Wuyue culture·Wuyue literature and art that is both refined and popular·Elegant Wuyue calligraphy
Wuyue literature and art was first famous for its calligraphy on the Chinese literary and art stage. The earliest famous calligrapher in Jiangnan is probably Huang Xiang, a calligrapher from Wu State during the Three Kingdoms period. Huang Xiang was a native of Jiangdu, Guangling (now Yangzhou), and was a master of calligraphy. His calligraphy was calm, horizontal and natural, and he was known as "real but not simple, literary but not flashy". Its official script and small seal script are also distinctive. Lu Ji during the Eastern Jin Dynasty was also a calligrapher. His "Pingfu Tie" is between Zhangcao and Jincao, and is the best ink by a famous person in the world. Huang and Lu represent the early style of Wu Yue calligraphy.
The fame of Wu Yue's calligraphy is inseparable from the contributions of the "two kings". The "two kings" refer to Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, their father and son. The ancestral home of the "Two Kings" is Linyi, Langya, Shandong, but because he later fled the chaos, he has been living in Shanyin, Kuaiji (today's Shaoxing), and was greatly influenced by Jiangnan culture. When Wang Xizhi was young, he studied calligraphy from Mrs. Wei, who mostly wrote official script. Later, he learned cursive script from Zhang Zhi and regular script from Zhong Yao. He combined the strengths of the Han and Wei dynasties, changed the simple and ancient styles of the Han and Wei dynasties, and created a beautiful and beautiful modern style, marking the highest level of calligraphy in the Six Dynasties era. Wang Xizhi's calligraphy is "powerful and powerful, like a dragon jumping over the Tianmen or a tiger crouching in the Phoenix Pavilion" (Emperor Wu of Liang's "Ancient and Modern Book Reviews"), and he is known as the "Sage of Calligraphy". Wang's original work no longer exists, and there are only more than twenty copies, the most famous of which is "Lanting Preface". "Lanting Preface" is not only a beautiful piece of prose, but its calligraphy skills are unparalleled throughout history, and it is known as "the best running script in the world". Xiaoru, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, said: "Calligraphy scholars regard "Lanting" as much as scholars regard Yu Yu and Mencius" ("Shu Lin Zao Jian").
Wang Xianzhi is the seventh son of Wang Xizhi. He was talented, arrogant and unruly, with wild cursive strokes and free movement. One character was often written in one stroke, and occasionally two characters were written in one go. Therefore, Mi Fu called it a "one-stroke calligraphy", such as "Mid-Autumn Tie".
The Wang School of calligraphy founded by the "Two Kings" had a profound impact on Chinese calligraphy, especially the Jiangnan calligraphy circle.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, famous writers who succeeded the Wang School of Calligraphy included Zhiyong, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, etc. Zhiyong was a calligrapher of the Sui Dynasty. He was the seventh-generation grandson of Wang Xizhi. His writings are both graceful and elegant, solemn, gentle and gentle, charming and elegant, winning the hearts of the "two kings". It is said that he was famous for his calligraphy, and those who asked for calligraphy flattened his threshold and had to cover it with iron sheets, which was called "Iron Gate". Yu Shinan was a native of Yuyao, Yuezhou. He had extraordinary talents and was one of the "Five Extraordinaries". When he was young, he studied under Zhiyong and learned the Wang family method deeply. His book is mellow and plump, soft on the outside and strong on the inside. The representative works handed down from generation to generation include "Confucius Temple Stele", which is beautiful yet powerful. Chu Suiliang was a native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou). He studied the calligraphy of the two kings and made some innovations. His calligraphy was fluent, colorful and varied, which had a great influence on later generations and many works have been handed down from generation to generation. Together with Ouyang Xun and Xue Ji, they are known as the four great calligraphers in the early Tang Dynasty.
In the Tang Dynasty, there was also a "book fairy" named Li Yong. Li is a native of Yangzhou. He learned from the two kings, but he was able to find his own way and became a great master. His writing is elegant, suave, handsome and fluent, and is said to be "the North Sea is like an elephant". After Li Yong, the most famous Wang-style calligrapher was Zhao Mengtiao of the Yuan Dynasty. The Zhao family is a clan member of the Song Dynasty and settled in Wuxing, Huzhou. They are known as "Wuxing calligraphers". In his early years, Zhao studied with Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty. In his middle age, he studied diligently with the two kings, and wrote more than 10,000 pieces of "Lanting Preface". In his later years, he studied with Li Yong and Liu Gongquan, forming the "Zhao style" with rich rhyme, vividness and beauty. Zhao's seal, official and cursive calligraphy are all unparalleled, and there are many handed down works, such as "Luo Shen Fu", "Tao Te Ching", etc., which are treasures in the book. His wife, younger brother, and son are all good at calligraphy.
In addition to the main line of development of Qing and Xiuyi, Jiangnan calligraphy also has a wild and elegant sub-line. Tang Zhangxu's cursive script is known as one of the "three wonders" of the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Xu is a native of Suzhou. He is proficient in regular script and is famous for his cursive writing. It is said that Zhang Xu often got drunk and ran away screaming, and then wrote a book, or wet the ink with his head while writing. When he woke up, he regarded it as a god and could not be recovered, so he was called "Zhang Dian". Zhang Xu's cursive calligraphy is "like a divine qiu soaring into the sky, and clouds emerging from Songhua, dreaming and dreaming in strange shapes, which cannot be predicted" (Zhu Changwen of the Song Dynasty, "Sushu Duan"), which is called "divine grade". Handwritten calligraphy handed down from ancient times include "Four Calligraphies of Ancient Poems in Cursive Script" and "Since Ancient Calligraphy". Tang Yan Zhenqing and Huai Su both studied his brushwork.
Yang Weizhen of the Yuan Dynasty was also good at cursive writing. His handwriting was strong and powerful, with ups and downs of strokes and a graceful style. He was known as the "Iron Cliff Style". In the early Ming Dynasty, among the elders known for their cursive writing, there were the "Three Song Dynasties", especially Song Lian's second son Song Can.
Calligraphy developed into the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and it has become more colorful and talented. There are Wujiang calligraphy school, Songjiang calligraphy school, etc. The Wujiang calligraphy school is represented by Wen Zhengming, who studied Gongxing calligraphy at first, and then studied it with Zhiyong, and later joined Huang Tingjian. His calligraphy is fluent and vigorous, especially good at small regular script, and he is good at finishing. The Songjiang calligraphy school is represented by Dong Qichang. Dong studied the calligraphy styles of Yan Zhenqing, Yu Shinan, Zhong Yao, Wang Xizhi, Li Yong and others. He said that he got the beautiful color from the simple intention, and his white lines, sparse and graceful lines had a great influence on calligraphy in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Xu Wei's calligraphy from Zhejiang is also famous, and some people even say it is superior to Wen Zhengming. For example, Yuan Hongdao's "The Long Biography of Xu Wen" said that his calligraphy is "as unrestrained as his poems, and his posture leaps out from his vigorous energy." In terms of his "calligraphy god", "The Sansheng of the eight methods of sincerity is also the narrow guest of Zilin." Indeed, Xu Wei's wild grass is so eccentric, the atmosphere is majestic, and the spirit is high-spirited that it is difficult to determine the partial gains and losses. Cursive script became popular in the late Ming Dynasty, and some people even contradicted Dong Qichang's plain and innocent calligraphy style. They were arrogant and unruly, expressing their temperament directly and expressing their passion, such as Ni Yuanlu from Zhejiang. Its grass is flowing gracefully, gracefully and wonderfully. In addition, Wang Shu was the master of seal script and started a school of seal script. Zhu Yizun started a school of official script. He divided Han Li into three factions: Fangzheng, Liuli and Qigu. He imitates the Liuli school, and his official calligraphy is rigorous and elegant. Maoxiang wrote the big character "Ban Nest" and became famous.