One of the Demon Heroes' rebels, the floating pot space - Zhang Xu

Zhang Xu (year of birth and death unknown; some say 658-747), also known as Bogao, was a well-known calligrapher in the middle of the Tang Dynasty in China. Born in Wu County, Wu County (now Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province), he is known as the "Grass Sage" in the calligraphy world. During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, he was the official of Changshu Lieutenant, and later became the Jin Wu Changshi, and the world called him "Zhang Changshi".

The details of Zhang Xu's experience are unknown, but it is known that he served in the imperial court, served as an official in Chang'an and Shangjing, and met Yan Zhenqing and Du Fu, who were also officials.

Zhang Xu is known for his booze. In Du Fu's poem "The Song of the Eight Immortals in Drinking", Zhang Xu is also one of the characters depicted, and is known as the "Eight Immortals in Drinking" with others.

Zhang Xu is known for the most unrestrained cursive in calligraphy, and according to the New Tang Dynasty Book, Zhang Xu likes to write when he is drunk, and calls it "wild grass".

His calligraphy is often connected by strange shapes, exaggerated contrasts between thick and thin, and emotional lines, which is praised in the Old Tang Dynasty Book as "infinite change, if there is divine help".

However, Zhang Xu did not only write cursive, he was the grandson of Lu Cambodia, another well-known calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty, and was also quite proficient in regular script and Chinese painting. Legend has it that his wild grass was inspired by the way he watched others fight and practice their swords.

Before Zhang Xu, the calligraphy world had always been regulated by Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, but Zhang Xu's calligraphy broke this routine and brought a whirlwind reform to the calligraphy world.

An unprecedented calligrapher.

It is said that Yan Zhenqing and Li Yangbing are his disciples, but there is no evidence. It's hard to determine. Yan Zhenqing later emerged in the Tang Dynasty as a reformist school of calligraphy.

There are many records of Zhang Xu in the Tang Dynasty, the most famous of which is that when he was drunk, he was even so excited that he wrote with his hair when he was drunk.

Zhang Xu's hand-me-down works include "Four Ancient Poems", "Thousand Character Text", "Langguan Stone Pillar Record", "Sad Qing Autumn Fu", "Belly Pain Post" and so on.

Among them, the content of "Four Ancient Poems" includes two poems of "Buxu Words" by the poet Yu Xin, and two poems by the poet Xie Lingyun: "Prince Jin Zan", "Yanxia Husband, Four or Five Teenagers Praise", a total of 40 lines. It is 28.8 cm high and 192.3 cm wide, and is written on five-color paper. It is now in the collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum in China.

His works were once loved by Tang Wenzong Li Ang and listed as one of the "Three Uniques".

At that time, there was another younger calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty, Huai Su, who was also good at cursive writing, and he also liked to write works after being drunk, and he was commonly known as "upside down drunken element".

"Old Tang Book": "Wujun Zhang Xu is good at cursive, good wine. Every time he gets drunk, he walks wildly. The pen is swaying. There are endless changes, if God helps. 」

One of the guardians of the Demon Hero, Wang Xizhi

Wang Xizhi (303-361) was originally from Linyi (now Shandong) and later moved to Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang). Calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty of China. It is known as the saint of books. Houguan worships the general of the right army, known as the king of the right army. Its calligraphers are Mrs. Cheng Wei and Zhong Xuan.

(Wang Xizhi's no true miracle has been handed down.) The famous "Lanting Collection Preface" and other posts are all copied by later generations. ）

At the age of seven, Wang Xizhi learned calligraphy from the calligrapher Wei Jin. Yu Yi saw that people in Jingzhou were competing for Wang Xi's calligraphy, and he didn't think so, and said: "The children are cheap chickens, love wild birds, and they all learn to read books. 」

Legend has it that there is a small pond near Wang Xizhi's residence, Wang Xizhi washes the pen here after practicing calligraphy, learns words every day, and for a long time, the pond water turns black, and can be directly dipped in the use of ink.

When Wang Xizhi served as the county guard of Yongjia in Wenzhou, he once swayed his ink in the inkpool workshop of Wenzhou, so there was an ink pond in front of the old Lucheng District Government in Wenzhou.

After Wang Xizhi crossed to the south, he made friends with good landscapes, "the right army of the king of the time, floating like a cloud, like a frightened dragon", on March 3 of the ninth year of Yonghe (353), he gathered in the Lanting of Shanyin with Sun Xuan, Xu Xun, Xie Shang, Zhi Dun and so on. Two years after the "Lanting Collection Preface" was written, because it was not reused by the imperial court, it was "called sick and went to the county". The end of the old Shengxian Jinting. Xu Xun learned that the Wang family lived in seclusion in Jinting, and rushed from Xiaoshan to be neighbors. Died in Jidu Temple, Xiaojia Township.

Wang Xizhi's calligraphy practice changed the popular chapter grass and eight points to the present grass, line calligraphy, and regular script, which was the peak of the flat land during the conversion of the calligraphy style.

Its calligraphy rulers are scattered in the Tang Dynasty Linzhu Fa Ti, Seventeen Ti, Japanese Funeral, Confucius and other famous products. His son Wang Xianzhi is also a calligrapher. Xi Zhi once instructed Xie An of the Xie clan of Chen County, and Xie An's calligraphy also became a style.

During the time of Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, there were more than 3,000 volumes of Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, and there were only more than 160 pieces of calligraphy by Taizong of the Song Dynasty, and there are only 20 copies of Wang Xizhi that survive in the whole world today.

Sunny post when the snow is fast (facsimile of the Tang Dynasty, together with the Mid-Autumn Festival post and the Boyuan post are called "Three Hopes", collected by the National Palace Museum, Taipei)

Lan Tingxu (known as "the first book in the world", Yan Zhenqing's nephew manuscript is "second", Su Xuan's Huangzhou cold food poem is "third"), Shenlong, in the Palace Museum, Beijing)

Huang Tingjing (also known as "Changing the Goose Post", Song Tuo's book is in the Palace Museum, Beijing)

Peace Post, He Ru Post, Feng Tangerine Post (Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei)

Theory of Happiness and Perseverance (Liang Tuoben)

Funeral, two thanks, and a show post (judged to be a copy of Tang Shuanggou ink, collected by the Japanese Imperial Family)

Emperor Xiao Yan of Liang Wu commented on his book: "The book of Wang Xi is majestic, like a dragon jumping over the gate of heaven, and a tiger lying on a phoenix. 」

Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, praised: "Examine the ancient and modern in detail, study the essence of the seal, and make it perfect, only Wang Yi is rare! Look at the work of its point dragging, the wonder of cutting, the smoke and dew, if it is broken and connected; I don't feel tired of playing, and I don't know the end of it. The heart is chasing after this person, and the rest is just a little bit like that, what is it!"

Tang Li Bai has a poem "Wang Right Army" and said: "The right army is halal, and it spills wind and dust. San'in over the feather guest, love this good goose guest. Sweep Su wrote the scriptures, and the pen was exquisite. The book goes to the cage goose, how can he say goodbye to the master. 」

Xi Zhi's love goose painting in the promenade of the Summer Palace Xi Jian sent his protégés to the palace to choose a son-in-law, and the children of the palace deliberately remained reserved, but Wang Xizhi showed his belly on the east bed to eat Hu cakes.

Xi Jian thought he was a suitable candidate, so he decided to marry his daughter Xi Xuan to him. The son-in-law was therefore called "East Bed", so "East Bed Frank Belly" or "East Bed Quick Son-in-law" became synonymous with praising a good marriage for a female family.

Legend has it that Wang Xizhi loved geese because he liked to observe the movements of the goose's paws when they swam in the water, and learned from them to improve his calligraphy skills.

There was a scholar in Shanyin, hoping that Wang Xizhi could copy a "Huang Ting Jing" for him, but he didn't dare to propose it rashly. He carefully raised white geese, gave them away, and made a request to write a scripture, Wang Xizhi promised him to copy a copy of the "Huang Ting Jing" and give it to him.

Later, this "Huang Tingjing" was called the second book of the Right Army, and it was also called "Changing the Goose Post".

Li Baishi: "The water in the mirror lake is rippling and clear, and the crazy guests return to the boat to enjoy a lot. If the mountain vagina priest meets, he should write the yellow court for the white goose. 」

Huaisu (725–785) was a calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty. The word Zangzhen, a native of Changsha (another said Lingling person), the common surname is Qian. Diligent in learning, famous for being good at wild grass.

The predecessors commented that his wild grass inherited Zhang Xu and developed, which was called "madness followed by reversal", and called "reversal drunkenness", which had a great impact on later generations.

Poet Immortal Li Bai: "The young master is called Huaisu, the cursive script is called a single step in the world, the ink pool flies out of the Beiming fish, and the pen strokes kill all the Zhongshan rabbits and my master after being drunk leaning on the rope bed, and sweep thousands of them in a moment. The wind and rain are frightening, the falling flowers and flying snow are as vast as hearing the gods and ghosts, and I only see the dragon and snake walking from time to time. The left and right sides are like shock, like Chu and Han attacking each other."

Legend has it that when Huaisu was young, due to his poor family, he did not have any paper to practice calligraphy, so he planted more than 10,000 plantains and used banana leaves to practice calligraphy.

Zhong Xuan (151-230), the character Yuan Chang, a native of Yuzhou Yunchuan Changshe (now Changge, Henan), was a famous calligrapher of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, and was an official to the Taifu.

Zhong Xuan is quite accomplished in calligraphy, and is known as Zhong Wang with Wang Xizhi, a calligrapher in the Jin Dynasty. (To be continued......)