Zhao Zhiqian recorded in "Zhang An's Miscellaneous Comments": "Before the age of twenty, I studied "Family Temple Stele", five hundred words a day." It can be seen that he worked very hard on facial expressions. However, the times have changed, the study of calligraphy has gradually declined, and the study of tablets has flourished. The historical trend is irresistible. As Kang Youwei said: "The rise of the study of stele and the decline of the study of calligraphy are also due to the prosperity of metal and stone. ... The Bao family in Jing County used their sharp talents to cope with the prosperity of metal and stone. He passed on Wanbai's method and uniquely obtained Yun. Ao. Da Qi secretly wrote "An Wu Lun Shu", which showed the new stele and promoted the brushwork. As of Xian and Tong, the stele study was spread widely, and everyone in the ten-room society was famous. "Koubei Monument, written in Wei style, has already become popular." Zhao Zhiqian is in this situation, and with his character, he will never be left behind. With his talent, he will definitely become a trend-setter of the times.
After Zhao Zhiqian avoided Wenzhou, he had time to read "An Wu Lun Shu" and was deeply impressed by Bao An Wu's theory. In "Zhang An's Miscellaneous Comments", we can see his attachment to the ancient carvings of the Six Dynasties: "The beauty of the ancient carvings of the Six Dynasties lies in their endurance. When encountering them unexpectedly, the mean man will be horrified and the wise men will be stunned. After staring for a long time, he will see a wave of inscriptions. They are all created by heaven and earth, and cannot be changed. I have to write the scale, and I know there is no place to start. I have not experienced all the joys and hardships, and I still don’t understand it.” Another saying: “An Wu Baoshen Boyan once saw the rubbings of Mr. Dongfang in the Southern Tang Dynasty. "Paintings on Paintings" and "Luo Shen Fu" are written in the same style as those of the Han Dynasty. However, it can be seen that the two kings' books were copied by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. It is different. It is said that Taizong's book is the book of the two kings. It should be noted that at that time, Taizong favored the two kings, and the officials followed Taizong, which made the calligrapher who had been regarded as the ancestor for hundreds of years lose his true identity. It is a pity that eighty million eyes were blinded by this piece of dust. No one dares to say this for thousands of years. Ruan Wenda said that the book was written by the people of the Tang Dynasty, and the two kings wrote the book by the people of the Tang Dynasty. , it is not expensive, and the meaning is different but the same as that of Yu. "The same is true for the two kings who are not satisfied with the book. So, he began to learn calligraphy, and gradually parted ways with the Erwang system. After he went to Beijing, he met Shen Junchu, Hu Ganbo, Wei Jiasun, etc., all of whom were addicted to gold and stone. At that time, he was working on re-editing "Bu Huanyu Visiting Stele Records" and collected a large number of ancient inscriptions, especially "Zheng Wengong Stele", which is the most favorite. When I was about 35 years old, I would go back and forth to Liulichang every day, admiring and analyzing things, morning and night.
Zhao Zhiqian gradually gave up Yan style calligraphy completely and turned to Northern Wei calligraphy. At the age of 36, he wrote 12 volumes of poems in regular script for Qi Jiwen, which can be said to be the early classics of his study of Northern Wei calligraphy. Zhao Zhiqian still retained his Yan style of calligraphy. In just one year, his calligraphy style underwent a qualitative change, which is unimaginable to ordinary people. From then on, he abandoned his appearance and entered Wei, and he continued to do so. When he was 37 years old, he wrote in a letter to Hu Peixi (Ziji): "I have been reading "Yizhou Shuangji" for five years, and the more I think about it, the more I think about it. Since I came here, I saw the stele written by Zheng Xibo, and I began to understand Juanfeng. After seeing Zhang Wanlin's book, I began to understand the turning point. After seeing more than a hundred authentic works by Dengshan people, I began to understand the meaning of "dragon leaping and tiger lying" and Yan Yanxiang (Han Jun, named Delin, one of Bao's disciples). Come and look at his calligraphy, I have a great understanding of the methods of horizontal and vertical waves. Yan has been studying this for thirty years, and his secrets are very secret. Although my brother stole it for a while, I think it is a sudden entry. Let's give it up. Now that the book is in the Guange style, the brothers can no longer do anything, so they might as well do their own thing. " "Yizhou Shuangji" is the guiding theory for Zhao Zhiqian to change from the Yan style to the Northern Wei Dynasty. Zheng Daozhao's carved stones enabled him to understand the "juanfeng" writing method. The calligraphy of Zhang Wanlin (named Qi, 1764-1833) also broadened Zhao Zhiqian's horizons and made him aware of the interoperability of Zhen and Li calligraphy. Deng Shiru's calligraphy enabled him to understand the rhythm of the strokes. In addition, Zhao Zhiqian also specially praised Zhang Qi's daughter Zhang Lunying (1780~?), thinking that "there is no calligrapher in the dynasty such as Ms. Zhang Wanchuan of Yanghu named Lunying, and there is only one after Zheng Xibo". Zhang Lunying was good at the North Monument and took Zheng Daozhao as his method. Her influence on Zhao is evident when compared with his work.
However, looking at the writings written by Zhao Zhiqian after he was 35 years old, or even around the age of 40, although his style has initially taken shape, he lacks writing power, and his writing, transitions, and connections are often forced. Just as he said in his letter to Wei Jia Sun: "At this time, I have begun to understand the five characters of my serious illness in writing, which is: the beginning and end are not clean. (This is something that no one else can know. Brother may have more accusations, I hope to tell you more I.) If this disease is eliminated, some of the wonders will be beyond the reach of Deng and Bao, and some of them will not be as good as their own. "This five-character disease of "unclean beginning and end" is even more obvious in running script. It is gradually resolved after about the age of 40. To be precise, it was perfected around the age of 44 before and after taking office in Jiangxi. It was finally completed after the age of 50 and reached the state of "old people and books", which is close to the masters of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, which is obvious to all. Just as he claims: "There was this person after the Han Dynasty and before the Sui Dynasty", it is true!
Dating back to the Qin and Han dynasties, the custom was developed below, and the seal script and official practices were integrated
Zhao Zhiqian's knowledge of seal script, or because of his learning of seal cutting, was originally derived from Deng Shiru and Wu Rangzhi, and secondly, he was influenced by his colleague Hu Shu . At that time, seal cutting was all done in small seals. Zhao Zhiqian also learned this and was only good at small seal script. There are very few large seal script works and only one horizontal banner can be seen, so it is not possible to discuss. In the Qing Dynasty, Deng Shiru was the first person who was good at seal script. This was a conclusion in Zhao's time. Other masters of seal script, such as Wang Shu, Hong Liangji, Qian Piao, Sun Xingyan, etc., all attach great importance to jade tendon seal script, which lacks variety and is not in line with Zhao Zhiqian's character, so it is not valued by Zhao. After Deng, Zhang Huiyan, Wu Rangzhi and Delin passed down his seal writing techniques. Hu Shu, a colleague and friend, has expertise in this field.
When Zhao was 54 years old, he wrote the "Yishan Stele" for his disciple Qian Shilin: "The Yishan stone carvings were lost in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the Zheng Wenbao carvings handed down today are very clumsy. In the past, it was not an exaggeration to make chronicles of history. I am not wrong. Among the seal script writers of the dynasty, Deng Nunbo was the first, and his immediate descendants were Wu Xizai of Yangzhou and my friend Hu Jingfu of Jixi. I don't know where I'm going. Qian Sheng's next attempt at seal writing was to show what he knew. He used Deng's calligraphy to interpret Shanwen, which was probably better than Yu Wen Bao Shi. The other one learned from Deng Shiru. However, the biggest difference between Zhao Zhiqian and Wu Rangzhi is that they do not stick to the rules, follow Deng Shiru's example, rather than adhere to Deng's method, and use others for their own purposes. He commented on Deng Shiru that his talent was four and his manpower was six; while Bao Shichen had three talents and seven talents; Wu Rangzhi had nine talents and nine talents; he himself had seven talents and three talents. Based on talent, he is above everyone else. Therefore, from the bottom of his heart, he was also dissatisfied with Deng Shiru, thinking that after hard work, if the five-character disease of "uncertain beginning and end" was eliminated, there would be those who could not be achieved by Deng and Bao.
At the age of 34, Zhao Zhiqian published the "Yishan Stele" volume and the seal script works before and after. The structure is between Deng Shiru and Hu Shu, and his writing power is still lacking in Shen Xiong. The middle age is the Year of the Crane, Li Yangbing's "Chenghuang Temple Stele" and other seal scripts in the two-body fan-shaped seal script have beautified the structure to an extreme, and are unique and innovative besides Deng Shiru, Wu Rangzhi and Hu Shu. And this new thing mainly lies in the beauty of "structure". For Zhao Zhiqian, official script is, in a sense, a supplementary style of writing. He once said: "In my life, I learned seal script before I was able to write official script, and I learned official script before I could write official script." Zhengshu - Northern Wei Shu, Zhao Zhiqian's most diligent and proud person, claimed that "he can only make official script", while seal script and official script are It is to pave the way for the study of Zhengshu. Of course, this is just a theory. In fact, Zhao Zhiqian's seal script is as mentioned above, and official script has its own style.
Zhao Zhiqian dabbled extensively in official script, and what he learned can be seen from his handed down works. The following books were written successively: "Ode to the Stone Gate", "Fan Min Stele", "Sangong Mountain Divine Stele", "Liu Xiong Stele", "Fenglong Mountain Stele", "Wurong Stele", "Wei Yuanping Stele", "Chengyang Lingtai Stele" "etc. From the age of 35 to after 50 years old, there are people who refer to Han dynasty monuments in their works. After entering Beijing at the age of 35, he searched extensively for tablets. He once made a detailed textual research on the "Liu Xiong Stele" collected by Shen Junchu. He used the Song rubbings of Tianyi Pavilion and the double-hook edition of Jiang Qiu Shiba Yu's book copied by Weng Fanggang as the bases, collated them one by one, and made explanatory inscriptions. He also invented the double hook method and copied a large number of Han steles and inscriptions with hooks. Among them are "Ten Types of Han Steles with Double Hooks in Erjindietang", all of which have rare inscriptions on stone. At the age of 45, he copied the 96-character fragment of the "Xiyue Huashan Temple Stele" for Li Wentian. Because of the "old double hook version", it can be seen that he also copied the "Xiyue Huashan Temple Stele" in his early years. When he was 35 years old, he wrote an inscription on "Zhao's double-hook edition of Kuaiji": "I can't make a sound but I can double-hook. I hope the words will be left for me, and future generations will come to ask for them for thousands of years." It can be seen that Zhao Zhiqian was also diligent in official script. That’s it!
Zhao Zhiqian first studied Deng Shiru, and then went back to the Han Dynasty stele. With Zhao's character, he did not adhere to one method, let alone a certain family, a certain style, or even a certain monument. Therefore, he learned from Han Li and eventually became his own style. His early works, which can be seen were made around the age of 35, are not yet mature, or the shape is just like that of the ancients. The middle-aged "Seven-Character Couplet in Official Script for Youtang" (40 years old), "Four Screens of Official Script Zhang Henglingxian" (40 years old), and "Four Screens of Longshan Monument for Xu Zhailin" (41 years old) have already entered the Han people's list of works. room, but the writing still has Deng Shiru's legacy. In his later years, he is like a formal script or a seal script, calm, sophisticated, simple and substantial. The writing style is between the seal script and the main script, with the center as the main part and the side as the main part. The line of writing combines the circle with the square, combining the square and the circle. The body is flat and square, tight on the outside and loose on the inside, wide and natural. There is a slight tendency to lean to the right in the flatness, and the strangeness and rightness are intertwined.
The running script that Zhao Zhiqian wrote the most and is the most widely handed down. Before the age of 35, most of his works were written in running script, all of which have their own style. Upon closer inspection, they are similar to He Shaoji, they are gentle, elegant, vigorous and free and easy. When he was 35 years old, he wrote a seven-character couplet in running script for Houfu in April: "It is good to be infatuated with dreams and dreams, and there are many joys after going through hardships." He still looked good, and a month later he wrote an eight-character couplet in running script for Zixun: "Spring The clouds suddenly clouded, and I doubted the sunset outside the window; I had not taken a nap enough, and I was wandering in the pillow." Then he began to alienate "Yan Feng". When he wrote a four-character couplet in seal script for Wei Jia Sun in October, the shape of the characters changed from rectangular to square and flat. Dots and dashes have not completely broken away from the "Yan style", but have begun to change qualitatively from quantitative changes. After the age of 36, this type of calligraphy will no longer be used. Around the age of 37, he tried to write running script using the northern stele method, which was often far-fetched. His self-assessed five-character disease of "unclean beginning and ending" can be clearly seen during this period, with unnatural turns and weak writing power. As we all know, Zhao Zhiqian's Fengxing calligraphy in the Northern Wei Dynasty was his original creation and unprecedented. Deng Shiru pioneered the calligraphy style of the Northern Wei Dynasty, but his cursive writing did not use a center stroke, but used a curling edge to wrap the brush. The same is true for Bao Shichen, but the font style does not deviate from the style of the Tang Dynasty. Only Zhao Zhiqian began to directly apply the calligraphy techniques of the Northern Wei Dynasty to running script. Therefore, it has no "reference objects" left by predecessors, and due to the unique writing method of Northern Wei Shu: curling front plus side forward converted to center, it is difficult to be consistent. Zhao first solved this problem in the small running script of the "manuscript", or in small characters. The writings written around the age of 40 are naturally mature and there is no stiffness at all. Although the writing power is not strong enough, the writing style is no longer smooth. In a sense, the complete maturity of his running script works was later than that of official script, seal script and official script, and it was the last one to take shape. After the age of 45, my mind and hands are free, and I can already do whatever I want, so I can let nature take its course and write freely. Zhao Zhiqian once claimed: "I have never learned running script, I can only draft it." In fact, running script accounts for 89% of Zhao Zhiqian's works in his later years, which is the focus of his works.
It's just that the world uses the official script of the Northern Wei Dynasty to discuss Zhao Zhiqian, and ignores other calligraphy styles, so that the Fengxing script of the Northern Wei Dynasty is regarded as the "Book of the Northern Wei Dynasty by Zhao Zhiqian" without making a distinction. All successful calligraphers must start by correcting calligraphy and end it with running calligraphy. Wang Xizhi, Yan Zhenqing, Su Dongpo, Zhao Mengqi, Dong Qichang... are all like this. In modern calligraphy, scrolls are often hung on the wall to appreciate, and even more attention is paid to cursive calligraphy works. Although Zhao Yibei's stele is famous throughout the world, most of it is still written in running script. This is probably what the world wants from calligraphers.
If a person's calligraphy style and various calligraphy styles can be unified in the end, he must have a unique style. After the age of 50, Zhao Zhiqian, especially his works in his last years, has reached the state of "both people and books are old" in various calligraphy styles. It is a pity that Zhao Zhiqian rarely wrote cursive script in his life. Judging from the middle-aged cursive script "Foreword to the Collection of Holy Religions in Qianting Cursive Script", it is simple and elegant, and it all comes from the brushwork of the Northern Wei Dynasty.