "Sage of Cursive Calligraphy". Wang Xizhi, the great calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty, only praised Zhong and Zhang cursive scripts for Han and Wei calligraphy, and was also greatly influenced by him. There are five of his handwritings in "Chunhua Ge Tie", and he also wrote "Bi Xin Lun", which has been lost today.