In order to understand the level of calligraphy of famous artists in the late Jin Dynasty and before, such as Wang Xizhi, Yu Gong of the Southern Dynasty period is the most reliable witness. Not only because his age is relatively close, but more importantly, the Southern Dynasty Song Ming Emperor entrusted him to sort out the secret treasure books of the court and collect scattered famous products. Therefore, the more I have come into contact with and read more, and the "Table of Treatises" written by him has a very important reference value for understanding the true face of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy.
Zhao Chen, together with the former generals Chao Shangzhi, Situ Shenjun Xu Xixiu, and Huainan Taisun Fengbo, the Second King of Huainan, commented on his titles, except for the obscene recording of beauty, for the imperial appreciation and play, "so that the three Wu, Jing, Ting realms, poor and remote, dove gathering and scattering."
Zhong Xuan Paper Book 697 characters, Zhang Zhi Zhi Su and Shu 4,800 25 characters, Zhang Chang Zhen Su and Paper Book 4,700 crosses, Mao Hong 800 Silk Book 4,588 characters, Suo Jing Paper Book 5,755 words, Zhong Hui Shu 5 paper 465 characters.
The Two Kings Of Silk Book Coral Scrolls Twenty-Four Volumes. Twenty-four volumes of the golden scroll of the paper book and fifty volumes of the tortoiseshell axis of the paper book are woven into a belt of gold inscriptions and jade. There are also two volumes of books and fans. And the paper book flew white chapter grass two fifteen volumes, and the sandalwood axis. And the paper book drama study a twelve-volume tortoiseshell axis, which is also the crown of the book. The two kings are newly included in the book, each containing six volumes and sixty volumes.
These are the collections of the royal family at that time, and they have been identified, so there are few problems in quality, and every day in these high-quality works, it can be said that they speak according to the works, and the objective conditions are unattainable by future generations.
The first paragraph of the "Treatise on the Book Table" records the scene that took place during the "Yiguan Nandu" period at the end of the Jin Dynasty, Huan Xuan, Huihou, The Song Xiaowu Emperor of the Southern Dynasty, and the Southern Dynasty scholars at that time pursued Wang Xizhi's calligraphy works.
Huan Xuan:
Play can not let go, but the two Kings of the traces, mixed with the silk, the right to do the beautiful, each for a man, often placed left and right. and Rannam, though very embarrassed, followed himself; After the capture, I don't know where it is.
In the war and chaos period, you can still take Wang Xizhi's two works with you, you can imagine how much you love them, and you can also read the level of these two works from the side.
New Yu Huihou:
Ya loves to be heavy, hanging gold to buy, regardless of nobility.
At that time, there was a period of calligraphy also encountered the off-season, in that era, calligraphy was also the ability of the clan nobles to have the conditions to play, they did not like the nature of the desert, so at that time many famous products were lost to the folk. Later, there was a rich and blind "Tiger Brother" Huihou who issued heavy gold regardless of whether it was expensive or lowly, so some profit-seeking people saw that the way to engage in money came and began to counterfeit, the result was that most of what he collected was imitations, and the victims affected were also The Southern Dynasty Song Xiaowu Emperor. At that time, the level of counterfeiting had reached the point where it was impossible to distinguish between true and false confusion.
Southwest Haoshi:
Xian mu qi wind, people have no longevity, still good, home win gold coins, competitive seeking.
This kind of scene is like the same scene as our current star chasing.
Three short stories:
In this table, Yu Gong recorded two stories that happened to Wang Xizhi:
One is to write five words on the fan surface for the old woman who sells the fan, so that the woman's fan will soon be out of stock;
The other is that everyone knows that Wang Xizhi copied the "Tao Te Ching" and exchanged two chapters for goose;
The third is that Wang Xizhi visited the home of one of his protégés, in order to thank the protégé for his hospitality, Wang Xizhi wrote an inscription on the protégé's new bed, and in the process of the protégé and Wang Xizhi's return home, he expected that the protégé's father was estimated to be uneducated, and it was painful to see the new bed written on it, so he scraped the words on the above, and when the protégé returned home, he saw that the words on the bed were scratched and annoyed for several days.
These three allusions also reflect from the side that his calligraphy was already very popular during Wang Xizhi's lifetime.
Regarding the calligraphy level of Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi, Yu Gong made a comment at the beginning, he believes that the calligraphy gap between the father and son of the two kings is already very subtle, they are very wonderful and profound, they are unprecedented and unprecedented, and they can be used as models for hundreds of generations in the future.
However, the advantages and disadvantages are small, but they will be beautiful and profound, so they are the unique of the ancients and the kaiser style of hundreds of generations.
He then gave some specific examples to make a concrete statement:
Wang Xizhi's self-evaluation:
Looking for the famous books, Zhong and Zhang Xin are absolutely extraordinary, and the rest are not enough to exist;
Wushu compares the bell and Zhang, when resisting; Zhang Cao is like a goose.
Translation: Before I looked for various well-known calligraphy works to compare, the calligraphy of Zhong Xuan and Zhang Zhi is absolutely outstanding, and as for others, it is not worth collecting and preserving. Comparing my calligraphy with Zhong Xuan and Zhang Zhi's, it is quite comparable, especially compared with Zhang Zhi's cursive writing.
Yu Gong's point of view:
The Book of Xi, which has never been extraordinary in the beginning, is invincible, xi, and in its last years, but it is the ultimate.
When Yu Gong was on an errand for the emperor, he came into contact with a large number of Erwang calligraphy works, which were not only luxuriously framed, but also the best in calligraphy works. He identified and classified Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, believing that the works made of purple paper were written by him in his early years in Linchuan, which were not worthy of appreciation, nor did they have a place to open up and a special place, which was still inferior to Yu Yi and Xi Xi, and only reached the peak of perfection in his old age.
The original text of Yu Gong's "On the Book Table" is relatively long and cannot be translated verbatim, but can only be extracted and sorted out according to understanding, only for the reference of book friends!
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