Who was the best calligrapher in cursive writing in Tang Dynasty?

There are "Cao Sheng" Zhang Xu and Huai Su in the cursive script of the Tang Dynasty.

cursive script

Cursive script includes Cao Zhang and Cao Jin, each with its own influence and genre.

Cao Zhang's early cursive script evolved from official script and was named "Cao Zhang". It is generally believed that it is a simpler style than official script, and it is used to write chapters or articles of association. Cao Zhang changed Li Shu's writing style, which was horizontal, flat and vertical, and his pen was intermittent, and became a font with round rotation, alternating thickness and shape inspection. There is also a wave on the right side of the word, which is the characteristic that it retains the official meaning and is different from the current grass.

According to legend, Cao Zhang was created by You in Huangmenling during the Han and Yuan Dynasties. His "urgent chapter" (such as the passbook of a book) has been handed down to this day, and later generations call it "Cao Zhang" because of its "chapter" (the predecessors said "grass" also means making grass). There is also a saying that Zhang, the emperor of the later Han Dynasty, liked cursive writing. When playing this chapter, he was told to write in cursive, so he called it "".

There is an explanation that "there is a cursive script in Han Dynasty" in Xu Shen's Preface to Shuowen. Wei Heng's Four-body Calligraphy also said: "There is a cursive script in Han Xing, and I don't know who the author is." The words of the above scholars illustrate the relationship between Cao Zhang and official script and the creation time from different angles.

As for the origin of the name "Cao Zhang", it can also be considered that "Cao Jin" came into being late, and the former "special" cursive form was called "Cao Zhang" for the difference. It seems that the ancients called it "koi fish" in regular script, and the official script between Qin and Han dynasties called it "Guli"; Li Si's seal script is used, and the seal script is called "Da Zhuan". So the name "Cao Zhang" comes from "JiZhang", which is easy to explain.

Any writing style must experience natural gains and losses, which is an inevitable phenomenon in the development of fonts. It was circulated among the people, perfected and finally finalized. So in a way, it can't be created by one person. At most, someone has a systematic arrangement, which can only be called someone's "synthesis".

Cao Zhang's application is to dissolve the official script and simplify it. As for using a pen, I still followed the brushwork of some official scripts. Especially at the end of the painting "Si", this is very obvious. Other strokes are basically the embryonic form of later running script, and many characters have been intertwined with (even silk) strokes, which has created the continuous brushwork of cursive script, created conditions for the transition from official script to regular script, and played the role of bridge and media.

Zhang Zhi's Cao Zhang is the most famous in the later Han Dynasty, and today's Cao Cao is also evolved from him. He writes quickly because he is good at writing. Zhang Huai's 26 books broke: "The book of Cao Zhang, the difference of words, Zhang Zhi changed into grass, increasing its flow rate." Pulling out the bud and connecting it up and down is the end of each word, but it is the beginning of the next word ... "This paper expounds the difference and connection between this grass and Cao Zhang.

The brushwork of Cao Zhang's official script, such as the horizontal direction is still up, the left and right waves are clear, and the round pen and some lingering bands are common in today's official script. That is, the luck method of "qi has it, and the law also makes it turn". In short, when writing, it should be as simple as a plum, and the brush strokes will rotate the grass that appears. This is Cao Zhang's most basic brushwork. "Continued Book Spectrum" said: "Cursive scripts are generally taken from Zhang Zhi, Huang Xiang, Suo Jing and so on. And Cao Zhang is disintegrated and writing is active. " It is pointed out that writing should be correct, rather than flying like this grass to seek balance by evil. The brushwork has the origin of official script and the artistic conception is simple.

This grass. According to legend, the origin of modern grass was changed from Cao Zhang by Zhang Zhi in Han Dynasty. At that time, calligraphers admired Zhang Zhi and called him "the sage of grass".

Because this kind of grass evolved from Cao Zhang, it is the "source" of this kind of grass, so predecessors advocated that learning this kind of grass must start from learning Cao Zhang, learn the grass method first, and master its laws. Now it seems that you don't have to learn from Cao Zhang to master the rules of cursive script. It is very convenient for Han Daoheng in Amin era to write "Song of Grass Rhyme". He wrote the differences between the main radicals, usage and radicals in a five-character phrase, and made clear some rules of cursive structure and brushwork, as well as block letters, which were easy to remember, such as "rhyme" and "Yan". When the two radicals are different, use "one point is water, and empty selection means saying". Another example is the structural characteristics of Shuo Zi. Take "shame" as an example, that is, "shame to see sheep tread the field", that is, the word "shame" consists of the sheep above and the field below. Although this post can't cover everything, it can completely introduce people.

From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, it is said that this kind of grass originated from Zhang Zhi, but because of its different styles, it has its own characteristics and factions. Physically, predecessors roughly divided it into three different styles.

First of all, there are the big grass and wild grass schools represented by Zhang Zhi, Zhang Xu and Huai Su, which are characterized by continuous momentum and bold brushwork. The ancients called Zhang Zhi's cursive script "a book", which means to write continuously like strokes. His cursive script does not run through, but we can all see the relationship between before and after and the spirit of consistency.

There are two kinds of posts written by Zhang Xushi from Zhang Zhi and Zhang Xu in Ge Tie, which are similar to Zhang Zhi in brushwork and structure. Zhang Xu, a native of Wu in Tang Dynasty, was good at cursive writing and addicted to alcohol. Every time he was drunk and called to go crazy, he wrote, or dipped his hair in ink. When he woke up, he thought he was a god and couldn't get it back, so he was called "Zhang Dian" or "Cao Sheng" by the world. When literate in the Tang Dynasty, the world regarded Li Bai's poems, Fei Min's sword dance and Zhang Xu's cursive script as "three unique skills".

Huai Su's post in Ge Tie, A True Book Passes the Bell, is very similar to these two, but it is not quite the same as his famous post, Autobiography. The post of "self-narrative" is really a masterpiece of Huai Tie. During Japanese Prime Minister Tanaka's visit to China from 65438 to 0972, Mao Zedong received him and presented him with a hardcover autobiography of Huai Su.

Huai Su's word hides the truth, and there are four "preface to hiding the truth" in front of his autobiography. He is a native of Changsha, Hunan, and his original surname is Qian. Becoming a monk from an early age, the year of birth and death is unknown, probably in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. The self-report post is one of the most important works in China's calligraphy history, which is recorded in Zhang Bao to be visited, History of Books and so on. People belong to weeds and use the center for many purposes. The thickness of strokes has not changed much, and the brushwork of seal script has been innovated. Strong and tactful; In terms of lines and zigzag structures, the big, the small, the oblique and the positive echo each other, and they are unrestrained and smooth, all of which are wonderful works in cursive script. His posts, like Li Bai's poems, are a kind of classical romantic art, so full of the beauty of national form, not constrained by form, but enthusiastic, cheerful and lively. For example, the water in the high gorge falls, and the momentum is particularly magnificent. Du Yan wrote poems in Qing Dynasty, calling them "crazy monks" and "grass saints". It is an excellent calligraphy art heritage worthy of future generations to learn and inherit.

Huai Su's great achievements are mainly the result of long-term hard study and practice. Directed by Yan Zhenqing, he went to Chang 'an, Luoyang and other places to observe some "short works". He created and developed himself on the basis of learning from his predecessors. According to historical records, he once made lacquer plates and boards, practiced them, rubbed them and even worn them out. He buried his bald pen and piled it into a mound called "Pen Tomb". For Huai Su, later calligraphers admired him and tried to imitate him.

In addition to the two posts mentioned above, there is also "Bitter Bamboo Shoots Post", which has been highly praised throughout the ages and has scribbled more than ten words, showing its spirit. The Inscription and Postscript of Haiyue in the Song Dynasty recorded that "Tang Priest Huai Su narrated himself, and Hangzhou Shen Shi once carved a edition". It can be seen that Huai Su's "Autobiographical Notes" was noticed by people at that time in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and it is also known that there was a great demand for calligraphy tablets at that time. In the Song Dynasty, Mi Fei, Nau and Xianyu also liked to make weeds.

Followed by Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi's Wang Ti cursive script: they have five volumes of posts in Pavilion Posts, of which Wang Xizhi's three volumes (6 ~ 8) contain 159 posts, and the second volume (9 ~ 10)* * * presents 76 posts, most of which are cursive scripts. As far as cursive writing is concerned, the brushwork of the "two kings" is thinner, fresher and more beautiful than the two. There are only seventeen posts in Xihe (named "Seventeen Posts" because the first post has the word "Seventeen"). One is pure cursive script, which is Wang Xizhi's masterpiece and was collected in the Tang Dynasty. In addition, aunt posts, early moon posts and funeral posts are also vivid. Wang Xizhi reformed the legacy of cursive script at that time, changed the calligraphy style of Zhong You, which had great influence at that time, established his own style, and absorbed the folk style to create "Wang's cursive script".

Wang's and his son's calligraphy, especially cursive script, has been passed down from generation to generation and has far-reaching influence. Not only was the bookstore shocked at that time, but now when it comes to calligraphy, the "two kings" are always mentioned, and his influence on Chinese and foreign art circles is also enormous. Wang Xizhi, a rich boy in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, studied under Zhong You's uncle Wang Kuang and later under Mrs. Wei. Wang Xizhi studied hard and studied hard. According to legend, he often scratches on his chest, so his clothes always break first. Because I practiced writing and washed the inkstone every day, I dyed the pond in front of the door black, and was called "Mo Chi" by later generations. This story also tells future generations that learning calligraphy well, like learning other skills, requires diligent study and hard practice. In addition, we should be open-minded, be good at finding problems and push our skills to a new height.

Xihe grass today was the most popular in the Southern Dynasties and the early Tang Dynasty. Monk Chen Sui Zhiyong is a descendant of Wang, and his "Grass Today" won the charm of Wang Xizhi the most. Emperor Taizong loved Wang Xizhi's calligraphy and collected it all over the country. Sun in the early Tang Dynasty, Xue in the Song Dynasty, Zhao Mengfu in the Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty are all representative writers of this genre. When Tang Shi, a Japanese monk, came to China, he brought back this plant of Xi, which had a great influence on the development of Japanese calligraphy. Wang Xizhi was highly praised by Japanese book circles.

The cursive script he showed became popular after the prosperous Tang Dynasty. His duck's head pill stickers have been praised by all generations and regarded as rare treasures. Developed by Zhang Xu and Huai Su, it became a "weed". Yuan, Wei Xiao, Xian Yushu and others also like to make weeds. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Fu Shan and Wang Duo had further developed, and "Wang Ti" became a common practice in bookstores.

Third, Zhiyong's money, Sun's Preface to Book Spectrum and so on. This school of cursive techniques is very organized, distinguishing words from words and not doing continuous actions at all. Dancing with pens and gestures is more suitable for beginners to learn, especially the preface to the book spectrum is more convenient for learning to write and imitate.

Most of the predecessors studied Cao Cao first, and then wrote Qian Wen Zi and Shu Puxu. Chase after the "two kings" again, write "Seventeen posts" and "Pavilion posts", and read more cursive scripts of Ming people (such as the ink of Zhu Yunming, Wang Duo, Huang Daozhou and Zhang Ruitu). It is said that for this reason, we can use macros cautiously, consider changes, and deal with cursive script endlessly.

Zhiyong was a member of Huiji of Chen Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties (legal name Zhiyong, surname Wang, according to legend, descendants of Wang Xizhi). He lives in Yongxin Temple and is a famous Zen master. His cursive writing is particularly good. After 13 years' service, I got a thousand words of calligraphy from this book and gave it to each temple in eastern Zhejiang. Book seekers, like this city, can't find a door. So he wrapped it in iron, and later generations had it. His self-made epitaph has the legacy of the word Wang, so the emperor often said: "Wisdom always gets the meat of the right army, and wisdom fruit (monk Sui Huiji, who is good at literature and calligraphy) gets the bone of the right army." It can be seen that although it has its own characteristics, it is still circulating in the blood of the king.

Sun, born in Tang and Chen, is a cursive writer. Since the Song Dynasty, he has promoted his book as "Nengpin". His book Shu Pu is very valuable, and Zhang Huaiguan, a native of the Tang Dynasty, gave it the highest evaluation, saying that it won the purport of calligraphy. But now the score of this book has been lost, leaving only the preface of the score (Cao Zhang). Another work, Sun Jingfu's Ode to the Temple, was suspected to be forged by later generations. It looks very similar to Sun's other posts and can be used as a reference.

It is also worth mentioning Mi Fei's Nine Cursive Poems, Song Ke's Poems on a Tour in Du Zimei Zhuang, Jin Tongxian's Poems on Han Songs, Kang Likuang's Poems on Fishing Songs, Zhu Yunming's Poems on Five Clouds in Li Taibai, Poems on Red Cliff, and Wen Zhiming's Preface to Wang Tengting. In addition, Yue Fei's Liezi is also very popular with people.