Some time ago, Guobo exhibited the stone carving rubbings of "Ode to Tang Zhongxing" written by Yuan Jie and Yan Zhenqing Shudan, and the calligraphy circle set off a boom about Yan Zhenqing.
In fact, yan zhenqing has always been a hot topic in the world of calligraphy and painting. In 2020, when the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute excavated the tomb of the Yuan clan in the Tang Dynasty, it found Yan Zhenqing Shudan's "Luo Wanshun Epitaph", which also caused a sensation. In this inscription, tianbao five years (746), this year Yan Zhenqing was 38 years old and was serving as a lieutenant of Chang'an County, which was also the beginning of Yan Zhenqing's long career.
Yan Zhenqing Shudan's "Luo Wanshun Epitaph" Courtesy of Xinhua News Agency TAKEFOTO
"Luo Wanshun's Epitaph" is finely drawn, and The Yan body of Park Mao is judged by Yun Mud, and some people doubt that this is Yan Zhenqing's original handwriting. If you carefully screen the handwriting left by Yan Zhenqing, you can see a clue that takes "Xiu" as beauty: from the "Tomb of Wang Lin" (33 years old) who took the Fa Chu body, to the "Duo Pagoda Stele" (44 years old) of the early masterpiece and "beautiful and colorful", and then to the "Oriental Painting Praise Monument" (49 years old) and the "Song Jing Monument" (64 years old) of "Thin and Energetic Qingba" (Huang Tingjian), Yan Ti's calligraphy is not only full of plump and majestic. In fact, the "Epitaph of Luo Wanshun" is closer to the general appearance of the Tang Dynasty's calligraphy, and Yan Zhenqing at this time has not yet opened a gap with the wind of the times.
In 2019, an exhibition entitled "Beyond Wang Xizhi's Famous Pen", held in Tokyo, Japan, attracted many calligraphy enthusiasts from all over the world. Again and again, they lined up to observe the "Manuscript of sacrifice to nephews", which has the treasure of the national palace museum in Taipei and the reputation of "the second line of books in the world".
"Sacrifice Nephew Manuscript" exhibited in Tokyo, Japan in 2019, photo by Xie Tian
In the previous thousand years, Yan Zhenqing was repeatedly discussed, appreciated, imitated, and interpreted. Looking at the handwriting and historical materials about Yan Zhenqing, people can't help but wonder, how was Yan Zhenqing, who is well known to the public, refined?
He was a first-class loyalist but not a first-class scribe
Although he wrote the Primer Model of the National Letters at the age of forty-four, Yan Zhenqing did not write a book at that time. According to statistics, half of the inscriptions written by Yan Zhenqing in history were written for his family and relatives, and 23 for others, while Xu Hao, who was in the same period, wrote 44 inscriptions at the request of others. In 756, Emperor Suzong of Tang ascended the throne, and Xu Hao, who was six years old at the age of Da Yan Zhenqing, took charge of the edict, and the Old Book of Tang records that "Hao belongs to the word To give, and to work with Kai li, Su Zong is pleased with his ability, and he is also a Shang Shu Zuo Cheng." Emperor Xuanzong passed on the throne to the book, all of whom were hao, and the two palaces were written and han, and the favor was rare and compared." It can be seen that Xu Hao firmly occupied the "C position" in the book world at that time, and was a royal calligrapher comparable to Ouyang Qian, Chu Suiliang, Yu Shinan and others.
Although not a top scholar, for the Tang Dynasty at that time, Yan Zhenqing had a more important identity: loyal subjects, all of which stemmed from the Anshi Rebellion.
Portrait of Yan Zhenqing
In the winter of the fourteenth year (756) of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's tianbao, An Lushan rebelled at Fanyang (Beijing) and marched south to Luoyang. The counties of Hebei were under the jurisdiction of An Lushan, and the counties they passed were disintegrating, and some local officials opened their doors to meet them, some abandoned the city and fled, and some were helpless. An Lushan quickly captured Luoyang, and the soldiers pointed directly at Tongguan. Tang Xuanzong lamented that none of the twenty-four counties of Hebei had served the country, and ushered in Li Ping, the messenger of Pingyuan Taishou Yan Zhenqing. Knowing that Pingyuan County was ready to act righteously, Tang Xuanzong sighed with emotion: "I don't know how Yan Zhenqing is in shape, so it is so!" ”
Pingyuan County took the lead in raising the throne, and the counties of Hebei responded one after another, killing the puppet officials appointed by An Lushan. The other counties promoted Yan Zhenqing as the leader of the alliance, obeyed his command, and combined more than 200,000 troops. Yan Zhenqing's cousin Yan Gaoqing, who was then the Taishou of Changshan, used a trick to retake the Tumenguan Fortress from the hands of An Lushan's generals, cutting off An Lushan's return route. Yan Zhenqing and Yan Gaoqing's actions and plans slowed down An Lu's western advance. Helplessly, Tang Xuanzong was dazed and incompetent at this time, listened to rumors, mistakenly killed the generals Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, and misjudged the situation, so that Ge Shuhan, who was holding tongguan, was out of the customs to fight, resulting in a complete defeat.
An Lushan sent Shi Siming back to attack Changshan. The city of Changshan was destroyed, and Yan Gaoqing was captured. In the face of An Lushan, Yan Gaoqing said that he was "a Tang courtier in the world, always keeping loyalty and righteousness", and Yan Gaoqing was stabbed with a knife and cut off his tongue, but still scolded incessantly. There are more than thirty mouths in the Yan family, including Yan Jiming, the son of Yan Gaoqing, who "nest overturned eggs" and died heroically. Later, Yan Zhenqing wrote the "Manuscript of the Sacrifice nephew", a masterpiece passed down through the world.
During the Anshi Rebellion, the heroic deeds of Yan Zhenqing and his cousins made Yan Zhenqing leap from an ordinary official unknown to a loyal subject respected by the whole country. On the way to the aftermath of the Anshi Rebellion, Yan Zhenqing adhered to the characteristics of "following the officials", so he offended many people, and the prime minister Lu Qi gave him a fatal blow. In the third year of Emperor Dezong's reign (782), Huaixi Jiedu caused Li Xilie to rebel. The following year, Lu Asked the Emperor to send Yan Zhenqing to Xuzhou. This time there was more evil and less auspicious, but "the king's fate was also avoided", and the 75-year-old Yan Zhenqing took a stagecoach to Xuzhou. Eventually, Yan Zhenqing copied his cousin's fate and was hanged by rebels at Caizhou in 784. Yan Zhenqing explained what a loyal martyr is.
In 772, the 63-year-old Yan Zhenqing wrote to Huai Su in an article about his calligraphy: "Weak qualifications, and baby and material affairs, can not be earnest, so far unsuccessful." "I am afraid that this cannot be regarded as a self-effacing statement alone. In the era when Yan Zhenqing lived and for a period of time after that, in terms of influence, he was not very high.
Yan's calligraphy "brush screen" Song people "circle of friends"
Five generations ago, Yan Zhenqing's image was that of a loyal martyr rather than a calligrapher. Dou Zhenqing(jì), a contemporary of Yan Zhenqing, commented on the calligraphers from antiquity to the present in the ShushuFu, and he praised Xu Hao, Han Zemu, and Cai Youlin, but also did not mention Yan Zhenqing. The Old Book of Tang, written in the Fifth Dynasty, uses only three words for Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy: You Gongshu.
Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy became popular in the "circle of friends" of the Song Dynasty literati doctor. The first to learn Yan Zhenqing was the prime minister Han Qi, whose "Letter Su Ti" has the shadow of Yan Body. There is also Fan Zhongyan, who coined the term "Yan Jian Liu Bone" to describe the calligraphy style of his friends. The ones who really embraced and followed Yan style calligraphy from academic and artistic practice were Ouyang Xiu and his friend Cai Xiang.
Ouyang Xiu was a literary leader and a collector. He spoke highly of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy in the Collected Ancient Records: "Yu said that Yan Gongshu is like a loyal martyr and a moral gentleman, whose dignity is strict and respectful, and people are afraid of it at first sight, but the longer it goes on, the more lovely it becomes." Si ren zhongyi is out of nature, so his calligraphy and paintings are strong and independent, do not attack the previous traces, and are quite amazing, as if they were human. Ouyang Xiu pioneered the evaluation method of personality theory calligraphy, and strengthened a kind of "Yan body" calligraphy that matched the personality of Yan Zhenqing's "loyal martyr" and "moral gentleman", which was characterized by "strict respect", "strong and independent", and "quite amazing". This style is mainly reflected in Yan Zhenqing's works in the last decade.
Cai Xiang, one of the Four Houses of the Song Dynasty, may have been influenced by Ouyang Xiu to make a creative transformation of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy in artistic practice. He blended Yan Zhenqing's style with Wang Xizhi's, transforming his demure and simple Mao into lightness and elegance. As a result, "Cai Xiang was able to work with Ouyang Xiu to set the study of Yan Body as part of the standard curriculum of the later generations of literati" ("The Wind of Zhongzheng").
The best performers in the course of studying Yan Ti were Su Shi and Huang Tingjian. Su Shi was a student of Ouyang Xiu, and he inherited and developed his teacher's point of view: "As for Du Zimei in poetry, as for Han Huizhi in literature, as for Yan Lugong in books, and as for Wu Daozi in painting, and the changes in ancient and modern times, the power of the world is complete." Su Shi is an all-round player in poetry, calligraphy and painting, and his setting of Yan Zhenqing's tone cannot be said to be high. Huang Tingjian was a student of Su Shi, and the two masters and apprentices often exchanged experiences in studying Yan Body: "Compared to writing, it is always like Lu Gong's gesture, but in the end it is not like Zi Zhan secretly in line with Sun Wu'er." ...... Yu and Dongpo learned yan plain, but yu hand clumsiness was not close at all. Through the study and application of the Song Sijia, Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy has become the second peak comparable to Wang Xizhi's influence.
There are very few calligraphers who can be regarded by Mi Fu in the "Four Houses of Song", and he does not think much of the calligraphy of Su Shi, who belongs to the teacher's generation, saying that Su Shi is "drawing characters" and huang Tingjian is "drawing characters". However, Mi Fu was still relatively polite to Yan Zhenqing, although yan Zhenqing's letters were "into the customs", but "the book can be taught", and praised Yan Zhenqing's "Scramble for a Seat" as "Jace".
Zhu Changwen, a calligraphy critic of the same era as Su Shi and others, commented on the calligraphers of the Tang and Song dynasties in the "Continuation of the Book Break", and there were only three "divine qualities" of the highest rank: Yan Zhenqing, Zhang Xu, and Li Yangbing. He also particularly emphasized that since Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, "those who have not been as public as they are."
A face body that serves as a model, a model, and a weapon
For calligraphy, Su Shi believes that a person's personality is not necessarily reflected in his calligraphy works, but a person's personality will definitely act on the emotional tendencies of future generations when appreciating their works.
Huang Tingjian's view coincided with Su Shi's: "The inscription on the wall when Yu Guanyan Shangshu died Li Xilie, he wept. Lu Gongwen Zhao Wu Lie, and the sun and moon can also compete for glory. Huang Tingjian sublimated his appreciation of Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy into a spiritual admiration and a ritual of worship. When people study the body, they are not only practicing words, but also receiving an infiltration of moral force.
Ouyang Xiu's "Jigulu" mentions an interesting story: Yan Zhenqing was a Shangshu of the Punishment Department at that time, and he wrote a post to Li Taibao, who was also an official of the same dynasty, that is, the famous "Beggar Rice Thesis". In the post, Yan Zhenqing said that she was "clumsy in trouble, the family has been eating porridge for several months, and now it is exhausted, practical and worrying." Later, this inkblot appeared at the home of Ouyang Xiu's deceased friend Prince Ye. Ziye came from the Xiang family, but he was more miserable than the Han Shi, and before he died, Ziye often carved stones to leave his friends behind, and said to his friends: "Lu Gong is a Shangshu, and his poverty is so poor, my disciples do not want to keep their promises?" ”
Yan Zhenqing ,"Beggar Mi Ti"
It can be seen from this that Yan Zhenqing became a model of a gentleman in later generations, and Yan Ti may become a weapon of the scholar, using self-defense or counter-attack. Su Shi did the ultimate in this. In a way, he became the second Yan Zhenqing. Throughout the Song Dynasty, Cai Xiang studied Yan Zhenqing, and Su Shi called Cai Xiang the first of the dynasty; Su Shi studied Yan Zhenqing, and Huang Ting insisted that Su Shi was the first of the dynasty. They seemed to be in a relay race, passing on Yan Zhenqing's influence one stick at a time.
So, why did Yan Zhenqing become a being beyond Wang Xizhi? After the Song Sijia, did they learn Yan calmly, just because of the moral personality of Yan Zhenqing's loyal martyrs? Or what kind of mechanism shaped "Yan Zhenqing"?
Ouyang Xiu said, "The festival of righteousness and righteousness is as bright as the sun and the moon, and as strong as the golden stone, it can be passed on to the hereafter, and it will be immortal without waiting for its books." Cai Xiang also said that Yan Lugong was gifted with loyalty and filial piety, and many people loved his books.
Although loyal martyrs can be immortal, in the eyes of the world, Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy can surpass Wang Xizhi, but it is an opportunity in many aspects.
First of all, from the perspective of calligraphy ontology, Yan Zhenqing is indeed in the pivotal position of inheriting the past and the future in the history of calligraphy, which has both historical reasons and its own reasons. Yan Zhenqing's Tang Dynasty was a hub for summing up and turning points in the history of calligraphy. From the perspective of font evolution, the various fonts before the Tang Dynasty will have a new font to carry the creativity and imagination of the calligraphers, and after the Tang Dynasty, there will be no new changes in the book body, and people can only seek breakthroughs in the classic works of their predecessors. From the perspective of the development of brushwork, the high tables and high chairs that appeared in the Tang Dynasty changed people's living habits, and the lifting replaced the twisting and became the main brushwork, and Yan Zhenqing was the pioneer of the style of mentioning the book. Later scholars, hoping to break through the strict calligraphy system since the Second King, turned to Yan Zhenqing for help.
Secondly, Yan Zhenqing's life perfectly embodies the judgment that "calligraphy is the expression of personality". The ancients pursued the humanistic ideal of "aspiration to the Tao, according to virtue, according to benevolence, and traveling in art", and art is the expression and expression of personality. Calligraphy is to Yan Zhenqing, just as poetry is to Du Fu, and the whole of their personality, in some moments, naturally flows out of the work.
In the "Sacrifice of nephew manuscripts", we can restore the process of the author's feelings from restraint to bursting from the brushstrokes on the paper, the traces of alteration, and the rhythm of writing, and experience the deep pain and resentment in his heart at this time. You will imagine the tragedy of Yan's "nest overturning" when Changshan City was broken, and the scene of Yan Zhenqing's martyrdom of Caizhou many years later, which was stacked like a movie lens and hit the atrium of the viewer's heart. This kind of observation and emotion has been repeated for more than a thousand years. In this way, the ancients achieved artistic immortality. Chinese culture, it is in the realization and resonance of time and again, that it has achieved endless life.