Culture Sage" Zhang Xu
Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty once issued a rare edict to the whole country: Li Bai's poems, Zhang Xu's cursive script, and Fei Min's sword dance can become the world's greatest edict. As soon as the edict arrived in Luoyang City, the learned people congratulated Zhang Xu for winning the highest award for his outstanding efforts. They all thanked him and hosted a banquet for celebrities in Luoyang. At the banquet, someone suggested that Zhang Xu talk about the secret of perfect cursive writing. Zhang Xu refused and said modestly: "Everyone is laughing at me. I know that I am humble. The emperor rewarded me." Well deserved. When it comes to the secret, it’s nothing more than the word ‘careful’.
Zhang Xu pondered for a moment, and he suddenly remembered the poem "Watching Gongsun's disciples dance with swords" written by Du Shaoling, and said: "Shaoling once wrote about Aunt Gongsun's sword dancing." There are four lines in the poem, "It is as fierce as Yi shooting down the nine sunsets, as powerful as the emperors flying dragons; it comes like thunder and suppresses its wrath, and it ends like the clear light of the river and sea." I think you all know it. In Ye County, I was lucky enough to see Mrs. Gongsun's dancing posture. Every time I watched it, it aroused my imagination: she waved her left hand over, and I immediately touched what the gesture looked like this time; when he jumped and spun, I thought The galloping strokes of "Shi Zhuan" in cursive script should be like this! His whole dancing posture and sound inspired me with a comprehensive cursive structure. ”
The Emperor Practiced Calligraphy
Tang Taizong Li Shimin was an emperor in my country’s feudal society. He often devoted himself to practicing calligraphy in his free time when dealing with political affairs. At that time, he was known as the first emperor of China. Yu Shinan, one of the four great calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty, served in the palace. Because he was proficient in ancient and modern times and was a master of calligraphy, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty always respected him and often copied and studied Yu Shinan's calligraphy.
In. In the process of practicing calligraphy, Emperor Taizong deeply felt that the word "ge" in Yu Shinan's font was the most difficult to write, and it was not easy to write the spirit of it. Once, he practiced "ji" because he was afraid that he could not write well and it would be embarrassing. The minister thought it was a joke, so he deliberately left the word "ge" blank, and privately asked Yu Shinan to fill it in.
In order to show that he had made progress in calligraphy, Emperor Taizong took a few paintings. The work was invited to be viewed by Wei Zheng, the admonishing doctor, and Wei Zheng was asked for his opinion: "Do you think my calligraphy looks like the calligraphy of Bachelor Yu Shinan? "Wei Zheng looked at it carefully and respectfully, always smiling and saying nothing. At this time, Emperor Taizong asked him anxiously: "Is it similar or not? Why don't you say anything?" Wei Zheng said quickly: "I don't dare to add anything rashly. Comment on His Majesty’s calligraphy. Tang Taizong said: "It's okay for you to speak out. I will forgive your innocence." "At this time Wei Zhengcai reported: "According to my opinion, only the word 'ge' on the right half of the word '戬' is the same as the one written by Yu Xueshi, and the rest are very different." After hearing this, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty Later, I was amazed and deeply admired Wei Zheng's vision, and realized that learning calligraphy should not be false at all. If you want to succeed in learning, you must work hard.
In the past, stores that did business usually had signboards, and they always had to give their store numbers an auspicious name, such as "Guangyuanji", "Maoyuanji", "Kangtaiji", etc. There are many. Just say that a store has a good business, has expanded its storefront, added goods, and wants to change its sign. But don’t underestimate the sign, it has a great influence on the business. Therefore, the sign is generally used. It was made of good wooden boards. By chance, someone found a wooden board that had been used to worship gods. At first, people didn't care about it, but the shop owner asked people to wash away the calligraphy on the board. , so as to write new content, but after scrubbing for a long time, the calligraphy on the board was not erased, but became clearer. If it couldn't be washed away, I planed it. The board was planed one layer, and the handwriting was faintly visible; the board was planed twice. The handwriting can still be seen. People were surprised: who wrote it? It was so profound and powerful. An old man who knew calligraphy came to take a look and immediately screamed in amazement as he looked at him. , everyone present was very surprised, and gathered around to look at it. The old gentleman said: "This is the handwriting of the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi!" This word is so profound and powerful, it is really profound! "
"Jie Zhu"
Why is Wang Xizhi's calligraphy so profound and powerful? This is related to his unremitting exercise. There is a story about "Jie Zhu" that can illustrate it from the side. This point.
It is said that Wang Xizhi had a beloved pearl. This pearl was not only for fun, but Wang Xizhi often rubbed it with his hands to enhance his writing strength. One day, the pearl suddenly disappeared. Wang Xizhi was very upset. Except for a monk who stayed at his house, there was no other outsider. He became indifferent to the monk. When the monk found out that his master was suspicious of him, he stopped eating and died of hunger. Later, when the family was slaughtering the white goose, they found the pearl in the big white goose. It turned out that it was the big white goose that had swallowed the beads. When the matter was revealed, Wang Xizhi felt deeply that he had wronged the monk. He regretted it and was very sad. In order to commemorate the innocent monk, he converted his house into a "Jie Zhu Temple". ", indicating that the incident of the lost pearl is a lesson. We should treat friends with sincerity and not easily doubt others, causing them to suffer unjust injustice. As a calligrapher, Wang Xizhi not only paid attention to training his wrist strength and enhancing his writing power, We also have strict requirements for future generations.
His son Wang Xianzhi learned calligraphy under the guidance of his father at a very young age. One time, in order to check Xianzhi's writing power, Wang Xizhi stood quietly behind him. While Xianzhi was concentrating on writing, he suddenly grabbed the brush in his son's hand with his fingers and pulled it up. Unexpectedly, Xianzhi held the brush tightly and the brush was not strong. was taken down. Wang Xizhi was very satisfied with this. He said happily: "This child can become a calligrapher in the future." He wrote a calligraphy on the spot and presented it to him. This incident shows that calligraphers’ writing skills are developed through hard work.
Occasionally creating Feibai
Cai Yong of the Han Dynasty was not only a writer, but also a famous calligrapher. "Fei Bai Shu" is his original creation. What is "Fei Bai Shu"? You will know after listening to this story.
Cai Yong is not a person who studies and writes behind closed doors. He often travels in order to capture inspiration and enrich his experience. On this day, he sent the article he had written to the Hongdu Gate where the royal library was kept. The people there are very arrogant, and anyone who comes has to wait outside the door for a while. While Cai Yong was waiting to be received, several craftsmen were painting the walls with brooms dipped in lime water. He just stood aside and watched.
At first, he just wanted to kill time. But as he looked at it, he could see some "knowledge". I saw the craftsman put down the broom, and a white mark appeared on the wall. Because the broom seedlings are relatively thin, they cannot be dipped in much lime water, and the wall surface is not very smooth, so when the broom is removed, some parts of the wall surface are still exposed in the white path. Caiyong looked at it and his eyes lit up. He thought that in the past, when writing with a pen dipped in enough ink, every stroke would be completely black. Wouldn't it be more vivid and natural if some silk or paper were exposed in the black lines like a craftsman painting a wall? Thinking of this, he suddenly became emotional. Hand in the article and run home immediately.
When Cai Yong returned home, he prepared pen, ink, paper and inkstone without taking a rest. Thinking of the scene when the craftsmen were painting the walls, I started writing. Who knows that it is easy to think of it but difficult to do it. At first, either the paper couldn't be exposed, or the exposed part was too stiff. He was not discouraged at all and tried again and again. He finally mastered the right amount of ink, the amount of force used, and the speed of writing. He wrote a line of black and white, making the words become elegant and flying, with a unique flavor.
This writing method invented by Cai Yong soon became popular and became "Fei Bai Shu". It is still used by calligraphers to this day.
Instead, the four most famous calligraphers in the Song Dynasty were Su, Huang, Mi and Cai. Su is Su Shi, that is, Su Dongpo; Huang is Huang Tingjian; Mi is Mi Fu; these are all beyond reproach. But what about "Cai"? Some people say it’s Cai Jing, others say it’s Cai Xiang. Who is it? There are different opinions.
The most common theory is that this Cai was originally Cai Jing. Although people recognized his calligraphy attainments, they particularly hated his character, so they were unwilling to recognize his status as a calligrapher. During the Yuanyou reign of Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, in order to eliminate dissidents, he called Sima Guang and others "traitors", and personally wrote inscriptions on their "crimes" and engraved them into monuments and erected them across the country. At that time, many stonemasons refused to carve this stele, and as a result, they were all imprisoned and executed. As soon as Cai Jing died, people immediately smashed the "Monument to Yuanyou Party Members" to pieces. People also called him the "Four Traitors" together with Gao Qiu, Tong Guan, and Yang Jian who controlled the government at that time.
Cai Jing has a very bad character. How can people tolerate him being among the "Four Great Calligraphers"? So he was fired. But "Su Huang Mi Cai" became more popular again, so Cai Xiang replaced him. Cai Xiang was good at learning from the essence of his ancestors, and he worked very hard, and his calligraphy was very distinctive. Therefore, people think that he should be ranked first among the "four families" and should not be ranked last due to Cai Jing's involvement.
Cai Xiang not only has high attainments in calligraphy, but also has excellent character. When he was an official in the court, he dared to speak out, and even some powerful officials were afraid of him. When he was an official in Quanzhou, Fujian, he built the Luoyang Bridge, which later became very famous, and also built a seven-mile boulevard, which was welcomed by the local people.
From this point of view, character is more important than book quality. If a person can only write well but cannot do good deeds, the people will definitely abandon him, even in the book world. He leaves behind a small status.
Monk Zhiyong’s "Tubi Tomb"
Monk Zhiyong, a famous calligrapher in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, was the seventh-generation grandson of Wang Xizhi. It is said that he once lived upstairs in Yongxin Temple and studied hard for thirty years. He kept a big bamboo basket beside him, and he threw the bald pens into the bamboo basket, which was filled with five baskets. Later, he took the bald pens and buried them together, which is called the "Tuibi Tomb". There are more than 800 copies of the "Thousand Character Essay" written by him, which are scattered in various temples in the south of the Yangtze River. "As long as you work hard, an iron pestle can be ground into an embroidery needle." Zhiyong finally became a famous calligrapher at that time. There was an endless stream of people who came to him every day to beg him to write, and the threshold of his family was trampled, so he wrapped it with iron sheets and was buried. It is known as the "Iron Gate". The ancients said: "A drop of water penetrates a stone, and a rope cuts a piece of wood." Isn't this exactly the portrayal of Monk Zhiyong?
Red leaf writing, Zheng Qian’s three unique skills
Zheng Qian was a famous scholar and calligrapher in the Xuanzong era of the Tang Dynasty, and he was very knowledgeable. He loved writing and painting in his youth, but what is sad is that his family was so poor that he could not even buy paper. What did he use to practice calligraphy? It just so happened that there were several rooms stored in the Ci'en Temple nearby. He moved to the temple to use red persimmon leaves as paper and studied hard every day. As time went on, I finished writing the persimmon leaves for several rooms.
Hard work paid off, and Zheng Qian finally succeeded with great difficulty. He made great achievements in calligraphy, painting and poetry. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was so impressed when he saw it that he called it "Zheng Qian's three unique skills".
The ancients said: "The fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold." Doesn't the story of Zheng Qian learning to calligraphy give us great inspiration?