In the twenty-fourth year of the Eastern Han Dynasty (219 AD), Zhong Xuan was already 68 years old, and in ancient times, people were rare to sixty years old, and Zhong Xuan was still active in the political arena.
Statue of Zhong Xuan
In the winter of that year, Xu Huang led the Wei army to support and confronted Guan Yu. When Guan Yu was fighting against Xu Huang with all his might, Eastern Wu Lü Meng secretly attacked Guan Yu from behind, causing Guan Yu to defeat Maicheng and be captured by Eastern Wu Sheng. Zhong Xuan was overjoyed after hearing this, so in such a context, he wrote a sonata to Cao Cao, which is the "He Jie Watch", which recorded this history.
This post has also been passed down to the present, and it has been circulated for a long time, becoming a classic Dharma post for learning calligraphy in successive generations, and Zhong Xuan has also been praised by later generations as the "ancestor of the calligraphy".
Zhong Xuan was a man of the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and when Dong Zhuo was in power, he helped Emperor Xian of Han escape from Chang'an. Later, cao cao chased after the central plains, and Zhong Xuan's political consciousness was very high, judging the situation and feeling that Cao Cao would definitely be able to defeat Yuan Shao, so he turned to Cao Cao again.
《He Jie Watch》
According to the Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, during the Battle of Guandu, Zhong Xuan gave Cao Cao 2,000 warhorses. This act of sending charcoal in the snow made Cao Cao very moved. Therefore, after the founding of the State of Cao Wei, Zhong Xuan was given the title of XiangGuo. Later, Emperor Wen of Wei and Emperor Ming both treated Zhong Xuan with courtesy. During the reign of Emperor Ming, Zhong Xuan paid homage to Taifu, so later history books called Zhong Sui "Zhong Taifu".
After reading this, maybe you think that Zhong Xuan is a political darling, and that is wrong. Although Zhong Xuan was a political figure, the records of him in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms are mostly political stories. But what Zhong Xuan really remembers is his artistic talent, Zhong Xuan is a great calligrapher.
Many extant documents record the calligraphy story of Zhong Xuan, but many stories are suspected of wearing chisels, which is probably the celebrity effect.
For example, the Southern Song Dynasty Chen Si's "Shuyuan Jinghua" once recorded that Zhong Xuan learned that a calligrapher in the same period, Wei Xiang, had a calligraphy secret book of the famous calligrapher Cai Yong, and he borrowed the secret from Wei Shi to read it, but Wei Shi did not give it.
So Zhong Xuan was so angry that he pounded his chest for three days, and he vomited blood and didn't get it, and he made himself die. Cao Cao really couldn't bear to look at it, so he sent someone to give him the Five Elixirs before Zhong Xuan came back to life.
Zhong Xuan later became angry, and later Wei Shi died, and Zhong Xuan heard that Wei Shi had taken the calligraphy secret book to the grave. So Zhong Xuan secretly stole the tomb and stole the secret book into his hand.
Declaration Form
This history is recorded in many books that mention Zhong Xuan. However, later through historical research, we know that Zhong Xuan died before Wei Tian, and 23 years earlier, so the so-called Zhong Xuan stole Wei Shi's tomb, which could not have happened at all.
This story is told by Chen Si with flesh and blood, and if there is no historical evidence, the reader will really be deceived.
However, as a great calligrapher of the Three Kingdoms period, there is no doubt about Zhong Xuan. In the Tang Dynasty Zhang Huaijuan's "Book Break", zhong xuan said: "Although Taifu learned Cao and Cai Lifa, his art was too good, and his blue was blue, and he explored the divine wonders alone. "Zhong Xuan's calligraphy was passed down by Cai Yong, and in the process of the transformation from Lishu to Kaishu, his calligraphy achievements and merits were the highest. It is said that his brushwork was later passed on to Lady Wei, who in turn taught it to Wang Xizhi.
"He Jie Watch" is a representative work of Zhong Xuan's calligraphy, and from this work, we can also clearly see the traces of the transformation of Lishu to Kaishu.
For example, at the beginning of the work, the line of "Chenxuan Yanrong Road and Walking Dangerous and Cold" has a wide and flat shape, and the foot has a relatively strong wave of lishu. In addition, many word dot paintings echo and are coherent, and also reflect the brushwork of the book. Unfortunately, this work, at present, only rubbings have been handed down, and the rubbings are not rough rubbings, mostly for posterity.
"Recommended Season Straight Table" engraved
The "Straight Watch of the Recommended Season" is also a calligraphy work passed down by Zhong Xuan, and was once considered to be Zhong Xuan's heirloom ink work. This work was hidden in the Inner Province during the Tang Dynasty, and was once identified by Mi Fu during the Northern Song Dynasty, and also collected by Jia Xiangdao during the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was hidden in the Luxing Zhi family, and in the Qing Dynasty, it re-entered the Inner House and engraved the "Sanxitang Fa Ti", which can be described as circulating.
Photo of "Recommended Season Straight Table"
In 1860, when the British and French troops burned the Yuanmingyuan, they were robbed by the British, and later purchased by Kong Guangtao, Yue Xuelou, Guangzhou, and then transferred to Pei Jingfu's hands, but accidentally stolen. Later, the work was buried in the ground, and by the time it was found again, it was decayed and destroyed and could not be repaired.
More than 50 years ago, Mr. Wang Zhuanghong purchased a copy of the "Zhuang Tao Ge Fa Ti" original copy, which is Pei's old object. He examined them one by one and found that a certain volume contained a frame of photographs, which was inadvertent at first, and carefully reviewed, and he did not feel overjoyed. It turned out that this photo was actually taken by Chung Chung's "Recommended Season Straight Table" inkblot!
The photograph was taken clearly, standardly, of very good quality, accurate handwriting, and correct exposure, leaving us with the original appearance of the original handwriting of the "Recommended Season Straight Table". To this day, the only picture known to the world about the "Recommended Season Straight Table" is this frame.
The "Declaration Post" was also rumored to be Zhong Xuan's inkblot, but later after expert identification, the "Declaration Post" we see now should be copied by Wang Xizhi, and it is the product of being engraved again, and it is no longer the face of Zhong Xuan.
"He Jie Watch", "Recommended Season Straight Watch" and "Declaration Post" are the three most representative works of Zhong Xiu, "Recommended Season Straight Table" only has one black and white photo, "Declaration Post" is a later imitation and engraving version, and only "He Jie Watch" is the most representative work of Zhong Xiu's book.
The Xuanhe Shu Genealogy says: "The Zhengshu of the Kaifa Present, zhong Xuan's "He Kejie Table" has prepared the Fadu, and is the ancestor of the Zhengshu. ”