Wang Xizhi's silk "Cursive Ping'an Ti" is 24.5 cm long and 13.8 cm wide, with a total of 4 lines and 41 characters
Scholars have different inferences about its engraving age, which can be combined into two views: Wang Shimao of the Ming Dynasty and Xu Bangda, an expert in modern calligraphy and painting, believe that it is a facsimile of the Song Dynasty, which is suspected to be copied by Mi Fu; Wen Jia, Sun Feng, and Wu Qizhen of the Ming Dynasty, and Gu Fu and An Qi of the Qing Dynasty believe that it is Tang Linben. Although the exact date is uncertain, it is certain that it is no later than the Song Dynasty. Because of its large number of bibliographies and orderly circulation, it is considered to be one of the best ancient facsimiles of Wang Xizhi that can be known and circulated in folklore so far.
Shusheng Wang Xizhi's cursive "Ping An Ti" was auctioned at a high price of 308 million yuan at the night auction of China Guardian in the autumn of 2010. It set a new record for the highest price of a single word in a Chinese calligraphy auction, with only 41 words, an average of 7.5 million yuan per word.
The cursive "Ping'an Ti" was once praised by the Qianlong Emperor as comparable to wang Xizhi's "Qing Ti in the Fast Snow". In fact, Wang Xizhi's works have been handed down to this day, and the real works rarely exist in the world. Like Wang Xizhi's other inkblots, the Ping'an Thesis has different inferences about its engraving date, some believe that it is a Song facsimile, some believe that it is copied by Mi Fu, and more are identified as Tang facsimiles.
The complete cursive Heian Thesis is now unavailable. Fortunately, with the meticulous support of Ke Jiusi, Wen Zhengming and others, we are also fortunate to see this inkblot (see picture), which preserves its first four lines and 41 characters, and the silk ground is extremely ancient, and the ink color is thick and black.
The cursive "Peace Post" is enlarged
Due to the limited information, it can only start from the information it retains- such as collection marks, inscriptions, mounting, etc., and refer to the available materials to examine its circulation experience and judge the approximate age of its imitation and fragmentation.
As early as the end of the 1970s, after Mr. Xu Bangda saw this post, he had studied and written a special article, he said: "The ancient seal of this post - 'calligraphy and painting print', Ke JiuSi seal are all ancient, should not be fake... The seals of Wen Zhengming, Wang Guxiang, Peng Nian, Hu Rujia Zhubao and Wen Shi since the collection are all true. "The level of its gouge is roughly equivalent to imami's "Shangyu" and "Dry Vomiting" two posts."
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, this volume was discovered by Wen Zhengming. Twenty years after Jiajing, the Wen father and son carved it into his family's "Stop Cloud Pavilion Fa Ti". In the twelve volumes of the present-day Ming Dynasty, the Ping'an Ti is inscribed in the fourth volume, with the title of the book on the front: "Tang Dynasty True Manuscript Volume Iv", followed by an inscription such as "Jiajing Twenty Years Summer and June Changzhou Wenshi ShuyunGuan Gle Shangshi". Wen Zhengming father and son are experts in copying the paste, from the ink book to the stone, the cursive "Ping An Tie" in the "Shuyunguan Fa Ti" is almost no longer out of line with the original ink book we see today, and the 14-character small line book signed by Song Hua Aya's water-separated rice body "Jin Right Army General Hui Nei Shi Wang Xi Zhi Ping An Ti" is also very similar.
12 years after the Shuyunguan copied this post, the 84-year-old Wen Zhengming wrote a long trek in a lishu at the end of this post (Bei Qin). At this time, he had a new view of the "Ping'an Post" that was engraved in the fourth volume of the "True Works of the Tang Dynasty" and identified it as a "true deed". Although his son Wen Jia had indirectly rejected his father's opinion, Wen Zhengming did not change until he was old.
This Wen Zhengming inscription of "Jiajing Decoction Ugly May Hope Day Dress After Reading" can prove that at least in this year, the silk cursive book "Ping An Ti" has become Wen Zhengming's collection. Later, during the years of Wanli and Chongzhen, this volume changed hands many times, first into Zhu Zhong's office, and then by antique dealers to Wang Shimao's house, with a price as high as "sixty thousand".
Wen Zheng Ming Bao Wen
This post finally entered the hands of another collector at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and Wu Qizhen's "Records of Calligraphy and Painting" recorded: "Wang Youjun's "Peace Anding Thesis" is a volume, wonderful, and the book is on hard yellow paper, which is for the Tang Dynasty. There are Ke Jiusi books on it, which are engraved in the "Stopping Cloud Pavilion"... Looking at the family of Wu Chunsheng in Xi'nan..." Wu Qizhen saw the "Ping'an Ti" in Wu's clan in Shexian County, and Wang Shiqing was examined as "April 4, 4th of the fourth year of Chongzhen". This is another destination for this post.
After that, this volume was collected by the Qing Dynasty collectors Cao Rong, Li Zongkong and Liang Qingbiao. Liang's connoisseurship and collection were abundant at the time, and he had two Tibetan and Indian sides in this volume: "Seal of Liang's Calligraphy and Paintings in The Banana Forest" and "Examination and Approval of Tang Estate". Gathering things together is also a great blessing for "Peace Thesis"!
After Liang Qingbiao's death, most of his collection was included in the inner palace, and the "Peace Of Peace" also became a royal collection. In April of the fifty-fifth year of Qianlong, Qianlong made an interpretation of this post on the water behind the yellow silk, and then wrote a large book on the back of the water on the back of the water, "Ke Ya Shi Qing Ti" number. "QingTi when the snow is fast" is Qianlong's most admired "Xi Shizhen", and his five-word hyphenation of the "Peace Post" reveals the weight of this post in his heart. Subsequently, it was compiled into the "Shiqu Baodi • Continuation". When you leave the palace, it is not certain for the time being, but judging from the seal on it, it should be after Jiaqing.
From the above circulating experience, it can be known that the "Ping'an Ti" has been in the hands of famous collectors with strength and vision, such as Ke Jiusi, at least since the Yuan Dynasty, which on the one hand proves its own charm and value, on the other hand, it also reveals the main reason why this ancient post can be well preserved through vicissitudes - the inheritance is well-preserved, which is the luck of the "Ping An Ti".
The age of writing and copying ancient thesis is often a matter of particular interest to connoisseurs, scholars, and enthusiasts. Due to their long age and complex historical situation, in the process of their circulation, they will inevitably fall into the hands of good deeds and profiteers, passive hands and feet, and cause confusion and misleading to the original research. This is the case with several Song Dynasty royal seals on the Ping'an Thesis.
Flaws do not hide Yu, historical discerning appraisers did not deny this post because of these several seals, but can still examine and discuss its own artistic and historical value from the style of writing, the level of imitation, the silk color, and the inheritance mark. Their chronological judgments on this post are roughly as follows: Wen Zhengming and Qianlong believe that Wang Xizhi is the true work; Wen Jia, Sun Zhen, Wu Qizhen, Gu Fu, An Qi, and others who believe that Tang Lin is the most; those who believe that it is a facsimile of Song are Xu Bangda and Wang Shimao.
So far, although we have no other evidence to confirm the dating of the Heian Thesis, it is certain that it is by no means later than the Song Dynasty.
(Source: Popular Calligraphy)