Nowadays, although electronic documents have become popular, handwritten signatures are still very important, so many people have their own unique way of signing. In fact, as early as ancient society, there were various alternative signatures, such as the signature of Zhao Erfeng, a minister of the Qing Dynasty, who was unique in that he would draw a white crane after reading the official documents. What is the secret of this signature? Below, let Xiaobian reveal the secret to you from scratch.
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When it comes to Zhao Erfeng, many readers may not be familiar with it, so Xiaobian will first tell you about his deeds. In 1845, Zhao Erfeng was born in the Zhao family of Liaoyang, and his father was a jinshi during the Daoguang years, so he can be called a scholar. Of the four Zhao Erfeng brothers, Zhao Erxun was the most famous and was a famous politician and reformer in the late Qing Dynasty. It is also strange to say that the four brothers of the Zhao family are all talented, and the other three brothers have successively entered the army and entered the career path, but only Zhao Erfeng has repeatedly failed to succeed, so he also feels depressed.
In desperation, Zhao Erfeng had to choose to donate, but he did have the talent to be an official, successively serving as a county in Guangdong, Henan and Shanxi. In 1905, Zhao Erfeng was transferred to the Tibetan area of Sichuan, and also changed from a civilian official to a military general, not only handling the affairs of the people on the frontier, but also responsible for recruiting generals to quell the rebellion, and finally he was promoted to the governor of Sichuan, and also contributed to the recovery of lost land.
In December 1911, Zhao Erfeng was tricked by Yin Changheng into handing over military power, and was later executed by him in public trial. In history, the evaluation of Zhao Erfeng has also been mixed, he has both the side of recovering lost land and maintaining unity, and the side of suppressing civilians and being fierce, so later historians have given him five words because he has not said anything. Although Zhao Erfeng did not say anything, he also left a treasure.
Although these cranes only have a few strokes, they can clearly feel that some cranes are holding their heads high and their postures upright, while others are withering. Experts speculate that it may be related to Zhao Erfeng's mentality at that time, the former was painted when he was proud, while the latter was painted when he was frustrated. However, experts are very confused, why did Zhao Erfeng paint a crane? Is there something hidden behind it? Experts have given three speculations:
First: harmonic.
Zhao Erfeng's font size is Jihe, so he is in harmony with a crane, so Zhao Erfeng uses a crane to represent it. In fact, the ancients especially loved to play harmonic terriers, and in all the languages in the world, only our Chinese has a harmonic doorway, for example, when getting married, jujube and guiyuan are used to indicate early birth of takako, as well as deer and lu, fish and Yu and so on are harmonic sounds.
Second: imagery.
During the Qing Dynasty, Chinese characters were not simplified, and traditional characters were still used, while Zhao Erfeng's traditional characters were Zhao Erfeng. Experts studied the calligraphy of successive dynasties and found that if erfeng were written together in cursive, it would resemble a crane with its head held high. Therefore, experts speculate that Zhao Erfeng was inspired by this, and later he wrote more and more like a crane, so in the end he simply painted it as a crane.
Third: Speech.
As we all know, the white crane is a symbol of longevity in traditional Chinese culture, but at the same time it is also a representative of purity and elegance, and it is a divine bird that is different from the mortal birds and beasts. Therefore, Zhao Erfeng's painting of the crane is a word of wisdom, implying that he is as noble and independent as the crane, unlike other officials. In addition, in ancient times, there was an allusion to Hexuan, saying that he was honored to obtain a high position, but in fact, it also implied the high level of his official position.
All in all, there may be many reasons why Zhao Erfeng painted the crane, but the final meaning falls on the official documents, which all express consent or permission, which is a positive symbol. Experts believe that Zhao Erfeng's signature with the crane also has a wonderful point, that is, anti-counterfeiting, so as not to have others steal the signature, after all, the text can be imitated without flaws, but the painting is not necessarily, especially Zhao Erfeng's crane.
After reading Zhao Erfeng's signature, do you also think that the ancients were very good at playing, and there was such a foreign signature method. In fact, in addition to Zhao Erfeng, other celebrities also have unique signatures, such as Tang Xuanzong, Ming Chongzhen Emperor and so on. If you're interested, give it a try and design a unique signature for yourself.
Resources:
"Forbidden City Calligraphy and Painting Museum" Author: Zeng Jun Editor-in-Chief, Fu Hongzhan et al., Publisher: Forbidden City Publishing House
Wenlan Hairun Studio Editor-in-Chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written by: Special History Writer: Liu Lijiang's