Why is calligraphy called "the magic of words"?

Calligraphy is the most classic national symbol in the development of traditional culture and art in China for five thousand years. Calligraphy can be called the "fourth religion" in China, with strong attraction, strong sense of ceremony and strong public participation. In the history of more than 5,000 years in China, Zen Ruo Xing He, the representative figure of each period, today introduces you to the story of the most accomplished calligrapher in China history.

Dig a grave and steal works of art

Zhong You was a native of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He is so persistent and enthusiastic about calligraphy learning that he is almost crazy. It is said that he once studied in Baodu Mountain. In order to practice calligraphy well, all the stones and trees in the mountain are written in black. On one occasion, he talked with Cao Cao, Dan Wei and others about calligraphy pen. Because of his strong interest, he continued to draw the center of the earth before going to bed, and even cut several holes in the quilt.

Dan Wei was also a calligrapher at that time. It is said that he has The Theory of Pen written by Cai Yong, a great calligrapher in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so his calligraphy level is very high. At that time, everyone admired his calligraphy and thought it was the first calligrapher of his time. Zhong You wanted to borrow Dan Wei's "pen theory", but Shan Wei refused. Zhong You was so angry that he beat his chest and vomited blood. Fortunately, Cao Cao's Five Elixirs saved his life. After Dan Wei's death, Zhong You sent someone to dig up the book from the grave. After repeated research, he finally understood the secret of using a pen.

? Zhong You Regular Script "Declaration Form" (Part)

Wang Xizhi's apprentice in Tiantai Mountain

Wang Xizhi came to Tiantai Mountain before the renovation of Lanting Pavilion, and was attracted by the beautiful scenery of Tiantai Mountain, so he lived at the top of the mountain. He enjoyed the sunrise and the wonders of the sea of clouds, waves and fog, and kept practicing calligraphy, washing pens and inkstones, and even dyed a clear blue pool of water black. This is the origin of Mo Chi's name.

One night, Wang Xizhi practiced calligraphy until late at night. He looked and thought word by word, but he was still not satisfied with his handwriting. He watched and practiced, so tired that he fell on the table with a pen. Suddenly, a breeze blew and a white cloud floated by. On the cloud, an old man with a silver beard smiled at him and said, "Your handwriting is good!" " "

"Where, where!" Wang Xizhi offered to sit down and answered modestly. Seeing the old man carefully looking at his handwriting, he asked, "Lao Zhang, please correct me."

The old man saw Wang Xizhi's sincerity and said, "You reach out."

Wang Xizhi doesn't know what the old man is going to do. Seeing that the old man was serious and didn't like joking, he slowly reached over. The old man took the pen and said with a smile, "I think you are sincere in learning to write, so that you can understand a pen formula, which will work in the future." When the old man finished, he wrote a word on Wang Xizhi's palm, then nodded and said, "You will make faster progress." Just say it and leave. Wang Xizhi quickly shouted, "Where is your husband's house?" I heard a faint voice in the air: "White clouds on the roof ..."

Wang Xizhi saw at a glance that his palm was "forever". He compared, rowed, wrote and practiced, and finally realized that the strokes of the square characters and the tricks of the shelf structure were all embodied in the word "forever". Teacher Baiyun's teaching is really a good pen! From then on, Wang Xizhi practiced calligraphy harder, and his calligraphy was more free and easy, which was wonderful.

Later, Wang Xizhi returned to Shaoxing, met with literary friends in Lanting, and wrote the calligraphy treasure "Preface to Lanting". Wang Xizhi never forgot the word "Yong" inscribed by Mr. Baiyun Mountain, and wrote a book "Huang Ting Jing" in good faith, which was placed in a sudden and steep cave on the top of the mountain, and was later called "Huang Ting Cave". Today, some brave tourists have to climb the Huangjing Cave to see if Wang Xizhi's Huang Ting classics are still hidden in the cave.

Huang Tingjing of Wang Xizhi

? Wang Xizhi's masterpiece:? Preface to Lanting is known as "the best running script in the world", and Taizong loves it alone. It is also the favorite of a generation of emperors.

"The best running script in the world" Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting

Beggars (Tang)

Yan Zhenqing, an old minister of three dynasties in Tang Dynasty, is honest and upright, and enjoys a high reputation at home and abroad. But because of honesty and self-sufficiency, I will never be greedy, so I often can't eat and wear. He once wrote a begging letter to Li Taibao at that time, saying that he was poor in production and had many index fingers at home. The whole family has been drinking porridge for several months, and now there is no rice, which is very annoying. I hope to ask for some food relief for the sake of old friendship. That situation is really pitiful. Yan Zhenqing's achievements in calligraphy have always been admired by later generations, and also inspired by his personality to some extent.

Liu Gongquan practices calligraphy hard.

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, Hsiao Kung chuan 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.

Liu Gongquan's regular script "Diamond Sutra" part? Collection of Paris Museum, France

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.

There were four great calligraphers in Song Dynasty.

The most famous are Su, Huang, Mi and Cai. Su is Su Shi, namely Su Dongpo; Huang is Huang Tingjian; Rice is mifei; This is beyond reproach. But what about Cai? Some people say it's Cai Jing, others say it's Cai Xiang. who is it? Opinions vary.

The most common saying is that this Cai was originally Cai Jing. Although people recognize his calligraphy attainments, they especially hate his character, so they are unwilling to recognize his status as a calligrapher. In Yuan You, Song Zhezong, in order to crowd out dissidents, he called Sima Guang and others "traitors", and wrote down their "crimes" in his own handwriting, engraved on monuments all over the country. At that time, many masons refused to carve this monument and were executed by Kantou. When Cai Jing died, people immediately smashed the "Yuan You Monument to the Party History". People also called him "the four treacherous court officials" together with Gao Qiu, Tong Guan and Emperor Wen of Sui, who were in charge of state affairs at that time.

Cai Jing's character is extremely bad. Among the "four great calligraphers", how can people tolerate him? So I fired him. But "Su Huang Camouflage" is easy to say, so let Cai Xiang take its place.

Cai Xiang is good at absorbing the essence of his ancestors, and he works very hard. His calligraphy is very distinctive. So people think that he should be at the top of the "four schools" and should not be dragged down by Cai Jing.

Cai Xiang not only has a high attainments in calligraphy, but also has an excellent personality. When he was an official in the DPRK, he dared to speak frankly, and even some powerful ministers were afraid of his three points. When he was an official in Quanzhou, Fujian, he built the famous Luoyang Bridge and Qili Avenue, which were welcomed by the local people.

From this perspective, character is more important than books. If a person can only write good words but can't do good deeds, the people will certainly spit on him, even if they don't leave him a small place in the world of books.

Su Dongpo gave way.

One day, Su Dongpo, a university student in the Song Dynasty, went on an outing and saw many farmers picking mud and fertilizing. He wandered to a small ridge and didn't want to meet a peasant woman who was carrying mud. Two people meet each other halfway. Su boasted: "Everything is inferior, but reading is superior. I am a scholar, and your wife will make way for me. " The woman smiled and said, "Since you call yourself a scholar, how can you be right?" Dongpo said: "It is certainly right to hide the bull in your chest!" The woman then blurted out, "A lot of mud is blocking the road."

Su Dongpo was too scared to speak for a long time. The people who sent mud back from the ridges on both sides looked at his embarrassment and laughed. When Su Dongpo saw this scene, he suddenly realized something. He quickly "borrowed the ladder" and stepped down and said, "Two rows of grandfathers looked back and smiled."

Although he is right about the second couplet, he is still worried. I think, there are such smart peasant women in the countryside, and I can't take it for granted to be in such a crazy state. Then take off your shoes and socks, go down to the paddy field and make way.

Su Dongpo's running script "Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Post" (the third running script in the world)

? Huangzhou cold food poetry post part

Get a masterpiece

Huang Daozhou was a famous calligrapher in the late Ming Dynasty, who devoted his life to the benefit of the people. Legend has it that there is a Huang Wu in Zhangzhou, which is notorious. Once he wanted to ask Huang Daozhou to write an inscription for his newly-built "Shanggongzu Temple". Huang Daozhou was disgusted and resigned. Huang Wu bribed Huang Daozhou's handmaid and promised her that "if she gets a word, she will get a thousand dollars reward". Her handmaid deliberately practiced calligraphy in front of Huang Daozhou. Huang Daozhou saw that the word "temple" was not well written, so she wrote one for her to copy, and then she secretly sent the word "temple" to receive the reward. A few days later, he did the same thing again and got the word "Gong Zu". Another day, while practicing the word "Shang", Huang Daozhou suddenly realized that she had fired her handmaid. Helpless, the handmaid secretly pretended to be Huang Daozhou's brushwork and wrote the word "Shang" to fill the blank, which made the plaque of "Shanggongzu Temple" very embarrassing.

Huang Daozhou's Miscellaneous Books: Lingbi Regular Script 24.5× 12cm ×24

? Yunnan Provincial Museum has no calendar year collection.