Song Dai, Shaoxing Rice Slips: Mi Fu (Part II)

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 Haiyue 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 obsessively, hence the nickname "Cai Dian." At the age of six, he could recite a hundred poems, learned calligraphy at seven, and began writing steles at ten. By the age of 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, with Su Dongpo praising his "Running script, cursive script, clerical script, and seal script as the wind's sail and the horse's formation, profound and decisive." On the other hand, he" Yunshan" (Cai's Cloud Mountains) technique, skillfully using blurred brushwork to depict the misty landscapes of Jiangnan. He employed varying shades of thick and dry ink, horizontal dots, and clustered strokes to recreate layered mountain peaks, earning the name "Cai Dian." He was admired and imitated by many 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. Cai Shu was a calligrapher, painter, appraiser, and collector, with an extensive collection and broad knowledge. His keen eye and meticulous appraisals made his works valuable for later studies of art history. His works include Treasures for Later Generations to Seek, History of Calligraphy, History of Painting, History of Inkstones, and Haiyue 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 cataloging and having a significant influence. There were even works that mimicked its style, such as Zhang Chou's Four Tables of Zhang. History of Calligraphy is more detailed and served as a basis for later appraisers. Haiyue, 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'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 famous collections since the Southern Song Dynasty, most include his calligraphy, demonstrating its widespread influence. Kang Youwei once said, "The Tang valued structure, while the Song emphasized meaning and style." This meant that Song calligraphers focused on individuality and creativity, and Cai Shu stood out as an exceptional representative of the "Four Great Calligraphers of the Northern Song." Cai Shu claimed to "collect ancient characters" in his calligraphy, which some found amusing, while others praised, saying, "His natural talent surpasses all, yet he still stands alone through collecting ancient styles" (Wang Wenji). This partly explains the success of his calligraphy. 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 had many unique brush techniques, such as the rounded turn at the right corner of the character "men," the abrupt rise of the vertical hook, and the crab-claw hook, all inspired by Yan's running script. His slender and sharp style came from imitating Ouyang's characters, which he maintained for a long time. Shen Chuanshi's running script resembled Chu Suiliang's. Cai Shu studied large characters from Duan Jizhan, and the phrase "four-sided" and "brush-like" writing may have originated from this. Chu Suiliang's brushwork was rich in variation and lively in structure, pleasing to Cai Shu, who once praised his characters as "like a well-trained horse, moving with grace and a hint of arrogance." After 1082, he began searching for Jin dynasty calligraphy and acquired Wang Xianzhi's Mid-Autumn Letter within a year. This influential work had a profound impact on him, as he always believed Wang Xianzhi was inferior to his son. However, the free-spirited Cai Shu was not content with the younger Wang and had already declared, "I am tired of Wang's bad calligraphy" and "I will wash away the faults of the two Wangs" as early as the Shaoxing era. It is said that Cai Shu studied Yang Xin, and Li Zhiyi wrote, "The immortal Cai Shu does not expect me, but Yang Xin's brushwork is even more extraordinary." Thus, Cai Shu's study of Yang Xin likely began after settling in Haiyue An in the sixth year of Yuanyou. Despite this, Cai's calligraphy had not yet fully matured. Works like the Qixi Letter, the Biography of Yin Lingming's Head-Turban Temple Stele, and the Shu Su were written within a month but showed significant stylistic differences, still not fully breaking free from the constraints of collecting ancient characters. Only when "he finally achieved his own style, and others did not know what to call it" did he fully establish his style, 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 the Eulogy for Empress Dowager Xiang. This "power" was both an advantage and a flaw. As Huang Tingjian aptly put it, "He excelled only in running script, while regular and cursive scripts were not his strong suits." 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 not impressive, and his cursive script was mediocre. Later, he criticized Tang dynasty cursive script and was limited in his understanding of Jin dynasty cursive script, resulting in mediocre achievements. Cai Shu was meticulous in his calligraphy, unlike some who imagined him writing effortlessly without thought. Cai Shu himself said, "When I wrote the Poem of Haihai, I rewrote it three or four times, and only a few characters pleased me. Trusting calligraphy is also a difficult task" (Fan Mingtai, Biography of Cai Xiangyang). A poem rewritten three or four times still had only a few characters he was satisfied with, revealing the hardships of his craft, which only an expert could understand, and also showing his rigorous creative attitude. Cai Shu had unique insights into the distribution, structure, and brushwork of calligraphy. He demanded "stable yet unpretentious, daring yet not strange, aged yet not dry, and moist yet not fat," which may have been similar to Jiang Kai's "no downward stroke without shortening, no outward stroke without retracting." This meant achieving unity through variation, blending opposing elements like tight and loose, thick and thin, sparse and dense, simple and complex—essentially "bone, sinew, flesh, and fat, with the spirit of a fine gentleman." In composition, he emphasized the overall rhythm while paying attention to the perfection of details, writing with a clear vision and adapting as needed, creating unique effects. Cai Shu's brushwork was characterized by his skill in creating a soaring and unrestrained style through the interplay of vertical and horizontal strokes, inclining and reclining, facing and turning, pauses and pressure. His starting strokes were often heavy, gradually lighter in the middle, and sharp when turning. His variations in downward strokes were numerous, with the focus sometimes at the beginning, sometimes at the end, or in the middle of a stroke. Even long horizontal strokes had three undulations. His hooks were also distinctive. Cai Shu's calligraphy often had a leaning posture, with a tendency to move left after right, and to rise after falling, all to add dynamism and a sense of playfulness. This was based on decades of practice in collecting ancient characters, making his style natural and unforced. Those who studied Cai Shu's calligraphy, even those who had the advantage of proximity, often struggled to capture his "difficulty and wildness." Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, there have been two attitudes toward Cai Shu's calligraphy: one that praised him without criticism, holding him in high regard, and another that praised and criticized him, but with more praise. The former was represented by Su Dongpo. Cai Shu was renowned for his calligraphy and ranked among the "Four Great Calligraphers of the Northern Song," excelling in dynamic posture. His achievements were entirely the result of hard work. At the age of thirty, while serving in Changsha, he saw the Yuelu Temple Stele and visited Lushan to see the East Lin Temple Stele, leaving 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 Hot Rice and Gua Fen. His calligraphy shows that at the age of twenty-four, his inscriptions on the Longyin Rock Cliff in Linggu were somewhat dynamic but lacked a distinct style. His inscription on the Stephanotaph at the age of thirty also revealed his natural talent was inferior to his dedication. The mischievous Cai Shu occasionally boasted, as others had said, "He set high standards for himself." Cai Shu often engaged in pretentious behavior when discussing his calligraphy, such as claiming to have studied Yan's running script since childhood. However, Cai Shu's success came entirely from hard work, with no shortcuts. He practiced calligraphy every day, as evidenced by two historical accounts: "A day without calligraphy makes my mind dull, as if the ancients never took a break from writing." "Zhi Yong's inkstone became a mortar before he could reach Wang Xianzhi; if he could pierce through it, he would reach Zhong Yao and Su Jing. You should strive to match Zhi Yong." His son, Cai Youren, said he even wrote on the first day of the lunar new year. Cai Shu was a wealthy collector, often traveling with a banner on his boat reading "Cai's Painting and Calligraphy Boat." Cai Shu had a passion for stones, as recorded in the Song Shi. Yuan Ni's poem On Cai Nan Gong's Worship of Stones reads: "Cai Shu loved inkstones and stones, exploring their beauty for a long time. He drew a picture of himself worshiping a stone, knowing his fame was well-deserved." This poem shows Cai Shu's pride in his hobby, as he even painted A Picture of Worshiping Stones. Later painters also enjoyed depicting this scene, making Cai Shu's worship of stones a celebrated story. An unusual stone also stood in front of his Baojin Studio for appreciation, as recorded in the Letter on Unusual Stones. It is said that Cai Shu had a four-character method for evaluating stones: "thin, elegant, rugged, and penetrating." Cai Shu also loved inkstones. Inkstones are one of the "Four Treasures of the Study," essential for painters and calligraphers. Cai Shu had extensive knowledge of inkstones, writing History of Inkstones, which detailed the differences and qualities of various ancient inkstones, as well as the distinctions between stone inkstones from Duanzhou and Shizhou. He advocated, "Inkstones are valued for their function, and stone quality is best for ink." The Preface to Baojin Calligraphy quotes a letter from the Forest Collection: "You must have a precious inkstone; inkstone is my first priority." Cai Shu valued inkstones as highly as his own head, showing his deep affection. Cai Shu, with his passion for stones and inkstones, naturally held inkstone mountains in high regard. Inkstone mountains are natural peaks formed into inkstones, with a flat base for grinding ink. They served as both decorative pieces for the study and tools for writing. The Forest Collection records that Cai Shu fell asleep for three days after acquiring an inkstone mountain. The most famous inkstone mountain was one owned by Li Yu, the last ruler of Southern Tang, who traded it for land to build a house. Cai Shu yearned for it and created the Inkstone Mountain Picture to preserve it. In his later years, Cai Shu lived in Dantu, Runzhou (now part of Jiangsu), with a studio named Shanshan Hall. He named his collected works Forest Collection, which had one hundred volumes, most of which are now lost. The surviving Baojin Yingguang Collection contains his writings. Cai Shu was not only a skilled calligrapher but also a poet, with works that were profound, far-reaching, and unique. He once sent a poem to Xu Chongyuan, stating, "I never copy a single line from others, and I have never sent a poem to the wealthy in my life," showing his distinctive style, though his deliberate pursuit of novelty was also a flaw. Cai Shu's paintings are lost to history. His self-penned History of Painting recorded his collection, appreciation, and preferences in ancient paintings, as well as his aesthetic tastes and creative insights. This served as the best source for studying his painting. Cai Shu's success lay in achieving the (literati taste) he approved through a playful attitude and thematic choices. He recognized the need to change traditional painting conventions and techniques to achieve new aesthetics. The reason for this was that Cai Shu was first a wealthy collector and appraiser, deeply familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of painting throughout history, focusing more on the content of the art itself. Su Shi, on the other hand, was first a great poet, and only then an amateur painter, often judging painting by literary standards, which, while insightful, remained separate from the art itself. Thus, later scholars often viewed Cai Shu as a painter and Su Shi as a art theorist. While Su Shi's painting theories were widely discussed, Cai Shu's practice of "Cai's Cloud Mountains" remained. Although Su Shi left behind paintings, Cai Shu had none. As historical research, it must be noted that Cai Shu's artistic thought far surpassed his contemporaries. His son, Cai Youren, inherited his calligraphic legacy and became a renowned calligrapher in his own right.