In the history of Chinese calligraphy, Wang Xizhi and Zhao Mengfu are the two peaks of Xiao Kai's creation. In the Ming Dynasty, the famous calligrapher and painter Wen Zhengming (1470-1559, formerly known as Bi, Hengshan, a famous calligrapher and painter of the Ming Dynasty, the ancestor of the Wumen School of Painting, one of the four families of the Ming Dynasty) inherited the predecessors of the sages, the style of writing was high, and the method was rigorous. His calligraphy was first learned by Zhao Mengfu, the pen gesture was vigorous, but the grace was not caught, and in his later years he intended to chase after Jin Yun, using the pen to be elegant and subtle, and the knot body was quiet and clean, and posterity was amazed. In the Qing Dynasty, Zhu He Tang said: "Ming Kai is the first in Wenheng Mountain. "It's not worth it. Xiao Kai's work "Hou Chibi Fu" was written by Wen Zhengming at the age of eighty-six and is one of his masterpieces in his later years.
A few years ago, I especially loved Xiao Kai, and I came across Wen Zhengming's "Post-Chibi Fu", and I couldn't let go of it. When he was about to study, he wrote three sighs, and Wen Shi used the pen to be exquisite and difficult, as Wang Shizhen said: "(Wen Heng Shan) Xiao Kai Shi Shu ”
Ming Wen Zheng Ming Xingshu Five Laws poetry axis 131.5 × 63.5 cm Collection of the Palace Museum
In the work "Hou Chibi Fu", you can't see the surging and agitating atmosphere, and the paper is soaked with the coolness and tranquility of Jiangnan, a posture of "chest and wrist without a trace of fireworks". The characters are horizontal, flat and peaceful. The strokes are comfortable, the fibers are melted, not exciting, not surprised, and the style is graceful. Out of the second king, there is also the grace of Chu Suiliang, the words Gu Pan, the rigidity and softness, the number of shu rolls, the virtual and leisure, as if the dark incense floats, but I don't know where the incense comes from, and it is faint between the tangible and the invisible.
Such a realm of calligraphy is probably a portrayal of Wen Zhengming's state of mind. He once wrote in a poem: "The empty mountains are far away from the few people, and the lonely and lonely villages flow freely." "The heart is in the no-man's land, clear and clear," the two Weng Yan sat on the mountain without incident, quietly watching the reed flowers across the shore. "No worries, comfortable and peaceful, in the silence of the soul, the hills and ravines, the wind and bones exist by themselves, and the temperament of the book floats into the paper." In the "Treatise on the Painting of Mountain Tranquility", it is said: "Hengshan Taishi calligraphy and painting petals fragrant pine snow, brushwork to the grid, into the room of Wu Xing. However, there is a clear and leisurely interest, do not open the court, and thus the old man's high quality is pure. ”
Ming Wen Zhengming "Wind Stirs Green Tung Leaves Half Destroyed" Poem on paper 171×49cm
Wen Zhengming was born on the sixth day of the first month of November in the sixth year of The reign of Emperor Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty. Wen Zheng was obviously very stupid when he was young, standing unsteadily at the age of five, and speaking clearly at the age of eight, which was a great contrast with his clever and clever brother Wen Kui. Fortunately, he met a discerning, open-minded father, Wen Lin, who had always trusted and encouraged him, always believing that his youngest son would be a late bloomer. Sure enough, at the age of thirteen, Wen Zhengming gradually revealed his excellent memory in endorsement, and at the age of sixteen, he met Tang Yin, who was the same age as him, and Zhu Yunming, who was ten years older than him, and became close friends, and they often gathered, talked about literature and art, and chanted poetry and painting.
In the following ten years, through his father's introduction, Wen Zhengming successively studied poetry in Dumu, Li Yingzhen in Books, Wu Kuan in Wu Kuan, and Shen Zhou in Painting. Entering and leaving Confucianism, familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics, and studying calligraphy and painting, some people said that he said: "Talking about the up and down, ancient and modern classics, all of them are ignorant, and the compromise is insightful." Wu Kuan was a famous theologian of the time, and Wen Zhengming's thought was mostly influenced by him, peaceful and simple. Shen Zhou was the leader of the literati painting of the Ming Dynasty, his personality and painting style have a real literati temperament, and the purpose of the literati painting he advocated was to elevate painting from a simple "skill" to an "art" that was based on interest, which had a great influence on Wen Zhengming's painting ideas. It can be seen that he admires the teacher's deep learning and super temperament.
Ming Wen Zhengming "The Realm of Silence and Eternal Day" Poem on Paper 155.5×64cm
Li Yingzhen was a good friend of Wen Lin, Zhu Yunming's father-in-law, wen and Zhu both had received his teachings, and the two of them in the "Four Families of Wumen" had learned a lot, and it cannot be said that he taught well. He advocated not following people's heels, setting new standards, and obtaining the essence of both literature and blessings. Wen Zhengming said in the "Another Li Shaoqing Post": "Self-study does not talk, flowing habits becomes a disadvantage, the wise people are sick of new skill, and the ancient people are muddy in scale." He also said: "According to Zhang Rong's self-proclaimed saying, 'I don't hate myself without the law of the two kings, but I hate the law of the two kings without myself.' Then the ancients were ashamed of the rules. "The art of calligraphy and painting should be able to stand on its own initiative and not follow the example of its predecessors."
Time flies, and Wen Zhengming, who is full of poetry and books, rushes to the examination nine times, but the door of this worldly career that can change fate has never been opened to him. At the age of fifty-four, the god of luck finally visited him. Because of his reputation for calligraphy and painting, he was recommended to join the DPRK, and he was full of ambitions, and regarded this entry into the DPRK as a turning point in his life. In Hanlin Temple, because he was not a scholar, some people called him a "painter". In 1524, during the "Great Gift Dispute", he witnessed the court minister being beaten to death by a staff, which made him completely disheartened by his career and returned to begging.
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Ming Wen Zhengming Self-composed poem scroll On paper 37.5×308cm
After returning to his hometown, he was relieved, stripped of mortal dust, and cultivated calligraphy and painting, and he said in the poem "Sitting Alone": "Sitting alone is quiet, and the taste of The Tao is long." Nian Guang paid the books, and the secret affair continued to burn incense. The sunrise birds are happy, and the rain harvests the flowers and bamboo cool. Xiao is lazy, not a widow. "The indifference and clarity in his heart, spotless, pushed his calligraphy and painting into a wonderful state again."
The same mountains and rivers, the same time-shifting things, staying between mountains and rivers, streams, rocks, and deep pines, retracted in the nature of heaven and earth, following the outside world without self-disturbance, this is how free and dashing. The Wenheng Mountain in the next life can see the clouds and idle water in the drum noise, and cultivate the heart of all things. In our daily hurry, can we also slow down, carefully taste the tranquility between the lines of the words, and look for the vitality in the old paper pile?
Maybe you can smell where the incense comes from.
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