Liu Gongquan was often criticized by his teacher and father for his poor handwriting when he was a child. He listened to their teachings with an open mind. After a year of hard work, his calligraphy has made great progress and was praised by the teacher. The number of praises has increased, and Liu Gongquan also feels great. One day, Liu Gongquan and several friends held a big print writing competition. He quickly wrote an article, thinking that he would definitely win the championship, and his face showed a smug look. An old man selling tofu saw that Liu Gongquan was so immodest and wanted to throw some cold water on him. He went up to him and said, "There is a man who writes with his feet in Huayuan City, and he writes better than you." Liu Gongquan was a little unconvinced and arrived at Huayuan City early the next morning. He saw with his own eyes that the old man with a broken arm was pressing the paper lying on the ground with his left foot, and his right foot was holding a writing brush. He was writing couplets while flying, and the words he wrote were many times better than those he didn't know. He calmed down and thought his little achievements were nothing. He sincerely said to the armless old man, "Liu Gongquan is willing to worship you as a teacher and ask the teacher to tell the students the secret of writing." The armless old man pondered for a moment and wrote him four sentences: "Write eight jars of water, and the inkstone will blacken the waterlogged pool, and the dragon and phoenix will win over a hundred parents before flying." The old man explained, "This is the secret of my writing. I have practiced writing with my feet for more than 50 years. I used eight cylinders of water mill ink to practice calligraphy. After writing every day, I wash the inkstone in a pond of half an acre, and the water in the pond is dyed black. But the sky is behind, the mountains are behind, and my handwriting is far from perfect! " Liu Gongquan firmly remembered the old man's words. Since then, he has practiced calligraphy more diligently. He collected many ancient calligraphers' words, pondered them repeatedly and absorbed the strengths of various schools. He often visited the famous calligraphers at that time and asked for advice modestly. He also often looks for classmates, relatives and strangers to point out his shortcomings in calligraphy. Liu Gongquan studied tirelessly in the field of calligraphy and finally became a famous calligrapher at that time. . One day, Liu Gongquan and several friends held a "reading club". At this time, an old man selling tofu saw his handwriting, "I can write about Feng Fei's family background and dare to boast in front of people." He felt that the child was too proud and frowned and said, "This word is not well written, just like my tofu, it is soft, flat and spineless. Is it worth boasting in front of people? " Hearing this, Hsiao Kung chuan said unhappily, "Write some words for me if you can."
The old man smiled heartily and said, "No, I dare not. I am a clown and can't write well. " However, some people write with their feet much better than you! If you don't believe me, go to Huajing. "
The next day, Xiao Gongquan got a vigil and went to Huajing alone. As soon as he entered the capital of China, he saw many people gathered around a big pagoda tree. He squeezed into the crowd and saw a black and thin old man, without arms and barefoot, sitting on the ground, his left foot pressing paper, his right foot holding a pen, writing couplets freely, and his handwriting was like a galloping horse, while flying while flying, which won applause from the onlookers.
Xiao Gongquan plopped down on his knees in front of the old man and said, "I would like to worship you as a teacher, please tell me the secret of writing ..." The old man quickly pulled Xiao Gongquan up with his feet and said, "I am a lonely man, born without hands, and I can only live skillfully with my feet. How can I be a teacher? " Xiao Gongquan begged, and the old man spread a piece of paper on the ground and wrote a few words with his right foot:
"Write eight cylinders of water, inkstone dyed black; When you win hundreds of parents, you will get a phoenix in Yi Long. "
Liu Gongquan kept the old man's words in mind and worked hard to practice calligraphy. Thick cocoons were ground on the hands and the elbows were patched layer by layer. After hard training, Liu Gongquan finally became a famous calligrapher in China.
Liu Gongquan is a famous calligrapher in China. His calligraphy is clear and straight, which is admired and studied by later scholars. Why did he achieve such success? The above passage answers this question. At first, he thought his handwriting was excellent. He wrote the words "I can write Feng Fei's family background and dare to boast in front of people", which shows his pride. However, when the old man deliberately satirized Liu Gongquan's words as "tofu, soft and flat, spineless" in "Burden", Liu Gongquan was extremely angry. "Write a few words for me if you have the ability." The pride is beyond words. When the old man challenged him with the phrase "Some people write with their feet much better", Liu Gongquan didn't fly into a rage. However, from his action of "vigil the next day and going to Huajing alone", we can also see that he is not convinced, which is the pride of writing Liu Gongquan. When Liu Gongquan entered Huajing, he saw "a black and thin old man without arms", "writing couplets freely" and writing "Like Ma Benteng, flying". So, he was dumbfounded, "plopped down in front of the old man" and "begged" to worship him as a teacher. Here, a "shock", "kneeling" and "begging" fully show the change of Liu Gongquan's thought, and his pride is swept away. When the old man told Liu Gongquan the "secret" of writing, he suddenly realized that "practicing calligraphy hard from now on" finally became a generation of famous artists.