A brief introduction to the life of calligrapher Zhong You.

Zhong you (y? o，a y？ U)( 15 1 -230 years), with a constant personality. Yingchuan Changshe (now Changgedong, Xuchang, Henan) was born. Cao Wei was a famous calligrapher and politician in the Three Kingdoms period. Let's get to know each other.

You have a long history.

When Zhong You was young, he was extraordinary in appearance and brilliant. He once went to Luoyang with his uncle Yu Zhong. On the way, he met a physiognomist. Seeing Zhong You's appearance, the fortuneteller said to him, "The child looks rich, but he will be flooded. Please walk carefully. "

As a result, he walked less than ten miles. When crossing the bridge, Zhong You's horse suddenly panicked. Zhong You was thrown into the water and almost drowned. When Yu Zhong saw the fortune teller's words come true, he appreciated Zhong You more and more and gave him money to concentrate on his studies.

Ask Xian Di for help.

Later, the tea house named Xiaolian, Ren Shangshulang and Yang Lingling and left due to illness. He was recruited by the governments of the three countries as Tingweizheng and Huangmen Assistant Minister. At that time, Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty was in Chang 'an, Xijing, and dictatorships such as Guo Si blocked the connection between Xian Di and Kanto.

In the third year of Chuping (192), Cao Cao worked as a shepherd in Yanzhou, and had not had time to send envoys to write letters. Li Jue, Guo Si and others thought: "Kanto should stand on its own feet, but now Cao Cao sent messengers, not out of his real intention." So they negotiated to detain Cao Cao's emissary and refused to accept his sincerity. Zhong You advised, Guo Si and others to say, "Today, the heroes rise together, each holding the son of heaven to make the princes. Only Cao Yanzhou is thinking about the royal family. If he refuses his loyalty, this is not the way to satisfy his future wishes. " Guo Si and others generously returned Zhong You's remarks, and Cao Cao was able to send messengers to get in touch with Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty. Cao Cao had heard Yu Xun praise Zhong You many times, and heard that he persuaded Li Jue and Guo Si to help him, so he was full of longing for him.

In the second year of Xingping (195), Li Jue threatened, and Zhong You and Shang Hanbin jointly planned the escape. In the same year, Xian Di escaped from Chang 'an and returned to the East smoothly, in which Zhong You played a certain role. Later, he worshipped Zhong You as Cheng, moved to Shi Zhong and Shang Shu as servants, and according to his previous contributions, he was named Ting Hou of Soochow.

Major achievements

Zhong You's seal script, official script, original script, running script and cursive script all work at the same time. Zhang Huaiguan's book says: "Chang Yuan's original is peerless, but it's too teacher, so it's soft and well prepared. There are many different interests between stippling and painting, which can be described as profound and antique. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, there has been only one person. " His best writing is regular script. Xuanhe Pu Shu commented: "Prepare your statutes and be the father of official books." Zhong You lived in a period when Chinese characters evolved from official script to regular script and were nearing completion. In the process of the completion of this important evolution of Chinese characters, Zhong You played a powerful role in promoting. On the one hand, he can conform to the trend of the times and be good at learning new books that appear among the people; On the other hand, he studies hard and is good at thinking and learning.

Zhong You's calligraphy theory, scattered in the relevant book theory. The most important thing is his discussion on the use of pens. Zhong You's regular script is simple, round and vigorous, with mellow ancient style and concise and natural brushwork.

According to Zhang Yanyuan in the Tang Dynasty, "Do you want to record the dharma book? The Christian Name of Calligraphy says: Cai Yong was influenced by immortals and passed on to Cui Yuan and Yueshi, Yueshi to Zhong You, Zhong You to Mrs. Wei, Mrs. Wei to Wang Xizhi, and Wang Xizhi to him.

It can be seen that Zhong You is the second generation of Cai Yong's calligraphy. In fact, Zhong You's calligraphy art has made great artistic achievements, and it is not limited to one school. Song Chen Si's Exquisite Bookstore? "Calligraphy in Qin, Han and Wei Dynasties" describes the successful course of Zhong You's calligraphy, saying that he studied calligraphy with a man named Cao for three years when he was a teenager, and later he studied the calligraphy of Cao and others. Therefore, Zhong You, like any accomplished scholar, is the result of hard study. Zhong You studied calligraphy very hard, and sometimes he was fascinated.

According to "Book House Jinghua", when Zhong You died, he called his son Zhong Hui to his side, gave him a calligraphy secret, and told Zhong Hui the story of his efforts. He said that he spent more than 30 years studying calligraphy all his life, and he mastered the essentials of writing mainly from Cai Yong's calligraphy skills. In the process of learning, regardless of day and night, regardless of occasion and place, write when you have time and practice when you have the opportunity. Sit and chat with people and practice on the surrounding ground. When I rest at night, I use the quilt as paper. As a result, there is a big hole in the quilt after a long time. When you see natural scenery such as flowers, trees, insects, fish, birds and animals, you will think of brushwork, and sometimes you forget to come back when you go to the toilet. Thus, Zhong You's calligraphy art is really the result of his diligent study and practice. While practicing hard, Zhong You also paid great attention to learning from his contemporaries. For example, I often discuss brushwork with Cao Cao, Han Danchun, Sun Zi and Guan Pipa. Zhong You is not only strict with himself, but also strict with himself. It is said that Zhong You's disciple Yi Song studied hard, but his grades were not very good. Zhong You berated them face to face, and as a result, Song Yi dared not see the teacher for three years. Finally, Yi Song finally learned something and became famous for some time. For his son Zhong Hui, Zhong You often exhorted him in every way, and Zhong Hui finally made great achievements. Zhong You and Zhong Hui are called "big and small clocks".

Zhong You's calligraphy style is mainly regular script, official script and running script. Yang Xin, a native of Liu and Song Dynasties in the Southern Dynasties, said: "The clock has three bodies, and the book of inscriptions is the best." Second, the articles of association, the secretary teaches primary schools; On the third day, I will write a book, and so will those who hear it. "The so-called inscription book refers to block letters, the articles of association refers to official script (eight-point book), and the quality book refers to running script. Zhong You's original calligraphy was lost in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Today, people see either a copy or a fake book. Generally speaking, there are "five tables", "six columns" and "three monuments"

"Five tables" refer to the declaration form, seasonal recommendation form, joint table (also called tolerance table), adjustment table and vitality table. This is the highest artistic work of Zhong You's calligraphy, but none of them are original works of Zhong You. Chu Suiliang, the right army of Jin Dynasty, said in Wang Xizhi's Bibliography that the declaration form was a copy of Wang Xizhi handed down from Tang Dynasty. Because Wang Xizhi is also a master of calligraphy, he copied Zhong You's original works very successfully, from which we can see the situation of Zhong You's calligraphy. According to Wang Sengqian, the great-grandson of Wang Xizhi, the original declaration form read:

A teacher's ink mark in the manifesto is the prime minister's love for Wang Dao, and he used it to show off his clothes when he was in a mess. After crossing the river, in the right army, the right army borrowed Wang Xiu to die, and its mother entered the coffin with her love for her son all her life, so it was not passed down. Missionaries are the right army.

Yuan Tiao, Mo Lifeng and River Street are also very important for later generations, but their achievements are also very high. The most credible report of the recommended season was collected by the imperial palace during the Tang and Song Dynasties, surrounded by imperial seals such as Li Shimin Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong, Xuanhe of Evonne of Song Huizong, Shaoxing of Zhao Gou of Song Gaozong, and Zhenshang of Qingganlong Ganlong, indicating that the above emperors had visited. After many twists and turns, it was destroyed in the thirteenth year of the Republic of China (1924), and only its photocopy has been preserved so far. In Yuan Dynasty, Lu Xingzhi praised this watch as "noble and simple, super charming, without the beauty of flower arrangement in Jin and Tang Dynasties", and it was "the supreme ancient calligraphy, the first miracle in the world".

"Six posts" refer to the military platform of the cemetery (hereinafter referred to as the post of the military society), the post of yesterday's show (hereinafter referred to as the post of show), the post of riding in white, the post of constant bitterness, the post of snow cold and the post of Changfeng (the latter part is also called the post of Ancuo). All the "six posts" are temporary, and "Bing Xie Tie" and "Huan" are excellent works with high achievements and close to the clock body. As for the four kinds of "white riding posts", they have been copied by many people and have been far away from the clock body.

The "Three Monuments" are the historical monument of Han Yiying Libaishi (hereinafter referred to as "Yiying Monument"), the Shang Wei Zun Hao Monument and the Zen Monument, all of which are block-printed, and it is impossible to verify whether it was written by Zhong You. There is a cloud inscribed by Zhang, a poet in the Song Dynasty: "A letter from Zhong Taiwei in the later Han Dynasty", but this monument was erected in the first year of Yongxing in the Eastern Han Dynasty (153), when Zhong You was only 3 years old, which was obviously misinformed.

Zhong You's calligraphy is simple and elegant, with alternating font sizes, rigorous and meticulous overall layout, and has made great achievements in past dynasties' comments. Liang Wudi wrote Twelve Strategies for Viewing Zhong You's Calligraphy, praising Zhong You's calligraphy as "exquisite and exquisite, almost the same as the machine". Geng Shouwu listed Zhong You's calligraphy as "above the top grade" and said, "The clock is natural first, the time is second, and the Xuchang monument is wonderful and extremely poor." Zhang Huaiguan even listed Zhong Shu as a "miracle product". In addition, Cen Zongdan in Ming Dynasty and Liu Xizai in Qing Dynasty all spoke highly of it.

Wei Heng's four-body book? In "Zhong You", Li Shi said: "The change of birds' tracks is only left-handed, which is beneficial to Shu, so it is simple from now on. If the stars shine, the city is gray and the clouds shine. " This phrase is found in beginner's books, mainly about the evolution of official script and its brushwork.

Zhang Yanyuan's "Introduction to Calligraphy" contains Liang Wudi and Xiao Yan's "Twelve Ideas about Zhong You's Calligraphy". The so-called twelve ideas are flat, straight, even, dense, energetic, light, definite, complementary, missing, skillful and balanced. Mainly refers to the pen method, shelf structure and so on.

Zhong You had a great influence on the history of calligraphy in China, and has always been regarded as the originator of the history of calligraphy in China. He was the first person to write regular script in the history of calligraphy and made important contributions to the development of Chinese characters. Tao's Book History Society says: "The change of Wang Zhong can be divided into ancient and modern times, and the husband takes the ancient law as an official, but the present law can be used as a model." After Zhong You, many calligraphers competed to learn the clock body. For example, Wang Xizhi and his son have various clock styles. Later Zhang Chang, Huai Su, Yan Zhenqing, Huang Tingjian, etc. They all absorbed the length of the clock body and the essence of the clock theory from all aspects in calligraphy creation.