Song Tu Zhen Cao Qian Zi Wen---Zhi Yong

Author: Wang Haoming
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-04-01
Features:
Zeng Zhiyong, whose surname was Wang and given name was Fazhi, was a native of Kuaiji during the Chen and Sui dynasties. He was a person from the Sui Dynasty and also the seventh-generation descendant of Wang Xizhi, the great calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty. In his early years, he became a monk and later traveled to Shanlin Town, Wuxing County, Zhejiang Province, where he lived in Yongxin Temple for thirty years. Here, Zhiyong lived a secluded life, rising at dawn with the crowing of the rooster, grinding a large amount of ink, and then copying Wang Xizhi's calligraphy scrolls without interruption. Zhiyong also kept several large baskets in his room, each holding over one stone in capacity. When his brush tips became worn out while practicing, he would take them out and throw them into the baskets. Over time, the broken brush tips accumulated to fill ten baskets. Later, Zhiyong dug a deep pit in front of the temple's window and buried all the broken brush tips in the soil, building a mound and calling it the "Retired Brush Tomb." The legend of "retired brushes becoming a tomb" originated from this story. Through long-term, persistent and arduous practice, Zhiyong's calligraphy finally reached a level of soaring power and formed his own style, becoming one of China's most famous calligraphers. At that time, so many people sought his calligraphy and inscriptions that the temple gates were constantly crowded, to the extent that the wooden thresholds were worn through and had to be covered with iron sheets. Later, this story became a classic tale known as the "Iron Threshold." In his later years, he used the contemporary literacy text "Thousand Characters" as the content, writing over a thousand copies in both regular and cursive styles, from which he selected eight hundred of his most satisfactory works and distributed them to various temples in Zhedong. Even today, Zhiyong's "Thousand Characters" ink scrolls and engravings are still regarded as models for learning calligraphy. In the "" (Notes) of Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty, he said that Zhiyong studied Zhong Yao's "Xuanshi Table," stating, "Every time he used the brush, he curved it, turning it back, and ended with a deep, firm, as they say, when he wrote, the brush seemed to pierce the paper." As for the "Thousand Characters" he wrote, He Shaoji of the Qing Dynasty said, "Every stroke seemed to come from the air and return to the air, even the traces of ink dripping like water from a leaking roof could not fully describe it." Upon carefully examining his ink scroll "Thousand Characters," we can see that his brushwork is protected at both the beginning and end, with every stroke full of twists and turns, conveying a subtle yet rhythmic charm. Dong and He's descriptions are indeed precise, specific, and appropriate.