But will be paid for the rest of his life
Li Wentian's "Purple Swallow and White Tiger" seal calligraphy.
Xue Yuanming. Li Wentian (1834-1895), known as Sheguang and Zhongyue, was a native of Jun'an Shangcun, Shunde, Guangdong, and was the ancestor of the modern kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. Li Wentian can be called "erudite Confucian", he had the reputation of "prodigy" when he was young, and returned to Guangdong for 11 years after being an official, during which he served as the lecturer of Fengshan and Yingyuan Academy. Zeng's book "Zhuzi Bailu Cave Academy School Rules Tablet" has become a famous monument in Guangdong.
Li Wentian not only has a literary spirit and talent, but also has a literati backbone, and once said: "When the country is troubled, he only cares about preserving his own life, and he is worthy of being a minister?"It is a minister who dares to "go against the tune" with the Empress Dowager Cixi, which has an ancient style, and people often compare it with Wei Zheng, a virtuous minister in the Tang Dynasty, which can be seen to be respected. In the turbulent period of internal and external troubles in the late Qing Dynasty, although Li Wentian was a civil servant, he also operated group training to resist foreign enemies, and took it as his responsibility to defend the land and the country. In addition, Li Wentian was also the first person to question the "Lanting Preface", first proposing that the author of the "Lanting Preface" article was not Wang Xizhi, and secondly, denying the Dingwu version of the "Lanting Preface" as Wang Xizhi's handwriting from the book style. Because Li Wentian was the first to raise questions, this legendary unsolved case in the history of calligraphy has become more academic and challenging. The value of Li Wentian's questioning is not in the "Orchid Pavilion Preface" itself, but in his starting point is the difference between the "inscriptions", which were two calligraphy categories that were gradually established at that time, and the calligraphy method has since been "divided into two". Time has passed, for the study of theology and stele to reflect, although the difference always exists, but more importantly, the concept can not be immutable, from "one into two" must be "two into one", the implication is not to deny and ignore the difference between the two, but can not be the two opposites, either one or the other, you live and die. Broadly speaking, the integration of tablets and posts is not suitable for everyone, nor is it a successful path for all calligraphers, and it can be successful only by writing.
Li Wentian can do everything. The most famous is not the seal script, but the Wei tablet. Mai Huasan's "Lingnan Calligraphy Series" said: "Ruonong calligraphy actually originated from the North Monument, and flowed smoothly in the Sui Monument, and the Tang Monument was also based on the Sui Monument. "If Nong is to write the ancient and simple north monument with a calm and comfortable tone, the calligrapher regarded it as authentic for a while. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Tao Junxuan was close to rigid, and Zhao Zhiqian was too frivolous, but if the farmer became serious, graceful and generous, he was the main biography of the northern faction. Some commentators believe that it was not until Li Wentian came out that the stele school in Guangdong was formally formed. Li Wentian and Wei monuments all use "real brushes", the square is formal and strict, and Zhao Zhiqian and others are obviously different, clumsy, realistic, more subordinate, with the pen fat heavy, strict body, this posture may be closely related to his long-term politics, influenced by the pavilion body. The fundamental reason why Li Wentian's inscription has such a style is that the foundation of his calligraphy is Ouyang Xun. To clarify the Wei monument written by the Qing people, you might as well open your mind. Although they are all named as the people who wrote the stele, in fact, they have their own differences: Li Wentian is the Kai in the stele, Zheng Xiaoxu is the line in the stele, Kang Youwei is the grass in the stele, Yang Xian is the subordinate in the stele, and Wu Changshuo is the seal in the stele. Although the methods of calligraphers in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China are collectively called "tablets", they are actually very different inside. Although the aesthetics of calligraphy have a certain dominance in adulthood, the materials seen are also accidental, so the formation of calligraphy style is uncertain, so there are stylistic differences. The above classifications are not necessarily "accurate" and "corresponding", because the formation and judgment of the calligraphy style of each calligrapher will be affected by various factors, and there are also various evaluation perspectives. It is necessary to understand that the proposal of any term can not only clarify the idea, but also cause a certain gap, and even form a "black hole", resulting in shielding. In view of this, it is important to use it for yourself, not for yourself.
Li Wentian's seal calligraphy, the pen is gentle and generous, mainly thanks to the Han monument, and later by Deng Shiru, Zhao Zhiqian influenced, the pen is steady, upright and powerful, full of changes. Ma Guoquan said in the "Ming and Qing Dynasty Guangdong Calligraphy" that his seal script is everyone's demeanor, and from the case study of calligraphers who are good at writing seal scripts in Lingnan dynasties, Li Wentian's seal script can indeed be called everyone's style.
Li Wentian is a **, and he is still a scholar in his bones. He has written a lot of books, especially good at the knowledge of the Western Regions and Mongolia, and is a famous expert on Mongolian history in the Qing Dynasty. As a matter of common sense, his calligraphy should be rigorous. But fundamentally speaking, he is a person who sees temperament, he is not afraid of power, and he is guilty of admonishment, and it has been rumored that Li Wentian is good at "face-to-face", which can be used as evidence. Therefore, his seal script style spans a lot. The three works I have seen have different styles of calligraphy, including the patriarchal Deng Shiru and the patriarchal "Mount Tai Carved Stone", but they are not static. "Purple Swallow and White Tiger" seal book (pictured), different from others, self-explanatory, both the law, and the temperament, rare to see.
Li Wentian Seal Couplet
Purple Swallow Heng Green Snake Guard Hub White Tiger Drum Se Canglong Blowing Chi
This joint payment was signed "Bingxu April" in 1886, when Li Wentian was 53 years old, and his skills had been accomplished. This joint study of Deng Shiru is different from Deng Shiru, learning Qin Seal and different from Qin Seal, the penmanship is mainly round, occasionally seen square folds, the words are enchanting, the posture is elegant, graceful and luxurious. The most typical is the word "Yan" in the upper couplet, and the strokes on both sides of the "north" part are exaggerated but not abrupt. The top three strokes of the word "骈" have small movements, do not feel cumbersome and repetitive, but make the glyph elegant, and the two horizontal paintings of the "and" part play the role of stabilizing the entire glyph, and lock the middle palace at once. The glyphs of the word "Heng and Wei" are similar, the strokes of the "line" on both sides of the periphery of the word "Heng" have changed slightly, the middle palace is strict, and the word "Wei" is stacked and dense, making the glyph sparse and dense, and this kind of methodical processing undoubtedly has personal creativity. Some techniques have a certain degree of creativity, and there is a shortening of the "must" part of the word "Se" in the following couplet, which suddenly highlights the dense relationship and appears ingenious.
Li Wentian has made great contributions to academics, is very knowledgeable, has a tireless love of learning in his life, is good at calligraphy and painting, and "the source of the book versions of gold and stone tablets and books is all in its place", and he knows all about history, the art of war, astronomy, and geography. Not only that, Li Wentian was also an important bibliophile. And annotated the "Three Character Classic" in the authentic spoken dialect of Guangzhou official dialect at that time, and carried out enlightenment education. At the time of his death, Weng Tong had an elegiac couplet: "The accumulation of feelings is full, and the Si people actually use Hengwen Lao;."The suicide note is full, and the rest of the story is like an art biography. ”