Zhi Yong Tang Shi Characters

Author: Yang Jialin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Zhi Yong (Southern and Northern Dynasties–Tang Dynasty) was the seventh descendant of Wang Xizhi, the son of Wang Huizhi. He was a calligrapher who strictly adhered to the family tradition. He practiced calligraphy with great diligence. Feng Wu's Zhufa Zhengtuan described him as living in Yongxin Temple in Wuxing for decades without going downstairs, copying over 800 copies of the Thousand Character Classic and sending one to each temple in Jiangdong. He buried his used brushes like a tomb. The legend of "brushes piled into a tomb" originated from this. In Dong Qichang's Hua Chan Shi Biji, it is said that he studied Zhong Yao's Xuanshi Table and "every time he used a brush, he curved it, turned it back, and ended it firmly, which is what is called 'penning through the paper like a needle'." The Thousand Character Classic he wrote was praised by He Shaoji of the Qing Dynasty as "every stroke coming from the sky and returning to the sky, even though it resembles the trace of ink on a leaking roof, it is still not enough to describe it." By carefully reading his ink traces of the Thousand Character Classic, we can see that he used the brush with a hidden head and tail, with twists and turns, and a subtle yet rhythmic charm. Dong and He's descriptions are precise, specific, and appropriate.