Since ancient times, women and men have the same talents, and there are many talented people, and women do not let those who have eyebrows abound, and calligraphy is one of them. The Qiuhu wife, the talented woman Cai Wenji, the talented woman of the Thousand Autumns, the lady of the sage of the book, the talented Xue Tao, the wordless stele head Wu Zetian, the talented woman Li Qingzhao, the queen of Shulin, the iron man Cai Yuqing, the Lingxiu Siniang Ma Xianglan, the wind bone gift Jun Liu Rushi, the Guangping internal history Jiang Shuzhai ......These names are enough to shine in the history of Chinese calligraphy, and even in the history of Chinese culture. It can be seen that this kind of woman not only has a flower-like beauty, but also has a talent for the world. In the splendid ancient Chinese calligraphy world, these female calligraphers who do not let the eyebrows shave bring us amazing talents again and again.
Han Qiuhu opera wife Shandong Jiaxiang Wuliang Temple portrait rubbing
The martyr mourns the autumn bearded wifeOn the 8th stone in the front room of the Wu Ancestral Hall in Jiaxiang County, Shandong, there is such a picture: a car and two horses lead to the left, the car has a box and a cover, and the emperor sits in the middle. On the left is a mulberry tree, a woman picks mulberry, looks to the left, and a basket full of mulberry leaves is placed on the ground; 1. The bearer is on his left. Two lines and six characters on the side of the painting: Qiuhu's wife, Lu Qiuhu. In the Spring and Autumn Period of the Lu Kingdom, there was a woman who was intelligent and studious since she was a child, and later married a scholar named Qiuhu. On the fifth day after getting married, Qiu Hu left home to study and then became an official in Chen Guo. She raised silkworms and farmed at home alone, served her parents, raised her children, read and wrote in her spare time, and often missed her husband Han Qiuhu opera wife Shandong Jiaxiang Wuliang Temple portrait rubbing. One day, while she was practicing calligraphy, Qiu Hu quietly walked up to her and told her how to write and how to write better. She couldn't help but scream with joy. It turned out that she was dreaming.
Carved insect seal inscription.
Later, according to the scene in her dream, coupled with the various activities and postures of silkworms observed when raising silkworms, she was greatly inspired, and suddenly had an idea to apply the movements of silkworms to the shape of the seal characters, and transformed the seal characters. When she writes the seal characters, the strokes pretend to be sinuous and coiled, the middle part is bulging, the head and tail are pointed, and the long feet are drooping, like the bending of the body of a silkworm, so that the original monotonous lines of the seal script are decorated and beautified, thus creating a new style of calligraphy—"insect seal" or "insect book".
The insect book created by Qiuhu wife was one of the 8 kinds of book style that was common in the Qin Dynasty, it is different from the style of the big seal centripetal hug, the insect book font is slender and repaired, the glyph is strange, and the decorative meaning is very strong, so some people regard it as a kind of art font of the seal script.
The Tang Dynasty calligrapher Wei Xu pointed out in "Ink Serval": "The insect book, made by Lu Qiuhu's wife Huan silkworm, is also called carving insect seals. The Song Dynasty monk Shi Mengying called the insect book created by Qiuhu's wife "war pen book" in the "Eighteen Body Book", and praised the insect book created by Qiuhu's wife, "Its body is rhythmic, the hammer painting is slender, twisted and bent, and there is a nymph body." In its shape, the bird swims leisurely, and the flowers are scattered. "Because the insect book is the autumn beard's wife, "Qiu Ju Huaisi, playing with silkworms", so Liu Youding of the Yuan Dynasty called the insect book "silkworm book" in the annotation of "Yanji".
There is also a widely circulated story about Qiuhu's wife among the people - Qiuhu's wife". The story is that on the way back to visit relatives five years later, Qiuhu saw a stunning woman picking mulberry leaves when passing through the mulberry garden, and fell in love, so he took out money to tease and tease her, but was sternly refused. Qiu Hu had no choice but to leave in a huff, and when he returned home, he realized that the woman was actually his wife.
Qiuhu's wife denounced this unfilial and unrighteous husband, regretting that she should not have married such a despicable person, and in a fit of rage, she ran out and committed suicide by throwing herself into the river. The painting mentioned at the beginning of the article is the story of Qiuhu's wife. It was first seen in Liu Xiang's "Biography of the Daughters" in the Han Dynasty, and in the Dunhuang scroll of the Tang Dynasty, a singing book entitled "Autumn Hu Changes" was also written specifically for this matter.
In addition to serving her parents, raising her children, and cultivating silkworms, she also regarded writing as a "female celebrity" for self-cultivation and inner peace. This mulberry picker can be said to be the earliest female calligrapher in China's historical books, and Guo Moruo also believes: "China's habit of using words as works of art should start from here." Therefore, it can be said that Qiu Hu was the first female calligrapher in the history of Chinese calligraphy. It is a pity that his name has been lost, and his calligraphy works have not been passed on to the world.
More than 2,000 years have passed, and this kind of book can only be seen in containers, weapons, and ancient seals of the Warring States period and bronzes, seals, and tiles of the two Han Dynasty. Thankfully, there are still people who use this font in today's calligraphy and seal carving.
Who was the first outstanding female calligrapher in Chinese history? It is none other than Cai Wenji (Yan). This can be seen from the content recorded in Zhang Yanyuan's "Records of the Law Books: Calligraphy Teaching Names" in the Tang Dynasty, which says: "Cai Yong was received by the gods, and passed on to Cui Ying and the female Wen Ji, Zhong Ji passed on Zhong Xuan, Zhong Xuan passed on Zhong Xuan, Mrs. Wei passed on to Mrs. Wei, Mrs. Wei passed on Wang Xizhi, and Wang Xi passed on Wang Xi. ”
It can be said that Cai Wenji has an important role in the history of Chinese calligraphy, and her status is also incomparable with other calligraphers. Cai Wenji, the name Yan, the word Wenji, and the word Zhaoji, the year of birth and death is unknown. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Chen Yu (now Kaifeng Qi County, Henan) was the daughter of Cai Yong, a great writer of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Her only calligraphy work is "My Life Post".
Her calligraphy work "My Life Post" is the content of the first two sentences of "Hu Ji Eighteen Beats". Because there is only "I did nothing at the beginning of my life, and after I was born, Han Zuo declined", so this remaining calligraphy work is called "My Life Post".
The penmanship of this post has been passed on by his father Cai Yong, and his book is elegant and natural. These two sentences of chapter grass, just 17 words, with the pen skillful, free to press, grass in the law to see the law, although for the chapter grass, but left the meaning of the calligraphy, the text line is smooth and strong, in which the "not yet do" three words are particularly well written. Chapter grass is generally independent word by word, and here the word "after" is written consecutively, which is very vivid, and the essay is brought up, perhaps it is an unintentional work, or it may be influenced by Zhang Zhi. "The nature of the pen and ink are all based on the temperament of the person", Cai Yan's two lines of cursive script, neither pretentious makeup, nor the marks of knife and axe carving, fluent and vigorous, noble and simple, revealing a strong classical beauty. It shows the temperament and mentality of a talented woman who was born at the wrong time and "did nothing at the beginning of my life, and Han Zuo declined after I was born".
Han Dynasty Cai Yan's "My Life Post" Commentary: I didn't do anything at the beginning of my life, and Han Zuo declined after I was born.
If life is stable, with Cai Wenji's intelligence, she will definitely be able to inherit her father's mantle and become a generation. However, this talented woman's life was upside down. She let out a sad and miserable sigh on the first beat of "Eighteen Beats of Hu Ji": "The heavens are unkind, and the earth is unkind, so I am at this time. On the day of the war, the road is dangerous, and the people are in exile and mourn together. The smoke and dust cover the wilderness, and the ambition is obedient and righteous. Who should I sue if I am not suitable for the vulgar and humiliated? Cai Wenji married three times in her life, and before being plundered to the Southern Xiongnu, she was married to the Wei family in Hedong, the Wei family was a family member of Hedong, and her husband Wei Zhongdao was a scholar who excelled in the university, and the couple were very affectionate, but unfortunately the good times did not last long, and in less than a year, Wei Zhongdao died of hemoptysis. During the Xingping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Wenji was captured by the Huns and became the princess of King Zuoxian of the Southern Xiongnu, where she lived for 12 years. Cao Cao remembered Cai Yong's friendship and ransomed Cai Wenji with a lot of money. At this time, although people return to their homeland, they have to suffer the pain of separation. Later, Cao Cao married him to Dong Ci.
After returning to the Central Plains, Cai Wenji was entrusted by Cao Cao to write more than 400 chapters of ancient books. At that time, Cao Cao wanted to send some people to help Cai Wenji, but she refused on the grounds that "there is a difference between men and women, and the etiquette is not taught in person." It can be seen that Cai Wenji is not only quite confident in her memory, but also shows extraordinary calligraphy skills, and can easily use real and cursive script. Cai Wenji's calligraphy is steady and dignified, graceful and elegant, and her artistic attainments have inherited her father Cai Yong. Although only 17 characters of "My Life Post" have been handed down, his calligraphy attainments have been appreciated and affirmed by calligraphers throughout the ages.
In the Tang Dynasty, Zhang Huaijun's "Book Break" Volume 1 "Cai Yong's Biography" Zhongyun: "Nuyan is very virtuous and wise, and she also works in books. Huang Tingjian of the Northern Song Dynasty once said in "Valley Inscription": "Cai Yan's "Hu Ji Yin" is eighteen chapters from his book, which is very impressive. It's not a vulgarity, there are only two sentences left, and it seems that the people of Si are evil? Whether it is her life experience or calligraphy, he expresses infinite pity.
Words are like people, calligraphy is the most real external manifestation of ancient women's cultivation! Cai Wenji's bumpy and bumpy life experience not only did not wear away her persistence in life, but made her realize something after going through hardships. In the end, I realized that whether I felt happy or sad after that all depended on the flexibility of my thoughts. Therefore, after returning to the Han Dynasty, Cai Wenji did not immerse herself in the pain, but gave full play to her talents, inherited her father's legacy, and wrote the "Book of the Later Han," which made her outstanding achievements in art and literature.