As we all know, the achievements of Wen Zhengming, the "four great talents of Wuzhong", in calligraphy were almost unparalleled at that time. Its rows, grasses, subordinates, and seals are all worked. However, among his various books, the most valued and artistic achievements are Xiao Kai and Xingshu. His Xiao Kai is clean and elegant, and he is deeply impressed by ZhiYong's penmanship, and sometimes has the reputation of "Xiao Kai's name moves in the sea".
His writings can be roughly divided into two major styles: one is the sketches written with Wang Xizhi's "Sacred Order" as the main meaning; the other is the large lines written in Huanggu's pen. Wen Zhengming admired Huang Tingjian's writing, made great efforts in copying and understanding, and finally learned Huang Tingjian's writing style, to the point where it could almost be chaotic.
However, a few days before his death at the age of 90, his calligraphy was like a ghost god through heaven and earth, the style of writing changed greatly, he changed the small and neat work of the past, and wrote a large-character line book "Title Song Gaozong Gave Yue Fei a Hand Edict", which was extremely rare in Wen Zhengming's entire writing career, so some people speculated that Wen Zhengming may know that he did not have much time and wanted to leave some unique masterpieces.
"Inscription Song Gaozong Gave Yue Fei Hand Edict" (National Palace Museum, Taipei) with Huang Tingjian's penmanship, the whole text of the big character line, the pen is vigorous, the knot is long-flowing, although it was written a few days before his death, but there is no sloppiness, it can really be said that people are old and have reached the pinnacle.
What other works do you like about Wen Zhengming? Let me know in the comments section!