Xiao Yin Literature Museum Exhibits Story 9
Xiao Yin's collection of Cao Sugong and Wang Jinsheng's "Tibetan Smoke" ancient ink (middle)
——What is the story of the words and patterns on the ink ingots?
Chen Jiaji
In a display case of the Xiao Yin Literature Museum in the Heyuan Library, 4 ancient ink ingots of "Hidden Smoke" were found in Xiao Yin's collection, of which three ingots were written on the front and patterned on the back. The three ingots are: "Let go of the upside down", "Book for flock of geese" and "This Jun plays research".
The front of Xiao Yin's collection of "Hidden Smoke" ancient ink
The opposite of Xiao Yin's collection of "Hidden Smoke" ancient ink
What's the allusion here?
1. Let go of the desires
This is most likely an allusion to the "Rice Worship Stone".
The great calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty, Mi Fu, is known as the first stone fool in ancient and modern times. He was a wandering skeleton with a crazy demeanor, known as "Mi Qiang". According to the "Chronicle of Wuwei Prefecture", when Mi Fu first took office in the Wuwei Zhi Army in Anhui, there was a strangely shaped stone in the local river, and the surrounding people respected the gods and did not dare to dig it up at will for many years. When he heard about it, he did not hesitate to work hard, and sent people to move this stone to the state capital and stand up, and built a court along the stone to enjoy it day by day. Mi Fu saw that this stone had a strange shape, and there was a spirit hidden in the midst of the ridge, and the awe-inspiring bone qi was revealed in the thinness, resembling an old man who had endured the wind and frost for a long time and was awe-inspiring. Mi Fu immediately set up a crown, bowed down in devotion, and shouted in unison: "I want to see my brother for twenty years." This is the famous "Rice Upside Down Stone" story. The worship of the stone not only expresses the stone appreciation of the rice, but also shows the magnificent personality of the rice.
Tossing refers to indulgence. It is okay to understand the "upside down worship stone" on the ink ingot as "rice worship stone", because one rice is really obsessed with strange stones, and there is a saying of "worshiping stones". In addition, as one of the calligraphers of the Four Families of the Song Dynasty, Mi Fu is also related to Ink. Engraving this pattern on the ink ingot is also suitable for it, and it is interesting to match! Comparing the "Stone Drawing of Mi Qianbai" with the pattern on the back of the ink ingot collected by Xiao Yin, it can be seen that this statement is reasonable.
Ancient painting "Mi Qian Bai Shi Tu"
The pattern on the back of the ink ingot in Xiao Yin's collection "Let Go and Worship"
2. Book for flock of geese
Wang Xizhi, a great calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty, loved geese sexually, and there was a lonely old lady who raised a goose, and the sound was very good, he wanted to buy it but could not get it, so he took his relatives and friends to watch. Who knew that the old lady had heard that he was coming, and had cooked the goose and prepared to entertain him, and he had been sad all day. At that time, there was a Taoist monk in Shanyin who raised a flock of geese, and Wang Xizhi was very happy when he went to watch it, and repeatedly begged the Taoist priest to buy his goose. The Taoist priest said to him, "If you copy the Tao Te Ching for me, the geese will all be given to you." Wang Xizhi gladly wrote it, and put the geese in a cage and went back, and he was very happy along the way.
The pattern on the back of Xiao Yin's collection of ink ingots "Book for Flock of Geese"
3. This jun plays research
From the pattern point of view, it shows the owner of a literati dressed as a literati and his bookboy, and the bookboy holds a brick platform in his hand, which should be the literati preparing to study ink. The "play" of "play research" means "love, love". The text and pattern of this "this jun play research" vividly express the love of the literati and inkers for the study of ink calligraphy and painting.
The pattern on the back of Xiao Yin's collection of ink ingots "This Jun Play Research"