Song Dynasty edition of the Shaoxing Rice: Mi Fu I

Author: Wang Haoming
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Publishing Date: 2005-06-01
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Cai Shu (1051-1107), styled Yuanzhang, was known as Xiangyang Manshi and Haiye Wai Shi. His ancestral home was in Shanxi, but he moved to Xiangyang, earning the nickname "Cai Xiangyang." Historical accounts describe him as eccentric, fond of Tang-style clothing, and obsessively clean. He revered stones, calling them "brothers" and worshipping them, hence the moniker "Cai Dian." At the age of six, he could recite a hundred poems, learned calligraphy at seven, and wrote steles at ten. By twenty-one, he entered official service, proving himself a prodigious talent. In calligraphy, he was one of the "Four Calligraphers of the Song Dynasty" (Su, Cai, Huang, and Cai) and ranked first among them. His style was unrestrained yet disciplined, earning Su Dongpo's praise for his "Running script, cursive script, clerical script, and seal script, like windmills and cavalry, steady and forceful." On the other hand, he pioneered the "Cai Family Cloud Mountains" technique in landscape painting, skillfully using blurred brushwork to depict the misty scenery of Jiangnan. He employed varying shades of thick, dry ink, horizontal dots, and clustered strokes to recreate layered mountains, earning the name "Cai Dian." His works were admired and imitated by later painters. His son, Cai Youren, left behind numerous works, ensuring the continuation of this style and elevating the "literati painting" tradition, which was celebrated in art history. Whether Cai Shu prioritized calligraphy or painting, historians held different views. As a calligrapher, painter, appraiser, and collector, Cai Shu amassed a vast collection and possessed broad knowledge. With a keen eye and meticulous appraisals, his writings became essential references for studying art history. His works include Treasures for Later Generations to Seek, History of Calligraphy, History of Painting, History of Inkstones, and Haiye Annotations. Treasures for Later Generations to Seek, compiled in the first year of Yuanyou (1086), is divided into "Witnessed" and "Hearsay" sections, recording eighty-four works from the Jin and Tang dynasties, setting a precedent for later catalogues and exerting significant influence. There were even works modeled after its style, such as Zhang Chou's Four Tables of Zhang. History of Calligraphy is even more detailed and served as a basis for later appraisers. Haiye, primarily a record of his personal experiences and insights, is highly regarded. It is generally believed to have been compiled by later scholars based on Cai Shu's writings. Cai Shu dedicated himself deeply to calligraphy, with his greatest achievements in running script. Although his paintings are lost to history, his calligraphic works have been preserved in abundance. In famous collections since the Southern Song Dynasty, his calligraphy is frequently included, demonstrating its widespread dissemination and profound influence. Kang Youwei once remarked, "The Tang valued structure, while the Song cherished spirit and individuality." This meant Song calligraphers emphasized creativity and personality, with Cai Shu being a particularly outstanding representative of the "Four Great Calligraphers of the Northern Song." Cai Shu claimed to have "collected ancient characters," which some mocked, while others praised, saying, "His natural talent surpasses all, yet he ultimately established his own style by collecting the ancients" (Wang Wenji). This partly explains the origins of his success. According to Cai Shu's own account, before studying Jin calligraphy under Su Dongpo, he was heavily influenced by five Tang calligraphers: Yan Zhenqing, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang, Shen Chuanshi, and Duan Jizhan. Cai Shu employed many unique brush techniques, such as the rounded turns at the right corner of the character "men," the abrupt rise of vertical hooks, and the crab-claw hooks—all derived from Yan Zhenqing's running script. His slender, sharp style likely imitated Ouyang Xun's, a influence that persisted for a long time. Shen Chuanshi's running script resembled Chu Suiliang's. Cai Shu studied large characters under Duan Jizhan, and the phrase "four-sided" and "brushing characters" may have originated from this. Chu Suiliang's brushwork was rich in variation and dynamic in structure, aligning with Cai Shu's taste. He once praised his characters, saying, "Like a well-tempered horse in battle, they move with grace and confidence." In 1082, after the fifth year of Yuanfeng, he began seeking Jin dynasty calligraphy and acquired Wang Xianzhi's Mid-Autumn Letter within a year. This influential work deeply impacted him, as he always believed Wang Xingzhi was inferior to his son. However, the unrestrained Cai Shu was not satisfied with the younger Wang and, as early as the Shaoxing era, declared, "I am tired of Wang Xingzhi's bad calligraphy" and "I will wash away the faults of the two Wangs." It is said Cai Shu studied Yang Xin, and Li Zhiyi remarked, "The immortal Cai Shu does not expect me to surpass Yang Xin in calligraphy." Thus, Cai Shu's study of Yang Xin likely began after settling in Haiye An, around the sixth year of Yuanyou. Despite this, Cai Shu's style had not yet solidified. His works from the third year of Yuanyou, such as The Xie River Letter, Annotations on Yin Lingming's Head-Trotting Temple Stele, and The Shu Silk Manuscript, written within a month, showed significant stylistic differences, still struggling to break free from the constraints of "collecting ancient characters." Only when "he finally established his own style, and others did not know what to make of it" did he complete his stylistic evolution, likely after the age of fifty. This mature calligraphic style, however, was marred by Cai Shu's unrestrained pursuit of "power," even in small like Eulogy for Empress Dowager Xiang. This "power" was both an advantage and a flaw. As Huang Tingjian aptly remarked, "He excelled only in running script, while regular and cursive scripts were mediocre." The term "regular script" at the time did not necessarily refer to modern Zhengkai, but rather to seal and clerical scripts, which Cai Shu indeed struggled with. His surviving seal and clerical scripts were indeed weak, and his cursive script was average. Later, he criticized Tang dynasty cursive scripts and, limited by his understanding of Jin cursive, his achievements in this area were modest. Cai Shu approached calligraphy with great seriousness, unlike some who imagined him writing effortlessly. He himself said, "When I wrote Haihai Poetry, I rewrote it three or four times, and only a couple of characters satisfied me. Trusting calligraphy is also a difficult task" (Fan Mingtai, Biography of Cai Xiangyang). A poem rewritten three or four times still left only a couple of satisfactory characters, a testament to the hardships of his craft, revealing his rigorous creative attitude. Cai Shu had unique insights into calligraphic composition, structure, and brushwork, demanding "steady yet unpedantic, daring yet unstrange, mature yet unshriveled, moist yet unobese." This echoed Jiang Kui's principle of "no downward strokes without shortening, no forward strokes without retracting," emphasizing unity amid variation. He harmonized opposing elements like tight and loose, thick and thin, sparse and dense, simple and complex—achieving a balance of "bone, sinew, flesh, and luster, like a fine gentleman." In composition, he prioritized overall rhythm while attending to details, writing with a clear vision yet adapting as needed, employing clever techniques. Cai Shu's brushwork lay in creating a spirited, unrestrained style through dynamic movements like tilting, leaning, turning, and abrupt stops. His starting strokes were often heavy, gradually lightening in the middle, and turning sharply at bends with a side brush. His variations in downward strokes were numerous, with emphasis shifting between the start, middle, or end of a stroke, and even longer horizontal strokes featured three undulations. His hooks were also distinctive. Cai Shu's calligraphy often displayed a leaning posture—wanting left, he moved right; wanting to rise, he first lowered—adding dynamism and vigor. With decades of practice in collecting ancient characters as a foundation, his style was natural and unforced. Those who studied Cai Shu, even those who had the advantage of proximity, often struggled to capture his essence. Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, discussions on Cai Shu's calligraphy have been divided into two attitudes: one that praised him without reservation, and another that praised but also criticized, with praise prevailing. The former was exemplified by Su Dongpo. As one of the "Four Great Calligraphers of the Northern Song," Cai Shu excelled in dynamic style. His achievements were entirely the result of hard work. At the age of thirty, while serving in Changsha, he encountered the Yuelu Temple Stele and visited Lushan to see the East Lin Temple Stele, inscribing his name on both. In the second year of Yuanyou, he exchanged Zhang Xuan's six paintings and Xu Hao's two scrolls for Li Yong's Letter on Excessive Heat and Jie Powder. His calligraphy reflects this: at twenty-four, his inscriptions on Longyin Rock were spirited but lacked individuality; at thirty, his annotations on the Stephanotaph revealed his natural talent was inferior to his dedication. The mischievous Cai Shu occasionally boasted, as others had said, "He set his own high standards." Cai Shu often employed mystical language when discussing his calligraphy, such as claiming to have studied Yan Zhenqing's running script since childhood. However, his success stemmed entirely from diligent practice, with no shortcuts. He practiced calligraphy every day, as evidenced by two historical accounts: "A day without calligraphy makes my mind dull; I believe ancient masters never ceased writing for even a moment" and "Zhi Yong's inkstone became a mortar before he reached Wang Xizhi; if he had pierced through, he would have reached Zhong Jing and Su Jing. Work hard, Zhi Yong." His son Cai Youren said he even wrote on New Year's Day. Cai Shu was a wealthy collector, often traveling with his "Cai Family Calligraphy and Painting Ship," inscribing a flag with this name. His obsession with stones was recorded in the Song Shi, and Yuan Ni's poem On Cai Nan Gong's Worship of Stones described him as "fond of inkstones and stones, exploring rare and strange for a long time. He bowed to stone brothers and painted his own worship, proving the fame of 'Cai Dian' was well-deserved." Inspired by this, Cai Shu created Worship of Stones, which became a popular theme among later painters. An unusual stone stood before his Treasure Pavilion, used for appreciation, and his Letter on Strange Stones recorded this. It was said Cai Shu had a four-character method for evaluating stones: "thin, elegant, rugged, and penetrating." He also loved inkstones, essential items for calligraphers and painters. Cai Shu was deeply knowledgeable about inkstones, writing History of Inkstones and discussing the differences and qualities of various ancient inkstones, advocating, "Inkstones are valued for their utility, and stone texture is best for ink." Appraisals of Calligraphy in Treasure Pavilion quoted a letter from Forest Collection: "I must have a precious inkstone; inkstones are my head." Cai Shu cherished inkstones as if they were his own heads, a testament to his deep affection. His love for both stones and inkstones naturally made him value inkstone mountains—natural peaks formed into inkstones, flat at the base for grinding ink, serving as both decorative pieces and writing tools. Forest Records described Cai Shu sleeping for three days after acquiring an inkstone mountain. The most famous was one once owned by Li Yu of Southern Tang, whom he traded for land to build a house. Cai Shu longed for it, creating Inkstone Mountain, which has been passed down. In his later years, Cai Shu lived in Dantu, Runzhou (now part of Jiangsu), with a forest pavilion, naming his poetry collection Forest Collection, a 100-volume work now mostly lost. The surviving Treasures of Treasure Pavilion reflected his dual talents in poetry and calligraphy. His poems were original and outstanding, establishing his own style. He once sent a poem to Xu Chongyuan, stating, "I never copy a single line from others, and I have never submitted a poem to nobles in my life," a unique trait that was both his strength and weakness. Cai Shu's paintings are lost to history. His History of Painting recorded his collection, appreciation of ancient paintings, and personal preferences, serving as the best source for studying his art. Cai Shu's success lay in achieving the literati aesthetic through a playful attitude and thematic choices. He recognized the need to alter traditional painting conventions and techniques to create new artistic expressions. The reasons for this were that Cai Shu, as a collector and appraiser, possessed extensive knowledge of painting history and prioritized the content of the works, while Su Dongpo, as a literary giant, approached painting as a hobby, often judging it by literary standards, though insightful, remained somewhat detached from the art itself. Thus, later scholars often viewed Cai Shu as a painter and Su Dongpo as an art theorist. While Su Dongpo left behind paintings, Cai Shu had none. As historical research, it must be noted that Cai Shu's artistic thought far surpassed the standards of his time. His son, Cai Youren, inherited his calligraphic legacy and became a renowned calligrapher in his own right.