Translation:
Wen Zhengming copied the "Thousand-Character Classic" (the old enlightenment reading book) and wrote ten books every day as a standard, and his calligraphy improved rapidly. I never take care of my writing. Sometimes when someone is a little dissatisfied with a letter they reply to, he will change it again and again without getting bored. Therefore, his calligraphy became more and more exquisite as he got older.
Original text:
Wen Zhengming copied "The Thousand-Character Essay" at the rate of ten copies a day, and the book developed greatly. Throughout my life, I have never been sloppy in writing, or answered people's simple notes, rarely taking care of them, but I will never tire of changing them over and over again, so the older I get, the more sophisticated they become.
Wen Zhengming’s practice of calligraphy was published in Ma Zonghuo’s "Shu Lin Ji Shi" in the Qing Dynasty, which narrates the story of Wen Zhengming, one of the "Four Talents in Wuzhong", who studied hard, persevered and meticulously practiced calligraphy. The story warns us that if we give up halfway, we will achieve nothing in the end. Only by being down-to-earth and persevering can we succeed.
Extended information:
1. Creation background
The author Wen Zhengming lived in 1470-1559, whose original name was Bi and whose courtesy name was Zhengming. At the age of forty-two, he began to use the character Xing and changed the character Zhengzhong. Because he was born in Hengshan, he was named Hengshan Jushi, and was known as "Wen Hengshan" in the world. He was a painter, calligrapher, poet and writer in the Ming Dynasty. Han nationality, from Changzhou (now Suzhou, Jiangsu).
Wen Zhengming posted "Wen Wen" and wrote ten books every day as a standard, and his calligraphy improved rapidly. He has never been careless about writing in his life. Sometimes when someone replies to a letter and is a little dissatisfied, he must rewrite it over and over again without fear of trouble. Therefore, his calligraphy became more exquisite and beautiful as he got older.
2. Knowledge of classical Chinese
1. "Yi" and "Geng". "Yi" and "Geng" are the same when interpreted as "Change". The above "will change it again and again and never get tired of it" means that it must be changed again and again without getting bored. "Three changes to the manuscript" means three changes to the original manuscript. The above sentence "I will never tire of changing it over and over again" can also be written as "I will never tire of changing it three times".
2. Books. There are two words for "book" in the above text, with different explanations. The "book" in "Book Sui Da Jin". Refers to "calligraphy"; the "book" in "Life in Books" refers to "writing".
Baidu Encyclopedia-Wen Zhengming’s Calligraphy