Wen Duan Honggang
In the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan (1811-1872) had four proud protégés, namely Li Shuchang, Zhang Yuzhao, Wu Rulun, and Xue Fucheng, who were known as the "Four Disciples of Zengmen". All four were well-educated people who made outstanding contributions in many fields in the late Qing Dynasty and were respected by the world.
Zhang Yuzhao (1823-1894), who had been reading poetry since childhood and was brilliant, was highly regarded in the twenty-sixth year of Daoguang (1846) and later entered the shogunate of Zeng Guofan.
Zhang Yuzhao, who has many talents, is undoubtedly the most commendable calligraphy. His calligraphy is eclectic, integrating the various advantages of "epigraphy" and "theology", truly forming an aesthetic style of rigidity and softness, creating the "Nangong style" calligraphy that has influenced the late Qing Dynasty for a hundred years, and even the cultural giant and calligraphy master Kang Youwei also admired his calligraphy, calling him a calligrapher who is "incomparable in the past thousand years".
Zhang Yuzhao was born in a scholarly mendi in Donggou Town, Liangzi Lake, Ezhou, Hubei Province, and studied classic works such as the Four Books and Five Classics and Tang poems and Song Ci under the influence and teaching of his elders since childhood.
After reading more books, his vision is higher, and he is closer to the spirit of the ancient sages, and his thinking and feelings have also undergone major changes, and he is determined to be like the ancient sages, "rich and noble cannot be adulterous, poor and lowly cannot be moved, mighty cannot be bent", "the world is worried and worried, and the world is happy and happy", and to be a big husband who stands tall in the sky.
Under the spur and encouragement of lofty ambitions, Zhang Yuzhao studied hard and practiced diligently, passed the Tongsheng Examination at the age of 16 and passed the Township Examination at the age of 23. After the age of 30, he took the examination for the cabinet secretary, and happened to meet Zeng Guofan reading the papers, zeng guofan read his articles and greatly appreciated it, and finally hired him, officially awarded the cabinet secretary, and worshiped under Zeng Guofan.
Zeng Guofan later said in the "Diary of Qiu Que Zhai": "Among the disciples, those who hope to have achieved success, push this person. ”
Because of his upright personality, Zhang Yuzhao's two years as an official in the capital made him sad, but he was powerless to change these, so he adhered to the principle of "coming out of the mud and not staining" and not wanting to go with others, so he had to abandon the official and leave.
Zhang Yuzhao, who left the official field, gradually developed disappointment and boredom with politics, positioning himself as "doing things alone in governing the literature" and refusing to re-enter the career.
In the decades that followed, Zhang Yuzhao became obsessed with literature, calligraphy and education, and eventually trained himself into a generation of people. In order to realize the lofty ambition of teaching and educating people, he successively lectured at Jiangning Fengchi Academy, Baoding Lianchi Academy, Wuchang Jianghan Academy, xiangyang Lumen Academy, and trained many famous students, mainly Fan Dangshi, Zhang Xiao, Yao Xuechen, Zhu Mingpan, Miyajima Yongshi and others.
In 1892, Zhang Yuzhao was about to enter the age of ancient rarity, and although his physical condition deteriorated, he insisted that his mission of teaching and educating people had not yet been completed, and he still did not want to leave the pulpit of the academy. After the children saw it, they were very distressed, so they took a soft and hard way to take him to the ancient city of Xi'an to raise him. More than a year later, on the fourteenth day of the first month of 1894, Zhang Yuzhao died in his Xi'an apartment at the age of 71.
In literature, Zhang Yuzhao attached great importance to the literary propositions of the "Jiangxi Poetry School", admired Huang Tingjian's poetry, and advocated "learning into poetry", and literature should achieve the purpose of "applying it to the world".
His poetry is profound in thought and elegant in words, all of which are included in the "Collected Poems of Zhang Yuzhao", and most of his works are views on current affairs and life, which have high literary value.
In calligraphy, Zhang Yuzhao first started with Wei Bei, absorbing the aesthetic characteristics of Wei Bei's majestic, hun mu, simple and thick, solemn, free with pen, strange knots, and rich flesh and bones.
After that, he turned to the study of Tang Kai. Tang Kai's strict structure and method, strong and thick strokes, and thick brushwork have become his eclectic objects.
Later, he began to study the writings of the Erwang and Song Dynasties, from which he strengthened his pen and ink skills, as well as his ability to manage the rules.
Through extensive eclecticism, Zhang Yuzhao eventually formed a personal unique style of calligraphy, and eventually became a generation of calligraphers, the overall style is based on rigidity and softness, the knot is round and round, there are bones and flesh, and the dense ones are dense, showing the aesthetic characteristics of majestic and strong, simple and calm, uniform flesh and bones, and smooth charm.
In terms of penmanship, fingering and ink, water and other techniques, Zhang Yuzhao has a different method, he is good at moving the pen in the center, the calligraphy line is on the basis of solemnity and fullness, but there is no lack of flexibility in details, giving people a high aesthetic enjoyment, no wonder many masters praise his calligraphy.
Mr. Kang Youwei once had two concluding comments on Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy in "Guangyi Zhou Shuangyi", saying: "Hubei Zhang Yuzhao, whose books are high and ancient, hun mu, dot painting turns, are all traceless, and the mood is very steep. Its charm is all the triumph of the Jin and Song Dynasties. It is truly possible to build up Tao Wei, pregnant with Song Liang and breed Qi Sui, unparalleled in the past thousand years."
"I have his book, and I will judge his pen, and the middle pen will be folded, and the outer ink will be connected, and the turn will be Teton, and the square will be round, and the fall will be implicit, and the circle will be square; therefore, it will be left for the sharp pen, and it will be clean for the increase of the pen, which is the great enlightenment of the pen."
Mr. Zhang Taiyan, a master of traditional Chinese studies, also praised Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy, saying: "Mr. Zhang Yuzhao's books have been passed down from generation to generation, and this is really like a pearl of a hundred hu, especially with others."
In fact, Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy is also famous in Japan. The Japanese Ayashi Miyajima (1867-1943) came to the Qing Dynasty at the age of 20 to follow Mr. Zhang Yuzhao for 8 years. In the past 8 years, Zhang Yuzhao has successively taught and lived in Wuchang, Xiangyang, Xi'an and other places, and Miyajima Yongshi has followed these places to study without leaving, and has gained a lot.
In the spring of 1894, after the death of Zhang Yuzhao, Miyajima Yongshi was so sad that he chose to return to China after mourning his teacher, and founded the "Zenlin Academy" in Tokyo, serving as the first dean, specifically to spread Zhang Yuzhao's knowledge and spirit.
Today, Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy has been derived into a genre in Japan, and there are countless learners.