Cai Yong is not a person who reads and writes behind closed doors. He often travels in order to capture inspiration and enrich his experience. On this day, he sent his written articles to Hongdumen, the royal library. People there are so arrogant that anyone who comes has to wait outside the door for a while. While Cai Yong was waiting for the interview, several craftsmen were painting the wall with brooms dipped in this limewater. He just stood by and looked at it.
at first, he just wanted to kill time. But looking at it, he can see some "doorways". I saw the craftsman go down with a broom, and a white mark appeared on the wall. Because the broom seedlings are relatively thin, they can't be dipped in much lime water, and the wall is not very smooth, so after a broom goes down, there are still some places in the white road where the wall is exposed. Cai Yong a look, eyes not a bright. He thought that in the past, when writing with a pen dipped in ink, the strokes were all black. Wouldn't it be more vivid and natural to show some silk or paper in the black pen like a craftsman painting a wall? Thought of here, he suddenly fell into a mood. Hand in your article and run home at once.
when Cai Yong came home, he forgot to have a rest, and prepared his pen and ink. Thinking about the scene when the craftsman painted the wall, he started to write. Who knows that it is easy to think of, but difficult to do. At first, the paper was not exposed, or the exposed part was too stiff. He was not discouraged at all, and tried again and again. Finally, he mastered the sense of proportion in terms of how much ink he dipped in, how hard he applied, and the speed of writing, and wrote a faint white brush stroke in black, which made the words become elegant and flying, with a unique flavor.
Cai Yong's original writing style was quickly popularized and became a "flying white book". Until today, it has been used by calligraphers.
2. Changing Xizhi into Goose (Jin)
Wang Xizhi loved writing since childhood. It is said that when he usually walks, he also practices calligraphy with his fingers at any time. After a long time, even his clothes are cut. After studying hard and practicing hard, Wang Xizhi's calligraphy reached a high level. Because of his aristocratic background and outstanding talent, all the ministers in the imperial court recommended him to be an official. He was a secretariat and a general of the right army (people also called him Wang Youjun). Later, he became an official in Huiji County. He doesn't like living in the bustling capital. He likes the beautiful scenery of Huiji very much. Whenever he is free, he will visit the mountains and rivers with his friends. On one occasion, Wang Xizhi and his friends held a banquet in Lanting, Shanyin, Huiji County. Everyone writes poems while drinking. Finally, Wang Xizhi wrote an article on the spot to commemorate this banquet, which is the famous Preface to Lanting Collection. The preface to the collection of Lanting written by Wang Xizhi has always been regarded as a treasure of Chinese calligraphy art, but its original work has been lost.
Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is becoming more and more famous. People at that time regarded his handwriting as a treasure. It is said that once, he went to his protege's house, and his protege received him warmly. He sat next to a new case and saw that the faces of several cases were smooth and clean, which aroused his interest in writing and asked his protege to bring pen and ink. The pupil was so happy that he immediately brought the pen and ink to Wang Xizhi. Wang Xizhi wrote a few lines on several cases as a souvenir and went back.
Yan Meihua, a traditional Chinese painting, changed the image of Xi for Goose
A few days later, the protege went out on business. His father went into the study to tidy up, and when he saw that the new cases were stained with ink, he scraped off the words with a knife. When the protege came back, the handwriting on several cases had disappeared. The protege was annoyed for several days about it.
another time, Wang Xizhi went to a village. An old woman carried a basket of hexagonal bamboo fans to sell at the collection. That kind of bamboo fan is very simple, with no decoration, which can't attract the interest of passers-by. It seems that it can't be sold, and the old woman is very anxious. Seeing this situation, Wang Xizhi sympathized with the old woman, so he went up to her and said, "You can't sell this bamboo fan because there are no pictures or characters on it. How about I give you an inscription? " The old woman didn't know Wang Xizhi. Seeing his enthusiasm, she gave him the bamboo fan to write.
Wang Xizhi picked up a pen and wrote five words on each fan, which he returned to the old woman. The old woman can't read, and she feels that his handwriting is sloppy and she is very unhappy. Wang Xizhi comforted her and said, "Don't worry. You only tell the person who bought the fan that it was written by Wang Youjun. " As soon as Wang Xizhi left, the old woman did as he said. People on the collection rushed to buy Wang Youjun's calligraphy when they saw it. A basket of bamboo fans will be sold out soon.
Many artists have their own hobbies, some like to grow flowers and some like to keep birds. But Wang Xizhi has his special hobby. Wherever there is a good goose, he is interested in seeing it or buying it back to enjoy it. There is a Taoist priest in Shanyin. He wants Wang Xizhi to write him a volume of Tao Te Ching. But he knew that Wang Xizhi would not copy the scriptures for others easily. Later, he found out that Wang Xizhi liked white geese, so he specially raised a number of geese with good varieties. Wang Xizhi heard that there were good geese in the Taoist family, so he really went to see them. When he approached the Taoist priest's house, he saw a flock of geese floating leisurely on the water in the river, with white feathers and a high red top, which was really cute. Wang Xizhi looked at it by the river and was reluctant to leave, so he sent someone to find a Taoist priest and asked to sell him the geese. The Taoist priest said with a smile, "Since the princes love it so much, they don't need to spend any money. I'll send all these geese to you. But I have one request, that is, please write a scroll of scriptures for me. " Wang Xizhi did not hesitate to copy a scroll of scriptures for the Taoist priest, and the geese were taken back by Wang Xizhi.
3. Wang Xizhi and jiaozi the Swan
Wang Xizhi loved to practice calligraphy since he was a child. When he was 7 years old, he learned calligraphy from the calligrapher Mrs. Wei. He concentrated on hard work and made progress every day. In less than three years, his pen was heavy and he was frustrated. At the calligraphy competition held by Langya Taishou, he won the first prize in one fell swoop, which shocked the famous calligraphers in Fiona Fang Baili. For a time, the praise continued, and the guests were crowded. Wang Xizhi, who has just turned 1 years old, can't help but feel proud under such circumstances.
One day, Wang Xizhi passed by an alley and saw a noisy crowd in front of a restaurant. In particular, the couplet on the shop door is particularly eye-catching. It says: delicious, well-known, handsome, everyone loves it. The horizontal plaque says "Swan jiaozi". But the words are lifeless, lack of kung fu and dull.
after reading it, Wang Xizhi curled his mouth and thought to himself, this word, which lacks kung fu, can only be used to make a fool of himself at the door of this humble alley shop! But he thought again: delicious, well-known, handsome, everyone loves it. What's so surprising about jiaozi? Who owns this jiaozi store? How dare you be so arrogant!
when Wang Xizhi walked into the store, he saw that there were four large pots of boiling water in the store, which were placed side by side under a screen. The wrapped jiaozi, like white birds, flew over the screen one by one and landed in the boiling pots without bias. The waiters in jiaozi's shop are busy greeting the diners. Each waiter takes care of a pot and reports the number: No.1 pot is half a catty, ok, let's have another catty. ""No.2 pot weighs half a catty. " "No.3 pot 9 Liang ..."
Wang Xizhi was curious, so he conveniently took out some copper coins, asked for half a catty of jiaozi, and sat down. Jiaozi soon served on the table. He watched carefully, and the jiaozi here is really different, exquisite and exquisite, like a white swan frolicking in the water, and the Xiang Tiange is really wonderful. He picked up a jiaozi with chopsticks and sent it to his mouth with a gentle bite. Ah, suddenly it was delicious and delicious. Unconsciously, I swallowed all that plate of jiaozi. After a full meal, it was really memorable.
Wang Xizhi couldn't help saying to himself, "This swan jiaozi really deserves its reputation." I thought to myself: It's just the poor handwriting of the couplet at the door, and it's really hard to match this jiaozi. Why don't I, Wang Xizhi, take this opportunity to write another couplet for the hotel, so as to live up to this delicious food. Thinking of this, he asked the man, "Where is the shopkeeper?" The shop assistant pointed to the screen with his finger and said, "Hui Xianggong, the shopkeeper is behind the screen."
Wang Xizhi bypassed the screen and saw a white-haired old woman sitting in front of the chopping board, rolling dough and wrapping jiaozi by herself. Fill in the stuffing, pinch it a few times quickly, and instantly become a white swan with skillful movements. To his surprise, after jiaozi wrapped it, the white-haired woman threw jiaozi at the screen. One by one, jiaozi the Swan flew over the screen and landed in the pot. Every two or five, according to the number reported by the buddy, how much is put in each pot, and the weight is exactly the same.
Wang Xizhi was amazed by the superb skills of the white-haired woman. Hurry up and ask, "Old man, how long will it take to practice kung fu like you?" The white-haired woman replied, "To tell you the truth, it takes 4 years to be proficient and a lifetime to practice deeply."
On hearing this, Wang Xizhi could not help thinking in silence and savoring the taste of this remark. Then he asked, "Your craftsmanship is so superb, why don't you ask someone at the door to write better?" It doesn't match this swan jiaozi! "
Wang Xizhi didn't ask if it was okay, but when he asked, the white-haired old woman became angry. She said angrily, "Xianggong doesn't know something. It's not that she doesn't want to invite, but it's not easy to invite! Take Wang Xizhi, who just showed his face, for example, it is praised by people! To tell the truth, the little effort he made in writing was not as deep as that I threw jiaozi. Don't learn from him, as the saying goes: learning from the sea is endless, and you can struggle for the upper reaches with diligence. Be proud before a row, and you will fall behind in the end. "
The words of the white-haired old woman made Wang Xizhi blush and feel ashamed. He respectfully wrote a pair of couplets to the old woman. Since then, this Swan jiaozi store has hung up the couplets written by Wang Xizhi, and its business has become more and more prosperous. This incident also changed Wang Xizhi's life and made him become attached to the goose all his life. Practice calligraphy more humbly and assiduously, learn from others' strengths, study the physical situation intensively, bring forth the old and bring forth the new, and create a new body with strong and varied characters and beautiful beauty, which is famous all over the world. Become a famous calligrapher in the history of China.
4. Devote oneself to studying Mo Dang for a meal
When Wang Xizhi was about five or six years old, he worshipped Mrs. Wei to learn calligraphy for his teacher. His calligraphy has made rapid progress. At the age of seven, he became famous in the local area by writing, which was very popular and praised by his predecessors.
when Wang Xizhi was 11 years old, he read "Bi Shuo", which only adults can understand. He wrote and practiced in the morning and in the dark every day according to the method described in "Pen Shuo", and he was simply fascinated. After a while, I looked at my own handwriting, and compared with what I wrote before, there were some changes. One day, his teacher, Mrs. Wei, was taken aback and said, "The child must have seen the secret of calligraphy. I found that his handwriting has reached the level of an adult recently. If this continues, the child's achievements in calligraphy in the future will definitely drown my reputation."
Wang Xizhi was not complacent because of the teacher's praise. He worked harder and harder, and even forgot to eat or sleep.
once at lunch, the extremely bookish brought his favorite garlic paste and steamed buns, and urged him to eat them quickly several times. He still didn't even look up, as if he hadn't heard, and he was absorbed in reading posts and writing. The meal was cold, so extremely helpful had no choice but to ask Wang Xizhi's mother to persuade him to eat. Mother came to the study, only to find Xihe's hand holding a steamed bun stained with ink and sending it to her mouth, making her mouth black. It turned out that while eating steamed buns, Xizhi was still looking at the word and thinking about how to write it in his mind. As a result, he mistakenly ate the ink as garlic. Mother couldn't help laughing when she saw this scene. Wang Xizhi still doesn't know what's going on! Hearing his mother's laughter, he also said, "Today's mashed garlic is really fragrant!"
Wang Xizhi persisted for decades, studied hard, kept on posting, and practiced very solid kung fu, which laid the foundation and paved the way for his future development. 5. Posting couplets at night
One New Year's Day, Wang Xizhi posted couplets three times in a row and was stolen away by people who loved his words. On New Year's Eve, I had to write another one. He was afraid of being uncovered again, so he cut it up and down and pasted half of it first. The first part is "double happiness", while the second part is "double misfortune". In this way, it really worked, and people saw that what he wrote was not auspicious and prosperous, so they stopped revealing it. At the dawn of the new year, Wang Xizhi posted the next half each, and the couplet became: "Happiness never comes in pairs until today, but it never rains but it pours last night." Passers-by heard it, and everyone clapped their hands and sighed. 6. Get to the point
Shops that used to do business generally had signboards, and they always gave their shop numbers auspicious names, such as "Guangyuan Ji", "Maoyuan Ji" and "Kangtai Ji", and so on. Just say that there is a shop that has a good business, expanded its facade, added goods, and wanted a new signboard. Don't underestimate this signboard, it has quite an impact on business. Therefore, signboards are generally made of good boards. Coincidentally, someone found a board that was once used to worship the gods, and the board was full of words of sacrifice. At first, people didn't care. The shop owner asked people to wash the brush strokes on the board so that they could write new content. But after half a day of scrubbing, the brush strokes on the board were not erased, but clearer. If it can't be washed out, it will be planed, and the board will be planed for a layer, and the handwriting is faintly visible; The board has been shaved twice, and the handwriting can still be seen. People were surprised: who wrote this word? It was so profound and powerful that an old gentleman who knew calligraphy came to see it and immediately cried out in amazement. Looking at his amazing appearance, all the people present were very strange and gathered around to see it. The old man said, "This is the handwriting of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi! This word is so profound and powerful that it is really penetrating! "
why is Wang Xizhi's calligraphy so profound and powerful? This is related to his usual persistent exercise. There is a story of "abstaining from beads" to illustrate this point from the side.
It is said that Wang Xizhi has a beloved pearl. This pearl is not only for fun, but also for viewing. Wang Xizhi often rubs it with his hands to enhance his wrist strength in writing. One day, the Pearl suddenly disappeared. I searched and searched, but I couldn't find it. Wang Xizhi was very upset. Who stole it? There is no stranger who is always by his side except a monk who lives in his house ... Therefore, he became cold to the monk. The monk found that his master had doubts about him, so he refused to eat and starved to death in the name of "Zuohua". Later, when the family slaughtered the white goose, they found the pearl in the belly of the big white goose. It turned out that the big white goose swallowed the beads. When things were made clear, Wang Xizhi deeply felt that he had wronged the monk, regretted it and was very sad. In memory of this innocent monk, he converted his house into "Jiezhu Temple", saying that he should take the incident of losing the Pearl as a lesson, treat his friends with sincerity, and not easily doubt others, so that they will suffer injustice. As a calligrapher, Wang Xizhi not only pays attention to exercising his wrist strength and enhancing his writing ability, but also strictly demands future generations. His son, Wang Xianzhi, studied calligraphy under the guidance of his father at an early age. Once, in order to check the pen power of the dedication, Wang Xizhi stood quietly behind him. While he was concentrating on writing, he suddenly held the brush in his son's hand with his fingers and pulled it up. Who knows that the pen was tight and the brush was not taken off. Wang Xizhi was very satisfied with this, and he said happily; "This child will become a calligrapher in the future." And wrote a word on the spot to present it. This incident shows that the calligrapher's brushwork is developed through hard work.
7. Pen Tomb (Tang Dynasty)
Zen master Zhiyong, who was born in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, is the seventh grandson of Wang Xizhi. Because he practiced calligraphy very hard, all his broken brushes were discarded in bamboo baskets. After years of life, he accumulated five baskets.