Author: Luo Mingduan
Speaking of calligraphy families, many people immediately think of the Jin Dynasty Wang Xizhi (303-361) family, the Wang family calligraphy talent, deservedly the first calligraphy family in ancient and modern times. In addition, there are several famous calligraphers who also came from calligraphy families, among which the Tang Dynasty calligrapher Xu Zhaozhi (born and died unknown, about 675-745), was one of the most famous calligraphy families in history.
Xu Zhaozhi's name is not known to many people, what is the name of the calligraphy family? Xu Yuzhi was a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, and was a fellow villager with Wang Xizhi, but the two were separated by more than three hundred years. The Tang Dynasty where Xu Zhaozhi is located is another peak period for the development of calligraphy after the Jin Dynasty, if the representative figure of Jin Dynasty calligraphy is the Wang family, then Tang Dynasty calligraphy can be said to be a hundred flowers blooming, talents are abundant, fruitful results, and innovative calligraphy. In the past, there were four famous calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty, such as Ouyang Qing, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji, and later there were Zhang Xu, Huai Su, Yan Zhenqing, Sun Guoting, Liu Gongquan and other book masters and celebrities. Secondly, there are Xu Zhaozhi and Xu Hao, who are also one of the famous calligraphers in the middle of the Tang Dynasty. Xu Shidao, a predecessor of the Xu calligraphy family, was proficient in Han Mo, resigned from the government and returned to hiding, and his cursive writing was famous. His son Xu Zhaozhi (徐峤之正行楷書都工), the official served as the Assassin of Numa Prefecture(numa Prefecture). Xu Hao's son Xu Hao (703-782), who inherited the family heirloom calligraphy, especially the Jingkai book, the body of the book is round and thick, the style of writing is self-contained, the official served as a waiter of the Ministry of Works, the servant of the official department, and the scholar of the Jixian Temple, and was one of the calligraphers and writers who issued inscriptions on the inscriptions of the imperial court (Figure 1). Song Dynasty calligraphers Su Shi and Mi Fu praised Xu Hao, and the Song Dynasty calligraphy theorist Zhu Changwen commented on the relationship between Tang Dynasty calligraphers and said that Ouyang inquired about Zhang Changshi (Zhang Xu), Li Yangbing, Yang Bing, Xu Hao, and Yan Zhenqing. It can be seen that Xu Hao's status in the book world was once the teacher of Yan Zhenqing, and in history, he was once called the crown of the Tang Dynasty with "Yan Xu". The Song Dynasty "Xuanhe Shu Genealogy" commented on the Xu family's calligraphy family: Chu Yu's father Shi Dao was already proficient in books, and Yu Zhifu was called a good book, and gave his son Hao the Fa, so Hao was also a family law. From the Master Dao to the Haogai III, he is also familiar with the field of Han Mo. In fact, the Xu family of calligraphy has not been more than the third generation, Xu Hao's son Xu Shou, also because of the family style, has also taught the family law to become the fourth generation of people. This concludes an overview of Xu's calligraphy family, and this article focuses on the only authentic manuscript of Xu Zhaozhi in the folk collection.
Due to the long age and the passage of time, some of the most famous calligraphers in history have gradually been forgotten by history, and they may not be famous in the contemporary era, Xu Yuzhi is such a figure who faded out of the book world. Why Xu Zhaozhi's fame has faded away in the book world, some insiders have put forward their views, from ancient times to the present, there are three conditions for becoming famous in the book world: first, the calligraphy foundation is solid, and the pen art is recognized by society; second, there are more works circulated, which have a profound impact on the book world in later generations; third, there is social status or the help of nobles, and fame is more effective with half the effort. It seems that Xu Yuzhi only meets the first condition, lacks the second condition, and the third condition is that the social status of local officials has limited influence in the book world. Of course, the above few articles can not be said to include all the paths to fame of calligraphers, there are some exceptions, whether they are right or not and should be ridiculed. However, in contemporary times, the above three orders are reversed as a shortcut to fame, there are not many ascetic calligraphy skills, many people who claim to be famous in the mixed book world, and there are also power to hang a book association, or spend money to package themselves to add a bunch of false titles, as well as pulling strange books into calligraphy innovation, etc., all of which are in the wrong direction for the name of the fight.
The ancients left their names in the book world, relying on the excellence of calligraphy skills to emerge, since childhood to learn literature and literacy, began to learn to hold a pen, calligraphy is one of the basic courses taught, is one of the four arts of chess and piano calligraphy and painting of the ancients, the most important thing is to master the calligraphy skills, is the commoner class into the career of the necessary talent, can write a good hand and do a good job, in order to pass the examination of the imperial examination system to find an official and a half job, write a good hand in the official field, but also expose the quality of talent, or can add points for the future development, It can be seen that writing a good brush has an important impact on the livelihood of the ancients.
The authentic manuscript of Xu Zhao's book in the folk collection is on paper, the size specification of the core is about 620 cm long, 65 cm wide, the total length of the inscription is about 850 cm, and there are more than 400 words neatly written in italics, each column is written 6 characters, and each word is about 7.5 cm square (Figure 2-6).
At the right end of the scroll is written the first column of "" text, followed by the text:
The poem in the first paragraph is quoted from the six paragraphs of the Eight Songs of the History of Yong composed by the Western Jin Dynasty poet Zuo Si (c. 250-305), and the next seven paragraphs are written:
Then write its eight paragraphs:
The above three paragraphs of Xu Zhaozhi's self-written poems are quoted from the Poems of Zuo Si of the Western Jin Dynasty, and from the fourth and fifth paragraphs onwards, two of the "You Xian Poems" written by the Eastern Jin Dynasty poet Guo Pu (Zi Jingchun, 276-324) were written. The first one is:
The second poem of the Writing of the Immortal Poem is:
The last paragraph is a copy of the four paragraphs of the "Eight Songs of the History of Yong" composed by the Western Jin Dynasty poet Zuo Si: (Note: This poem also has more than 20 words such as "" or has not been copied because the paper is exhausted).
Xu Zhao's book Western Jin Zuosi "Eight Songs of YongShi" of four paragraphs, the Eastern Jin Dynasty Guo Pu "You Xian Poems" of the two paragraphs, the written text and the modern version of the poetry manuscript or there is a difference, the above six verses of the poem interpretation text will not be repeated, this article mainly introduces Xu Zhaozhi's calligraphy art, in order to facilitate the viewing of the following to provide readers with part of the handwriting enlarged font (Figure 7-16).
The above figure shows that every word of Xu Zhaozhi's calligraphy is written carefully, arranged neatly, meticulously stroked, uniquely transported ingenuity, showing the ancient clumsiness of Han Li, the majesty of Wei Bei, the rigor of Tang Kai, the freedom of writing, the standardization of law, the unique charm, the huge system, in one go, the penmanship is tepid, not exciting, elegant and natural, Han Yi Shenfei. For example, unfold the whole scroll, watch the ink left by the ancestors, full of Tang style and ancient rhyme, the fragrance of the book is flowing, the aura is quiet, and the oil is in awe. Xu Zhaozhi's life was low-key, the book world did not see the dew of the mountains, but Xu's calligraphy family was famous in ancient times, Xu Zhaozhi's hundreds of years after his death still attracted future emperors and calligraphy masters, and did not hesitate to write and ink for the first inscription of the book.
The title of the scroll is the Northern Song Dynasty famous minister, writer and calligrapher Cai Xiang (1012-1067), the official served as a Bachelor of Longtuge, a Straight Scholar of the Privy Council, a Bachelor of Hanlin, etc., with profound calligraphy attainments, known as one of the four famous calligraphers of the Song Dynasty Su, Huang, Mi, and Cai, and the inscription began with four big characters of "The Book of Xu Zhao" (Fig. 17).
The inscriptions are in order from right to left (Figure 17 below):
Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072), a politician and writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, an official to Hanlin scholar, a privy councillor, and a political leader in the history of Song Dynasty literature.
Su Shi (1037-1101), Northern Song Dynasty writer, calligrapher and painter, leader of the literary circle in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, made high artistic achievements in poetry, words, books, paintings, etc. Calligraphy was one of the four famous masters of the Song Dynasty, and was an all-round artistic giant.
Mi Fu (1051-1107), Northern Song Dynasty calligrapher and painter, calligraphy and painting theorist, once served as a school scrivener, a doctor of calligraphy and painting, a member of the ceremonial department, etc., calligraphy and painting are a family of their own, bamboo landscape painting has a unique style, calligraphy and Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Cai Xiang and known as one of the "Four Houses of the Song".
Zhao Tuo (1082-1135), that is, Emperor Huizong of Song, the eighth emperor of the Song Dynasty (reigned 1100-1126), was in crisis during his reign, and after the fall of the country, he lost the Northern Song Dynasty regime, but his artistic achievements were extremely high, and he promoted the unprecedented development of the art of calligraphy and painting in the Song Dynasty with imperial power, and created a calligraphy "thin gold body", which is a rare artistic emperor in history.
Cai Songnian (1107-1159), an official and poet of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty fell with his father to lower the gold, the official to the right minister, the style of poetry works is refreshing and beautiful, and there are anthologies passed down.
There are two records of chronological information in the text, of which the inscription of Mi Fu is "Four Years of Yuan You", the corresponding year of the Common Era is 1089, and the inscription of Mi Fu is 33 years old, at this time Song Huizong is only 7 years old, it is not difficult to understand why the inscription of Song Huizong is ranked after Mi Fu. Another era of information is that Cai Songnian inscription is "Zhenglong Four Years", Zhenglong is the Jin Dynasty era number after the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty, compared with the Common Era year is 1159, Cai Songnian was 52 years old, Cai Songnian also died in 1159.
The content of the above text is no longer detailed, but there are two people who are worth reading.
The first is the Inscription of Emperor Huizong of Song "The True Collection of The True Works of Yu" (Figure 18 left), the signature of the falling flower, the seal of the Imperial Book, the inscription of the golden body of the Liao, the golden hook, the jianjian of the bones, the knot body Juanxiu, the style is unique, unique in ancient and modern times. The "Authentic Collection of The Book of Yao" contains two meanings, one is to affirm that the scroll is xu Zhao's authentic handwriting, and the other is to indicate that the scroll is a royal collection of royal objects. Imperial relics are the emperor's objects, and the term imperial relics is not made up by the author, but on the inscription on the heavenly head of the scroll is written "Xuanhe (Dian) Xu Jiao's Imperial Treasure Treasure" (figure 18), which is written in Zeng Lunjian. Zeng Lun was a literary poet calligrapher of the late Northern Song Dynasty, and many of the calligraphy and paintings collected in the Imperial Inner Palace have Zeng Lun as identification inscriptions, but they have not seen the inscription "Imperial Treasure". Song Huizong for calligraphy and painting inscriptions, mostly as the beginning of the scroll, Xu Zhao's scroll inscription has been preceded by predecessors, can only bend down in order in the tail inscription, then Zeng Huizong also dared to also fall pen in the tail of the pen is equivalent to Song Huizong, so in the scroll Tiantou inscription to write an endorsement, using the term "imperial treasure" to show that Xu Zhao's scroll is a favorite object of Song Huizong's collection.
The second is the inscription of Mi Fu: "This volume is the ink of Tang Xuyao's inheritance, and it is also the only authentic work of his inheritance" (Figure 18 with a red circle on the right). Readers can now understand the basis for the title of this article as "Xu Zhaozhi's only authentic deed". The author has resented the nonsense of some treasure hunting programs about extinct, orphaned, surviving pieces, etc., which is a nonsense without any basis, creating the illusion of scarcity for the stakeholders to stand on the platform and inflating the value of the collection. Therefore, the author follows the "only inheritance" theory in this article, and should explain the source and basis to the reader.
Xu Zhao's handwriting is not only seen in this volume after 1,300 years, but also in the Song Dynasty Mi Fu a thousand years ago, mi fu is only three hundred years away from Xu Jiao's age, when Xu Yu's heirloom scrolls are many, as a Song Dynasty official and calligraphy and painting celebrity Mi Fu, should be widely seen, read countless volumes, heard how Xu's calligraphy family was, never seen Xu Jiao's handwriting, but also witnessed that Xu Jiao's handwriting was very rare in the Song Dynasty, Mi Fu thus lamented that this volume is also the only authentic product of Xu Yu and written in the text. Of course, in the author's opinion, the "only" theory only applies to the current discoveries, the folk collection of hidden dragons and Crouching Tigers, it is not certain that there are other Xu Zhao's handwritings that have not yet emerged.
Xu Zhao's scrolls contain more than 50 seals (Figure 19), of which the Imperial Inner House collection contains song Huizong Zhao Biao's "Xuanhe, Zhenghe, Xuanhe Zhongbi, Imperial Book, Shuanglong Fangyin, Shuanglong Yuanyin, Neifu Book Seal", Song Gaozong Zhao's "Neifu Book Seal, Fenghuatang Seal", Song Lizong Zhao Yun 'Ji Xi Dian Bao", Jin Zhangzong's "Mingchang Imperial Treasure", Yuanwenzong TuMu'er "Treasure of Heavenly Calendar", Yuan LuGuo Princess "Imperial Sister Book", Ming Jin Jin Gong Wang Zhu "Jinfu Book Seal", Qing Kangxi "Kangxi Chenhan, Xuanwen Treasure" Qing Yongzheng "Yongzheng Imperial Treasure", Qing Qianlong "Qianlong Imperial Treasure, Eight Signs of The Treasure of the Elderly, Emperor Taishang, Imperial Study Room Treasure, Jian Gu, Shiqu Dingjian", etc., the historical inheritance trajectory is very clear.
In the Song Dynasty, there were Su Shi, Mi Fu, Lu You, Wu Ju, Jia Xiangdao, Zhao Mengjian and Zhang Yu in the Yuan Dynasty, Xiang Zijing and Mi Wanzhong in the Ming Dynasty, Ai Xinjue Luo Yongyao, Ai XinJue Luo Yunli, Suo Ertu, You Dong, Fang Ruiyi, Chen Yuanlong, Mi Hanwen, Wang Yuanqi, Geng Jiazuo, Zhu Yi, Geng Zhaozhong, Qu Yunsheng, Ma Yuelu, Wang Tubing, Wang Wenbai, Liang Zhangjue, Liang Tongshu, Shao Songnian, Zhou Yuli, etc.
It should also be pointed out that in the middle of the Tang Dynasty, there were two Xu family members, one was Xu Zhaozhi, one was Xu Zhaozhi, the names of the two Xu families were only one word apart, the article calligraphy was famous, the family generations were officials in the imperial court, and the living ages were relatively similar, so some articles or book posts either confused the two as one person, or the two Zhang Guan Li Dai (Figure 20), prompting readers to read the article to check the information should pay attention to.
If the research is not rigorous enough, Xu Zheng and Xu Yuzhi are indeed easy to confuse and make mistakes, in order to facilitate the reader's identification, the following are listed in several different aspects to distinguish: Xu Jiao's hometown is Huzhou (Changxing); Xu Jiao's hometown is Shaoxing. Xu Jiao's father was Xu Jian; Xu Zhaozhi's father was Xu Shidao. Xu Yu served as an official of the imperial court as Zhongshu Sheren (equivalent to a secretarial post in the General Office), and Xu Yuzhi served as a local official in the history of Numa Prefecture. Three generations of Xu Yao's family were outstanding in writing, all of whom served as Zhongshu Sheren in the imperial court; the three generations of Xu Zhaozhi's family had outstanding calligraphy, and his son Xu Hao's calligraphy achievements were juxtaposed with Yan Zhenqing's, and he was a royal calligrapher. Remember these points, distinguish between Xu Zhao and Xu Zhaozhi's related articles and books, you can sort out the clues.
This article has any inaccuracies or errors, and we welcome to teach it.
2021.9.16
Introduction: The author's series of articles on the examination and interpretation of ancient books
1. The master of the book world who annihilated Shi Hai - Wang Dao
2. Why is the ranking of the top ten books in ancient times unreliable
3. Folk collection reveals the truth, and the famous posts in history see hard wounds (top and bottom)
4. The mystery in the poems of the Yanjiang River has been circulated for thousands of years
5. Books are ink treasure paintings like miracles - Wu Daozi calligraphy works appreciation
6. The mystery of the Orchid Pavilion Preface is newly discovered
7. The "Book Saint" Ink Treasure is now authentic, and the calligraphy is comparable to the "Orchid Pavilion Preface"
8. "Shusheng" writes big characters, and the wall hangs on the country
9. The only authentic relic of Xu Zhaozhi, a calligraphy family in the Tang Dynasty
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