The ancients often used "three points into the wood" to describe a person's high and profound achievements in calligraphy, throughout China's thousand-year history, from the knotted rope chronicle of primitive society, to the Cangjie characters of earlier society, and then to the continuous development and improvement of characters. Writing, as the first special set of externalized symbol systems, is a milestone in the evolution of Chinese culture. When the written word no longer played its role in recording events, people discovered the artistic value of the written word and gradually evolved a new field of art - calligraphy.
From the exquisite calligraphy of Wang Xizhi, the "book saint" of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which we are familiar with, to the regular calligraphy of Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan of the Tang and Song Dynasties, and then to the "thin gold body" of Zhao Tuo of the Northern Song Dynasty, the field of calligraphy is always exquisite and the stars shine. However, among them, there is such a powerful prime minister, his calligraphy is also admirable, a note for his son "find a relationship, open the back door, ask for care", circulated so far can be auctioned for more than four million high prices, it is really amazing, he is rich.
A generation of prime ministers, Wang Zuozhicai
Fu Bi was a famous prime minister and literary figure during the Northern Song Dynasty. Similar to many accomplished people in feudal society, Fu Bi's birth experience is also full of mysterious colors.
Fu Bi was born in Luoyang, and legend has it that when his mother was pregnant with him, there was a big goose that hovered over his family courtyard for a long time, and then landed directly in front of Fu Bi's mother's door, and soon after, Fu Bi was born. When he was a teenager, Fu Bi did not live up to this legendary legend, showing extremely outstanding talent and broad mind. At a young age, Fu Bi was able to learn poetry and composition, read Confucian classics well, and was also famous in the township.
Later, Fu Bi began to travel around, and in the process of study tour, he met Fan Zhongyan, Yan Shu and others. Both Fan Zhongyan and Yan Shu believed that Fu Bi had outstanding talents and deserved to enter the court to serve the country. Yan Shu was impressed by Fu Bi's article and subsequently married his daughter to him.
At the suggestion of his predecessors, Fu Bi took the imperial examination and became famous in one fell swoop, entering the group of Officials of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time. Later, Fu Bi assisted four emperors with his outstanding ability, and was known as "a generation of famous faces".
The Father is a fierce tiger, but the Son is a calf
During his tenure as an official in the dynasty, Fu Bi actively demanded a change in the bureaucratic system that was then redundant and advocated the implementation of the New Deal. He also actively participated in the New Deal of Celebrating the Calendar of Fan Zhongyan and others, and repeatedly advised the emperor to stay away from traitors and villains and get close to loyalists.
Moreover, Fu Bi hoped that the emperor would resolutely struggle in the face of the intrusion of neighboring countries, not afraid of strong enemies, and made outstanding contributions to the development of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time. At the same time, Fu Bi's own vision was even more unique, and he soberly realized that the neighboring countries of the Northern Song Dynasty at that time, the Liao State and the Western Xia, posed a great threat and influence to the Northern Song court.
Therefore, he carried out the art of combining and indulging with the outside world, sent many envoys to the Liao state and the Western Xia, and finally worked hard to build a situation in which the Western Xia of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Liao State stood on three legs and did not invade each other.
Shame on you, self-defeating
However, Fu Bi, who knew his son's temperament, was very relieved about his son, so he wrote a letter to his son's superior before his son took office. This letter of "finding a relationship, opening the back door, and asking for care" is roughly written: My son is born stupid, I hope you can look at my face and take more care of him, and I will let my son visit you often.
At the end, there is a sentence "Please destroy it after reading it", but this superior obviously did not do it: this is a "trust relationship" word of a generation of famous faces, and this word is also written so beautifully, so it secretly collected it. That's why the note has survived to this day. At an auction in 2005, the note "Trust Relationship" reappeared and was eventually auctioned by the Palace Museum for a high price of 4.62 million, causing an uproar.
epilogue:
This note can be said to be the only "stain" on the life of Fu Bi, a famous official, but we can really understand Fu Bi's heartfelt feelings of loving his son. Moreover, this is only a private letter asking others to take care of his son, which does not negate Fu Bi's great contribution to the Northern Song Dynasty.
But it is hard for us to imagine: if Fu Bi knew that this note of his was not burned, but was saved, or even sold for a million high price, how would he feel?