The image comes from the Internet
There are many saints in the history of our country, and it is needless to say that there are "Yasheng", "Zhu Shengren", "Kang Shengren" and so on. In addition, there are "poetry saints" who write poems, and there are "book saints" who write words. In modern times, there are "love saints" Who take the chieftains in the love field such as probing bags to take things, and also drummed out the "gambling saints", holding cards, a face of fortitude and strength, as if they were dead, and the star-chasers called this "cool".
It seems that the saints are very "cool". Zhang Xu is the "Grass Sage", written about the "Wild Grass" of the Dragon Flying Phoenix Dance. With computers, modern people's ability to write has deteriorated a lot, and fewer can recognize Zhang Xu's cursive writing. But although everyone doesn't know him, they all know his cursive cow, which is called "cool".
Take off your hat and run wildly to lead the naked runners
Zhang Xu is a Wu native, roughly in the area of present-day Suzhou. When it comes to Suzhou, the average person will think of the small bridge flowing water and Wu Nong soft language, so it is speculated that the Wu people are mostly delicate and gentle. In fact, until the Tang Dynasty, Wudi was known for its fierce folk customs. Don't forget, our most famous cold weapon "Wu Hook" is the main product there, the famous sword "Gan general" and "Mo Evil" are also built here, and Suzhou still has a main road named after "Gan General".
This style of Wu Di was inherited to Zhang Xu, and it became wild and uninhibited, and the nickname given to Zhang Xu by the people of the time was "Zhang Qian". Most of the Tang people regard wildness as beauty, and Zhang Xu's madness is even more admirable, and even Li Bai vigorously praises Lao Zhang.
Sheng Tang had a famous eight drunkards, Du Fumei called it "Eight Immortals in Drinking", and Zhang Xu and several of his iron brothers Li Bai and He Zhizhang were on this honor list. Everyone knows Li Bai's style, that is the master of "the son of heaven calling not to the ship"; He Zhizhang calls himself "Siming Fanatic", and is also an old naughty boy; Zhang Xu and these people are equally famous, and what kind of character it is can be imagined.
As a super drunkard, Zhang Xu's best program is not yet drunk, looking like drinking high - there are three points of drunkenness before drinking, in fact, the performance has not yet started. As soon as the wine was drunk, he began to scream in his throat and run wildly, shouting for a brush, and then swinging it with pleasure, making the cursive flow with charm. After waking up drunk, Zhang Xu could no longer write that realm, and he felt very confused: this word was actually written by me, I was so cattle!
Zhang Xu's life's thoughts were all spent on pondering and practicing words, the home was full of wild grass and the four walls of the family, he was not full of indifference, but rolled his eyes and stared at the sky, and he didn't see it at all. If there is no economic brainer in this way, it is naturally impossible to eat in society, and only grass-roots cadres such as Changshi and county lieutenants have been appointed.
But as soon as he drank, he felt as if he were a state minister. In front of the princely minister, he threw away his hat and skillfully carried out his old business. In the Tang Dynasty, it was extremely rude not to wear a hat in front of people, so Zhang Xu took off his hat and shouted in front of these nobles, similar to the naked running of modern performance artists. This was shocking in the Tang Dynasty, where the naked running cause was far less popular than it is today. Once he was excited, Zhang Xu used his hair as a brush, dipped in ink and capitalized wild grass, and the words he wrote were all divine products.
This hand is indeed very handsome, and since then, there have been countless examples of gourd painting scoops. In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a well-known painter named Wen Riguan, and the grapes painted were particularly famous and belonged to the treasures of the royal collection. The monk's painting technique was the same as Zhang Xu's, first getting drunk, then shouting and dipping his head in ink to practice. However, Lao Zhang is a soft pen, and Wen Riguan's should be regarded as a hard pen.
Its cursive script was designated by the emperor as one of the "three absolutes"
Zhang Xu's calligraphy is an unambiguous academic body. In his early years of learning calligraphy, Zhang Xu's uncle was his Mr. Enlightenment. And his uncle was precisely the Nth generation of Wang Xi's father and son, and Zhang Xu was a well-known and upright disciple. But Zhang Xu is not an ordinary person, and when he sees the porters who carry the burdens fighting for the road, the burdens shake left and right, and they have some understanding; Later, when I heard others playing drums and playing, I finally became enlightened and understood the superior brushwork.
Picking up burdens and music performances are completely incompatible things, and calligraphy is even more incompatible, but Zhang Xu can find the true meaning of calligraphy from it, which shows that martial arts have reached the highest level. The upright and the evil are all on the same path, and all things are from the same root. This truth is mysterious, but at least it tells us to concentrate on our own work, to do a line of love, Julius Caesar said, all roads lead to Rome. As for Zhang Xu seeing Gongsun Da Niang dancing the "sword weapon" and thus appreciating the charm of calligraphy, it is also a matter of course. Only it can be unique and bypassed, so it not only keeps Wang Xizhi's absolute learning, but also carries it forward, which makes it a family of its own in the jianghu.
The Tang Dynasty emperor Lao Tzu once issued an edict, designating Li Bai's poetry, Pei Man's sword dance and Zhang Xu's cursive writing as the "three best" in the world. This lofty and lofty honor is well deserved by Lao Zhang. Later generations of calligraphers commented on the previous generation of Dana, and it was inevitable that some people would occasionally criticize Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang and other cattle people, but there was nothing to say to Zhang Xu. And it was concluded that only Cui Miao and Yan Zhenqing had obtained Zhang Xu's true biography.
Yan Zhenqing asked for advice twice before he could get the true transmission
Yan Zhenqing can be said to be Zhang Xu's disciple, and also his most famous apprentice, according to his skill, Yan Zhenqing is also worthy of the new leader of Wang Xizhi's faction. However, Yan Zhenqing followed Zhang Xu twice before he got the Gaishi Divine Skill.
For the first time, Yan Zhenqing respectfully studied with Zhang Xu for a while, and although he had gained something, he always felt that he had not scratched the itch. Later, it was rumored that someone had learned the penmanship from Zhang Xu and said how wonderful this method was and blew out of the sky. Yan Zhenqing muttered: No, I have been with the boss for so long, and the boss still has a hand with me. Soon, Yan Zhenqing heard a new rumor that whenever others asked Zhang Xu for advice, he laughed and then wrote cursive in front of his face. After writing, I patted my ass and left without saying a word.
Yan Zhenqing really couldn't help it, and simply resigned and ran to find Zhang Xu. At that time, Zhang Xu was living in the home of another calligrapher, Pei Juan, and Yan Zhenqing asked Pei Yan privately, you have been with the boss for a year, what kind of things are you doing? Pei Yan frowned straightly: This year I have good food and drink and good service, but the boss only wrote me a few screens and a few silks, as soon as I asked about the penmanship, the boss said to redouble my efforts to practice words, and this method will be self-explanatory.
Yan Zhenqing looked at it, and there was no drama in this side knock, and he held back at Pei Yan's house for more than a month. One day, I had the courage to say to Zhang Xu: Boss, you see that you have already taught me, why leave something, a spoonful of stew. Zhang Xu listened for half a day without saying a word, and then looked left and right for a while, and the boss did not want to get up and leave. Yan Zhenqing was quite obedient, and followed Zhang Xu to the small hall of the East Bamboo Forest Courtyard, Zhang Xu sat down in the middle with a big swing, let Yan Zhenqing sit down next to him, and said: Calligraphy is a mysterious and subtle thing, not that zhishigao people can't teach it, today I teach you that you have to understand it well.
Yan Zhenqing only then received the True Transmission and officially marched towards the master from then on. This passage is exactly the same as Sun Wukong's journey to the teacher, and Wu Cheng'en must have been inspired by Zhang Xu to write such a mysterious plot.
Unfortunately, he left very few authentic traces
Among those who play art, Zhang Xu belongs to the kind of luck, and he has been famous all over the world before he died. Unlike Van Gogh's unlucky egg, he was poor and dead, but after his death, the price of the painting soared, and what did a painting have to do with Van Gogh himself when he fried to 70 million US dollars?
Zhang Xu has a neighbor who is too poor to open the pot, and knows that although Zhang Xu's economic situation is not very good, he spends money like dirt and never takes money seriously, so he cries to Zhang Xu for being poor. Zhang Xu wrote him a letter and told him that you said that this is a letter written by someone from Zhang Zhang, and it should be able to sell for a good price. The brother took the letter and ran to the auction house, and indeed sold for a high price of 100 gold. However, although no agent counted him, Zhang Xu himself still did not get rich by selling words.
When the days were not mixed, Zhang Xu also worked as a petty official in his hometown. An old man took the form to the yamen to ask him for approval, and Zhang Xu approved it for him. Unexpectedly, the next day the old man came to get a certificate and asked him for approval. Zhang Xu was angry: Boss, did you make a mistake? This is Yamen, you want to use the lawsuit to hype ah? When the old man saw Zhang Xu angry, he could only tell the truth: It is true that your words are too wonderful, and you want to get more to collect at home. Zhang Xu listened and met a professional collector. After a chat, I found that the old man was a knowledgeable person, and the family collected a lot of famous handwriting. Zhang Xu went through the fine works of the scholars from the old man, and thus went to another level of realm.
Zhang Xu's problem is that when he is drunk and crazy, he likes to smear on the white powder wall and screen, which is not easy to retain, so Zhang Xu's authentic handwriting is very rare, and it is often the Tuoben of the former dynasty. Jin Yong's "Smiling Proud of the Jianghu" describes that in order to save Ren Ren, Xiang Qingtian used Zhang Xu's "Intention Post" as bait to deceive the enemy's heart. In Zhang Xu's calligraphy left today, the "Intention Post" is not in it. The Four Treatises of Ancient Poems was once widely respected as Zhang Xu's authentic work, and the earliest person to believe that it was Zhang Xu's handwriting was Dong Qichang. Dong Qichang's character is suspicious, and most of the words he says are a bit discounted. After careful examination before his death, Mr. Qi Gong believed that the "Four Theses of Ancient Poems" was not Zhang Xu's work.
Of course, this does not affect the memory of this sometimes crazy calligraphy giant, especially his strange way of creating. In contemporary times, there are still people learning calligraphy, but the road is more and more out of shape, there are left hand writing, there are two hands written at the same time, some written upside down, some written in reverse, written with the mouth, and what is used is not a brush... There are many tricks and countless, if you can barely call this Zhang Xu's legacy, such a legacy is not there.