▲ Zhang Mu
Zhang Mu (1805-1849), originally known as Yingxian (瀛暹), also spelled Shizhou (石州), also known as Shizhou (石州), was named Yin Zhai (殷斋). A native of Pingding County, Shanxi, he was a patriotic thinker, geographer, poet and calligrapher in modern times. During the Opium War, he once held patriotic enthusiasm, wrote letters and deeds, ran and shouted, contacted friends in Beijing, and inspired people through activities to commemorate Gu Yanwu. After that, with the purpose of asserting national prestige and resisting Tsarist aggression, he devoted himself to the study of the geography of the northwest frontier and the history of Mongolia.
Life resume
1. Parents who have lost their parents at an early age
Zhang Mu's ancestral home was Pingding, Shanxi, and later moved to Dayangquan Village. Zhang Mu was born into a family of rising scholars, and his grandparents and fathers had been officials in the dynasty for two generations, and they had both political achievements and writings. Influenced by his family since childhood, Zhang Mu was intelligent and studious, and often traveled with his father between mountains and rivers, and it was the accumulation of this young age that laid the foundation for Zhang Mu's future exploration of history and geography. In his childhood, Zhang Mu spent all day with poetry and books, plain and relaxed. However, the good times did not last long, and his mother died when he was eleven years old, and his father died three years later, and Zhang Mu was fourteen years old.
2. Lost stepmother again
Zhang Mu was raised by her stepmother to adulthood, and her stepmother was determined to raise Zhang Mu into a talent with hard work, and from then on, she held a long fast and never ate meat for life. When Zhang Mu was 16 years old, his stepmother invited Wu Shi, a master from Xiaoshan, Zhejiang Province, to teach him to read. His stepmother was very strict about his studies, and let him recite the scroll at night, and the lamp was dim. Zhang Mu made great progress in his studies. When he was 19 years old, his stepmother married him and died of overwork. This sudden blow pressed on Zhang Mu's heart, causing him to cry out in the sky and cry bitterly.
3. Unintentional fame
In the twelfth year of Daoguang (1832), Zhang Mu was admitted to the Zhenghuangqi teaching with Yougong, and only did the Zhengbaiqi teaching in his life.
Daoguang should take the Shun Tianxiang examination in the nineteenth year, and when he entered the test site, he brought a pot of wine, and the invigilator told him to put it down. He lifted the jug and drank a little, so that he threw away the leftover jug. The invigilator was furious, so he ordered his luggage to be opened, and only the paper, ink and pencil were pulled out, and nothing was found. Zhang Mu patted his belly and said, "This is my bookcase, and the articles contained there are all here." Can you find it?" The invigilator then sent him to the Punishment Department and falsely accused him of entering the court. Later, he was released after being identified, but he lost the opportunity to take the exam. After that, Zhang Mu despised the name of Bo Shi and had no intention of advancing, changing his name to Mu and writing with all his heart.
4. Traveling celebrities
Qi Junzao is one of Zhang Mu's closest friends, but also an in-law relationship, the two have been friends for more than ten years, they have been working with each other, and there are many poetry and books. In addition, the two also exchanged a lot of calligraphy. According to records, Zhang Mu often ghostwrote for Qi Junzao, which is now circulated in many places, the content is mostly written by Zhang Mu, and the falling money is Qi Junzao, which causes difficulties for posterity to identify, which shows the depth of the friendship between the two.
At the same time, Zhang Mu intersected with He Shaoji, Cheng Enze, Gong Zizhen, Xu Jishe, Wei Yuan, Ruan Yuan and other celebrities, which had a great influence on his life.
5. Running for the Opium War
In April of the 23rd year of Daoguang, the Daoguang Emperor revived the use of traitor Qishan and others, and Zhang Mu wrote "Impeachment of Qishan, Yijing, and Wen Weishu" on behalf of The Imperial Historian Chen Songnan, and Chen Made a generous statement in the palace to force the emperor to take back his life, and Chen Songnan was thus famous and shocked the government.
After the Opium War broke out, Zhang Mu, He Shaoji, Chen Qingyong, Miao Kui, and others gritted their teeth and strangled their wrists and ran around to carry out patriotic academic activities. Zhang Mu advocated the propagation of Gu Yanwu's patriotic ideas, and together with He Shaoji and others raised funds to build the 'Tinglin Ancestral Hall', and held a groundbreaking ceremony at the Baoguo Temple in the southwest of Beijing in the spring of 1843. In order to publicize Mr. Tinglin's pure patriotism, Zhang Mu wrote "The Annals of Mr. Gu Tinglin". On May 28, 1844, gu Yanwu's birthday, Zhang Mu wrote the "Public Sacrifice of Mr. Tinglin's Birthday". On May 28, scholars gathered in front of the Gu Ancestral Hall to hold a public ceremony. At this gathering, 102 poems of Yong gu were collected, and the "Xiaoxiuye Singing and Poetry Collection" was integrated, and in order to expand its influence, it was agreed to hold a regular meeting festival every year on the Chongyang Festival. It can be said that Gu Yanwu's patriotic thinking is inseparable from Zhang Mu's vigorous propaganda and advocacy.
During the Opium War, Zhang Mu adhered to the position of the main battle, and Qi Gongke, the governor of Liangguang, who had done good things for the people, wrote the "Gonggong Gongwen of Qi Gongke" and so on.
6. Ten years of compilation of great works related to national defense and security
In the late Qing Dynasty, the corruption of the ruling class, the increasingly severe international situation, and the rebellion in the northwest region continued. After the Opium War, Russia was eyeing the territory of our northwest region in a vain attempt to devour the northwest region by force. Due to this special historical environment, the northwest public opinion geoscience has quietly risen, attracting the attention of scholars, and Zhang Mu has also become a leading figure in the study of northwest public opinion geography. In 1845, Zhang Mu began writing the Mongolian Nomads. The Mongolian Nomads are Zhang Mu's last scholarly work and the author's classic. It is a huge work that the author finally compiled after a "big" and "refined" knowledge precipitation, a large number of meticulous academic evidence and cumbersome literature collation. It can be said that the "Mongolian Nomads" is of great significance for the study of the geography of Mongolia. Soon after its publication, this book was highly respected and cherished by sinologists at home and abroad. In the late 1860s, the Russian-based Kafarov noticed its value and was the first to translate it into Russian. The British authority on Mongolian history, Badley, and the French sinologist Bo xihe both highly praised the book in their works. To this day, this book is also an authoritative work of foreign historians, influencing Tokyo, St. Petersburg, Paris, London, Riyadh and other regions.
7. Other publications
Zhang Mutong was proficient in many fields such as the study of calligraphy and calligraphy, and wrote as many as fifty-five works in his lifetime, such as the Supplement to Russian Affairs, the Later Book of the Fuyi Trade Regulations, the Translation of the Secret History of the Yuan Dynasty, the Annotations of the Water Classics, the Topographical Chronicles of Wei Yanchang, the Annals of Gu Tinglin, the Annals of Yan Qianqiu, and the Collected Poems of The Yi Dynasty.
The main achievement of the Mongolian Nomads
First, Zhang Mu adopted the method of writing and annotating the various parts of Inner and Outer Mongolia in the "Mongolian Nomads", the main text records the geographical situation of the various parts of Inner and Outer Mongolia, concise and clear, while the annotations quote poems to describe the mountains and waterways, customs and customs, and scenery outside the Cyprus. The use of this method, a change from the previous way of only writing and not noting, not only highlights a certain topic, but also takes into account other aspects, especially the large number of quotations in poetry, reducing the boring and tedious feeling of examination.
Second, the academic value and historical value of "Mongolian Nomadism" are high, and have been valued by the academic community for generations. In this book, Zhang Mu focuses on the increasingly serious border problem at that time, focusing on the present, changing the past generations of scholars to write ancient history but ignore the shortcomings of the present. As a classic of geography in the late Qing Dynasty, "Mongolian Nomads" was valued by scholars from many countries after its conquest, and was widely circulated from Beijing to Tokyo, Paris, London, Russia and other countries, and was translated into more than ten languages. However, it is a pity that due to the ignorance of the rulers of our dynasty, Outer Mongolia has become the object of others, which Zhang Mu never expected when he wrote this book.
Third, Zhang Mu lived in an era when the great powers coveted our country, and in order to make academic research beneficial to border defense, the academic community at this time was very popular in studying the geography and history of the frontier. In terms of studying the geography and history of northwest China, there are Qi Yunshi's "Outline of the Domain", "Outline of the Western Province", Xu Song's "Records of the Waterways of the Western Regions", "Xinjiang Chronicle", He Qiutao's "Shuofang Preparation", and so on. During the Opium War, there were Wei Yuan's "Atlas of the Sea Kingdom", Xu Jishe's "Yinghuan Zhiluo", etc., including Zhang Mu's "Mongolian Nomadism". These works fully show that intellectuals have initially awakened in the national crisis, representing China's patriotic intellectuals' demand for understanding of foreign countries and resisting foreign aggression, and conveying strong patriotic feelings every word.
"Mongolian Nomads" mainly tells about the vastness of Mongolia at home and abroad, which is a barrier in the north, so it is particularly important to understand the mountains, climate, folklore, and trade in Mongolia, which is related to national defense and security. In the book, Zhang Mu introduced the various tribes of Mongolia in detail, described the topographical characteristics of each department, the stationing of troops, and the marching fortresses in great detail, and even gave a detailed introduction to where the water and grass in various parts of Mongolia were fertile, where the water quality was salty, which could not be quoted by people and livestock, and where it was suitable for animal husbandry, which provided a reliable basis for the development of Mongolian agriculture and animal husbandry. In addition, Zhang Mu wrote a large-scale account of the acceptance of Qing dynasty officials and knighthoods by various Mongolian ministries in the "Mongolian Nomads", warmly praised the "tribute" and "peace relatives" of the Turks, and agreed with the Qing court's support for the economic development of Inner and Outer Mongolia.
Zhang Mu's calligraphic thoughts
1. Influenced by "Su Huang", and strive to avoid "customs"
On the occasion of Daoguang, Zhang Mu had studied "Su Huang" in depth, and while understanding the art of "Su Huang" poetry and books, he was deeply influenced by the artistic stance of the two. Compared with the Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty calligraphy advocated shang yi to declare affection and was tired of the law. This artistic feature is not only consistent with the essential law of the development of calligraphy art, but also related to the background of the times at that time. The Song Dynasty advocated the release of human emotions in calligraphy, focusing more on the pursuit of deep meaning, especially the expression of cultural connotation and personality spirit. Su and Huang, as representative figures of this period, their calligraphy is indulgent and innocent, which can be called yipin.
Zhang Mu admired Su Shi, worked hard and had a very high eye. He advocated "authenticity", that is, not pretentious but shown his true disposition. Zhang Mu's artistic thought is the realm of Zhuangzi's inaction, and his calligraphic theoretical ideas have not only had an impact in ancient times, but even in the context of modern scholarship, they still shine with the brilliance of life.
2, heartless writers become everyone
Zhang Mu calligraphy is a person who can enter the ancient and innovate, but he has been patriotic and political all his life, taking the study of public opinion in the northwest as the great cause, and taking the "application of the world" industry to save the country as his mission, but he has left a dazzling position in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Therefore, letting nature go is often more convincing than deliberately doing it. Zhang Mushu's works are vigorous and mature, relaxed and not frivolous, quiet and changeable, and although the works he has written seem to be random, they will condense the pen end of what they have learned throughout their lives, seemingly impossible, but the pen has a method, and finally has an impossible method. The lines are used freely and casually, the structure is obedient, full of fun, although the brushwork does not have a sense of tension, but the pen is vigorous and powerful, and the chapter is comfortable and natural.
3. Zhang Mu and the "North Monument" Theory
Zhang Mu's study of calligraphy can be pushed up to the Qin and Han Dynasties, especially the stele calligraphy, and has made great efforts. He once wrote in the poem "Zhang Zhongyuan's Great Order Titled His Sister's Four Books": "Read less Yi Zhengshu, and roughly understand the Northern Tablet School." It can be seen that Ruan Yuan had a great influence on Zhang Mu. Zhang Mushiyun: "Wei Qi Shanggen Festival, Jin and Song Dynasty." The Central Plains is still in full swing. The southern thesis is a northern stele, a clumsy and cunning. This metaphor is a widow, and the world is suspicious of each other. Zhang Mu inherited Ruan Yuan's views on the "North Stele", deeply studied the ancient stele and studied the famous posters of the past, so that his calligraphy has an elegant golden stone charm.
Zhang Mu's calligraphy experience
Zhang Mu is good at true, line, grass, and seals, among which cursive writing is the most prominent and has the highest achievements. Zhang Mu started with calligraphy in his childhood, and then gradually transitioned to stele calligraphy and cursive writing, integrating ancient classics into one, transforming the relics of the sages into his own, and finally integrating them into his own. While studying the classic Fa Theses of previous dynasties, he integrated the self-purified pen and ink taste, personality, and emotion into the original pure and quiet order of the calligraphy of the previous generation, setting off a striking wave of innovation in the book world, and it can even be said that Zhang Mu became a well-deserved one in the late Qing Dynasty.
1. Early childhood teacher Fa Ouyang inquired
Regarding Zhang Mu's experience in studying books, the Shizhou Annals record: "Uncle Zheng,the third brother of the priest, learned from Ou Shuying and pulled out the group, Mu barely rushed to go, and the pawn could not reach it. There are only a few words here, Zhang Mu was only fifteen years old when he studied Ouyang's inquiry, although he failed to understand the essence of Ou, but it also fully proved that Zhang Mu had begun to study Ou Shu in his childhood.
2. Juvenile teacher Fa Li Beihai
Zhang Mu wrote in the "Ming Tuo Li Sixun Stele": "Bozhou Liang Songzhai Great Order is famous for his good study of Beihai books, the first Bo Kao Yongfeng Junshi received the penmanship, so my family Songzhai has the most books, and its Linsi Training Stele is no less than a dozen volumes, the first gentleman got one volume, which still exists today, but it is not songzhai proud book." Taste the Berkao family's stele BaiQuan Benyun: it is concentrated on dozens of papers, word by word to select the table, Berkau's post is lost, and the Hundred Treasures do not know where the pile is. Because Liang Wei had a deep friendship with Zhang Muzu and his father, it is very likely that Zhang Mu studied Li Beihai calligraphy and Liang Wei calligraphy.
3. Calligraphy of the tombstone of the young teacher
Judging from the stylistic characteristics of Zhang Mu's calligraphy in his youth, he mainly studied epitaph calligraphy, such as "Zhang Heinu Epitaph", "Zhang Ronglong Stele", "Dong Meiren Epitaph", "Yuan Luo Epitaph" and so on. Zhang Mu's calligraphy has similarities with Zhang Xuan's Epitaph in terms of posture, knotting, and pen movement. From the perspective of brushwork, Zhang Mukai's book, Park Mao's ups and downs, introverted and mellow, skimming and writing with a pen is strong and long, which is similar to the epitaph of "Zhang Xuan's Epitaph"; from the perspective of knotting, Zhang Mu often overlays the horizontal strokes on the vertical strokes when writing horizontal strokes and vertical strokes, and this knot law comes from the "Zhang Xuan Epitaph"; from the perspective of chapter law, because Zhang Mu started with Ou Kai in his childhood, and later studied epitaph calligraphy, so his epitaph knot body is square and flat, merging tang Kai fa du and Northern Wei style rhyme into one, and absorbing and taking, Eclectic and self-contained.
4. ShengNian teacher Fa Yan Zhenqing
Zhang Mu mainly studied cursive writing in his prime years, and the main model he studied was Yan Zhenqing's "ZhongyiTang Ti", which is the earliest and most complete collection of Existing Yan Lugong calligraphy. Zhang Mu studied Yan Zhenqing's works in large quantities in his youth and absorbed the essence of Yan Shu, so the lines he wrote were full and old and spicy, the strokes were straight and curved, there was still movement, the softness was full and subtle, the pen was free, the press was frustrated, and he received the effect of being full of muscles and bones, full of paper pearls; using ink to pay attention to the thick and dry and wet changes, rich and colorful, with a kind of free and free, vertical and horizontal momentum, sweeping away the style of writing that was weak, rigid, stylized, and contrived.
Appreciation of Zhang Mu's calligraphy
Zhang Mu is a breakthrough calligrapher, although following the traditional route, but there is no shortage of "out-of-the-ordinary defections" to his style. Zhang Mu's calligraphy was formed from kindergarten, shicheng, and stele, and drew nourishment from Yan, Ou, Su, Huang and other scholars, and eventually became a family of its own. The beauty of Zhang Mu's calligraphy can be roughly described in eight words: simple, quaint, diluted, and simple.
(Source: Mu Feng Tingyu 666 West of the Mountains)