Practice Shiqi Tie 运开：临摹《十七帖》

Having been practising Wang Xizhi’s ‘Shiqi Tie’ for about four months, I now have a better understanding on the meaning on ‘sheng-shu-sheng’ stages of learning Chinese calligraphy.

The Chinese word ‘sheng’ has many meanings. In the first stage of learning Chinese calligraphy, it refers to the stage of unfamiliarity. While there are a number of things one should pay attention to at this stage, I think two things are most important on getting one familiar with writing the words: the number of strokes that form the words and the sequence of writing the strokes. After one has a better idea of these two aspects of writing, one can proceed to work other things: how and when to start a stroke, when to use finger or wrist to turn the brush, when to use various techniques of brush-turning, the correct space between the strokes, the position of the start and end of strokes, etc.

The second stage refers to the skilled or proficient (shu) stage, this is when you can start to work on the relationship between the words and the composition of the calligraphy. At this stage, one should almost be able to memorise the shape and methods of writing the strokes of the words so that one can focus on the placing the words at the right positions. The aim of this stage is to be able to write the whole piece in a way that the words and composition are flow smoothly.

The first two stages are what we called the methods (fa) of Chinese art. The last stage of ‘sheng’ reflects the very important concepts of ‘vivid’ and ‘lively’ in Chinese aesthetics. How to be vivid and lively? The only way to achieve that is that art work must be natural. The unity of methods and naturalness reflects the traditional aesthetic ideal of a great work of art as a living and organic pattern. Most of us may not be able to achieve such high level of art in our life time.

Shown here is a piece of my practice work.

.

临摹了《十七帖》大约四个月，对学习书法的《生熟生》概念有了深一层的认识。

中文‘生’有不少意义。在学习书法的第一阶段指‘生疏’的意思。在这阶段，有不少的东西要我们去注意，但我想其中两个最重要：注意每个字有几个笔划与书写笔顺。对这两方面有了较好的认识之后，就可以开始注意书写的其它的事项了：如何及何时起笔、何时用指何时用腕运笔、何时用何种转笔法、笔划间的布白及起笔及收笔的位置，等等。

第二阶段是熟练阶段，这时开始注意书写字与字间的关系与章法。在这个阶段，我们应该几乎可以熟记字形及笔划的书写，这样就可以集中把字写在正确的位子。这个阶段的目的是要使结字与章法流而畅。

前两个阶段是中国艺术中所谓的‘法’。最后一个阶段反映的是中国美学里‘生动活力’的概念。达到生动活力的唯一法门就是要自然。方法与自然的统一反映传统美学中认为伟大艺术作品应有活力，同时是有机形式。对我们中很多人来说，一生中可能都没有法子达到这个阶段。

这里展示的是一幅临摹之作。

Vertical and Pie (Slanting Toward Lower Left) Strokes: Common Mistakes 竖撇划的通病

Here are two common mistakes on writing the vertical stroke:

1. Generally speaking, the vertical stroke should be written as a vertical straight line. However, there are cases where the vertical stroke should be bended slightly to become an arc. One has to observe carefully before starting to write.

2. When there is more than one vertical stroke in a word, the vertical line should be parallel to each other.

The common mistakes on writing the stroke slanting toward lower left (pie) include:

1. When more than one such stroke in a word, such strokes should be parallel to each other.

2. There are situations where the stroke should not be too slanted, especially when there is a vertical stroke next to it.

.

这里举出两则书写竖划的通病：

1． 一般来说，竖笔要直。但也有在个别字里的竖笔要写成弧笔。临写时要细心观察。

2． 一个字里，如有超过一条竖划，它们应该平行。

书写撇划的通病的一些例子：

1． 一个字里，如有超过一条撇划，它们应该平行。

2． 在某种情况之下，撇划不宜过斜，尤其是在它的旁边有竖笔时。

Horizontal Stroke: 4 Common Mistakes 横划：通病四则

Here are four common mistakes on horizontal stroke made by new learners of Chinese calligraphy:

1. New learners usually do not apply enough pressure on starting and ending the stroke. The techniques of pressing the brush should be applied when one starts to write and ends the stroke so that middle part of the stroke is generally thinner than its start and end.

2. New learners usually fail to hide the tip of the brush, especially at the start. For writing kaishu (the regular style), the Liu style in this case, generally, one must always apply the ‘tip hiding’ technique so that there is no showing of sharp and jagged tooth.

3. New learners must always remember that when there is more than one horizontal stroke in a word, the strokes must always be written in such a way that they are almost parallel to each other.

4. Similarly, when there are more than two horizontal strokes in a word, the distances between two horizontal lines next to each other should always roughly be the same.
.

这里列出书法初学者常见的书写横划的四个毛病：

1． 初学者一般在起笔与收笔时按笔不够。在起笔与收笔时，一定要应用‘按笔’的笔法，这样才能显出横划中间的线条比较细。

2． 初学者经常不注意藏锋起笔。书写楷书，以这里所举的柳体为例，一般要应用到‘藏锋’的笔法，才不会在起笔中出现尖齿。

3． 初学者应记住，在一个字中，如果有多过一条横划，这些横划书写时应该平行。

4． 相同的，一个字如果有超过两条横划，它们之间的距离应该大约相等。

Li Shimin 李世民

In Chinese history, two emperors had special love of calligraphy and thus contributed significantly to the development of Chinese calligraphy: one was XiaoYan, Emperor Wu of Liang of the Southern Dynasties (420-589), and the other was Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Both happened to be the devotees of Wang Xizhi, which may explain why Wang’s style of calligraphy dominates the Chinese calligraphy history.

Li Shimin is said to be among the most admired emperors in the Chinese history who was a skilled politician, a master strategist and even an excellent calligrapher. It is said that he ruled the country in an open minded and humane manner. He was ambitious, intelligent, adroit and diligent. He ruled China from 629 to 649.

All forms of Chinese calligraphy blossomed in the Tang Dynasty and many famous calligraphers came to the fore during this period. While the emperors of Tang followed the lead of Li Shimin and actively promoted calligraphy, there are other reasons that led to the development of calligraphy in Tang dynasty. The open political policy, the prosperous economy and the development of literature and other art forms during the period all stimulated the development of calligraphy. In addition, calligraphy was set as a subject for imperial examinations during the Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin held Wang Xizhi's calligraphy in great esteem. In order that more people could appreciate Wang’s famous ‘Preface to the Orchid Pavilion’ (Lanting Xu), he ordered his officials to make some elaborate copies of the original so that he could give them away to his imperial family members and favoured officials.

As the developing of calligraphy, the theories of calligraphy boomed at this time too. Li Shimin himself had a good grasp and understanding of the nature of calligraphy. This is what he had to say about calligraphy, ‘The spirit is the soul of calligraphy, for without an enlightened spirit, the beautiful appearance of words cannot be expressed; and mind is the muscle of calligraphy, for without a strong mind, the energetic strength of words cannot be shown.’ He even personally wrote the biography of Wang, in which he declared Wang the greatest calligrapher of all time, ‘I examined all calligraphy works with tiny details of ink from ancient times until now. I only find Wang as the most perfect calligrapher.’ He therefore fixed the style of Wang as the imperial signature with such finality that it was maintained as such through the Tang dynasty and beyond.

His own calligraphy was very much influenced by Wang and is commented as having achieved the standard of professional calligraphers.

.

在中国历史里，有两个皇帝对书法有特别的喜好，所以对书法发展也做出了很大贡献：一个是南朝（420-589）梁武帝萧衍，另一个是唐（618-907）太宗李世民。刚好两人多尊崇王羲之，这就是为什么在中国书法历史，唯王羲之及其书体能独尊。

李世民可说是中国历史上最受崇敬的帝王之一。他是个熟练的政治家、战略家、甚至是个很好的书法家。据说他为人开明、有人性。他也很有雄心、机智、敏捷与勤奋。他从629年至649统治中国。

在唐代，各书体皆兴盛，并出了不少著名书法家。唐帝王以太宗为范，积极推广书法，但书法之兴盛，还有其他原因。开明的政治，繁荣的经济，文学及其他艺术形式的发展，都刺激了书法的发展。再加上，唐朝规定书法是科举考试的考科之一。

李世民给予王羲之的书法很高的崇敬。为了使更多人有机会欣赏王羲之的《兰亭序》，他下令他的官员根据原迹写了一些摹本，分送给王族成员与宠臣。

作为书法发展的一部分，书法理论在当时也很兴盛。李世民本身对书法本质就就有很好的认识。他说过，‘夫字以神为精魄，神若不知，则字无态度也；以心为筋骨，心若不坚，则字无劲健也。’他还亲自写了《王羲之传》，宣称王羲之为古今最伟大的书法家：‘所以察详古今，研精篆素，尽善尽美，其惟王逸少乎！’他裁定王体为正统，以致王体得以由唐代起持续不衰。

他的书法受王羲之的影响很大，有评论认为他的书法已经达到专业水平。

Calligraphy at Tuan Mong 端蒙书法

If one has to name a school that has contributed tremendously to the development of Chinese calligraphy in Singapore, many would naturally think of Tuan Mong High School.

Tuan Mong School at Tank Road, which is on the fringe of the Central Business District, was set up in 1906 as a primary school by public-spirited Teochew clan leaders. As with schools built by the various clan associations in Singapore, Tuan Mong served the education needs of Teochew children, and was staffed by Teochew teachers using the dialect as the medium of instruction in its early days. In 1953, the Ngee Ann Kongsi took over the management of the school. Two years later, it became known as Tuan Mong High School when secondary levels were included.

The school, which took in about 1,900 students in 1960, occupied the three upper floors of the four-storey Teochew Building. The lower floor housed the offices of the Ngee Ann Kongsi and the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan.

However, the school closed on December 31, 1994 due to falling enrolment as more schools were built away from the city area and nearer to housing estates where the bulk of Singapore's population lived.

Calligraphy was tremendously popular at Tuan Mong, especially in its early days. There were many factors contributed to this, and one of them could be because the school was traditionally a Chinese school that emphasised on learning and developing Chinese cultures. Chinese calligraphy is the most sublime form of Chinese arts, and it was naturally included as one of its co-curricular activities. Obviously, it also helped to have teachers and principals who were accomplished calligraphers and who truly loved calligraphy.

In 1950s, one of the teachers who cultivated the tradition of learning calligraphy at Duan Mong was Zhu Yeyin. Another teacher that is worth mentioning was Yang Baobin. Although he taught English in school, he was proficient in both English and Chinese. He was good in chanting poetry and writing couplets, and proficient in calligraphy.

When one recalls the heyday of calligraphy at Duan Mong, one will inevitably remember Tan Keng Cheow (Chen Jingchao), who was an accomplished artist profient in calligraphy. He was its principal for 14 years. When he was the principal, due to his busy schedule, he did not teach Calligraphy, but he would find opportunities to write school notices, banners in calligraphy. One can not underestimate his influence on cultivating the love of calligraphy that continued through time at Duan Mong. By the time he left Duan Mong in 1964, the school had already established a positive environment for learning calligraphy.

During the later period, it was Chang Kwang Wee (Zeng Guangwei) who had contributed greatly to calligraphy education in Duan Mong. He was a hardworking teacher, practising hard on various types of model calligraphic works, and he did his utmost to promote calligraphy in the school. Chang, born in 1936, is still active in promoting Chinese calligraphy now in Singapore.

The whole-hearted love of calligraphy at Duan Mong is indeed something rare in the local calligraphy scene. Even today, when we meet someone who is good at calligraphy, we will ask naturally, ‘Excuse me, are you from Duan Mong?’

.

如果要找出一间对新加坡书法发展有贡献的学校，很多人都自然的会想到端蒙。

端蒙设在登路，在市区边缘，是1906年由一群有公德心的潮州人领袖开办的小学。与新加坡其他各会馆所主办的学校一样，早期是为潮州孩子的教育需求而设立，当时的教师都是潮州人，并以潮州方言为教学媒介。1953年，由义安公司接管学校行政。两年后，随着中学部的设立，变成端蒙中学。

1960年，学校拥有1，900 名学生，在潮州大厦四层楼的建筑物的上面三层楼上课。最下一层则是义安公司的办公室与潮州八邑会馆。

然而，由于越来越多学校在靠近人口多的市区以外开办，报名入校读书的人数减少，学校终于1994年12月31日关闭。

书法在端蒙特别流行，尤其是在早期。其中的因素很多，一个原因是端蒙是间传统的华校，一向注重华文文化的学习与推广，而书法堪称为中国文化的最崇高形式，自然就被列为课外活动之一。显然的，拥有一群热爱书法、有名的书法家老师，更有推波助澜之效。

在1950年代，祝业殷是把书法风气带进端蒙的其中的一位老师。另一个值得提的是杨抱冰老师。他虽然教授英语，却中英兼通，还能吟诗作对，亦为能书者。

回顾端蒙书法鼎盛时期时，便不能不提起在端蒙担任14年校长的陈景昭。陈景昭本人就是个书法写的很好的艺术家。虽然掌校期间，他本身没有教导书法，但经常以书法书写文告、大布条等。日后端蒙的书法风气之所以能够历久不衰，他的影响力不容低估。当他于1964年离开端蒙时，这所学校已经建立起非常良好的书法风气。

后期对端蒙书法教育贡献良多的，应推曾广纬老师。他是一个勤于练习，广临碑帖，弘扬书法不遗余力的导师。1936年出生的曾广纬目前还一样地热心推广书法。

端蒙的书法风气是本地教育史上的一大奇观。就算今天，碰到一个书法写得好的人，我们都不禁要说，‘请问，你是从端蒙来的吗？’

Tsue Ta Tee 崔大地

Tsue Da Tee (Cui Dadi, 1903 – 1974) was born in Beijing and trained as a teacher. However, he believed that life is about living and living is experiencing, so he left China in 1937 to travel extensively in the Southeast Asian countries and eventually settled in Singapore in 1946.

Since young, he developed a strong liking for the Chinese calligraphy and practiced extensively various calligraphic styles. His constant search for knowledge led him to visit London in 1953. While there he found the opportunity to do research in Chinese calligraphy, especially the oracle bone inscriptions at the British Museum. He also held several calligraphy exhibitions in London and Paris.He left London in 1958 and headed for Penang where he spent several years to focus on refining his calligraphic skills. While he did not teach calligraphy in Penang, he had definitely left a mark there. Today, inscribed sign-boards with calligraphy written by him can still be seen at many places in Penang. In 1965, he finally returned to Singapore and devoted the rest of his time to teaching and promotion of the Chinese calligraphy. He was the volunteer calligraphy teacher of the Calligraphy Society of the Hua Yi Secondary School. He also held many exhibitions of his works in Singapore and Malaysia.

In his teaching of Chinese calligraphy, it was almost a rule to start with the Wei stele, followed by zhuan (official seal style), kai (regular) and then walking and cursive styles. All the work books were appropriately selected by him for students according to their progress in learning, personality and character. In this way, the students could fully develop their own potentials and characteristics.

To many of those who are followers of the art of Chinese Calligraphy in Singapore and the surrounding region, the mention of Tsue Da Tee evokes deep respect and admiration for a man who was well known for his calligraphy.

He was one of those rare calligraphers in Singapore and Malaysia who were skilful in many calligraphic styles, such as kai (regular), li (clerical), cao (cursive), zhuan (official seal), bronze and oracle bone inscriptions. In addition, he was not afraid of experimenting and opening new grounds in the calligraphic art. His beautiful and controlled brushwork – the dense sweeping strokes bearing the characteristic twists and turns – were skilfully executed with intent to express the underlying meaning and emotion of each character or form. He was truly a prolific artist and his works are noted for their vitality, strength, grace and beauty.

Some of his students who are well known calligraphers in Singapore include Yong Cheong Thye (Yang Changtai) and Goh Yan Kee (Wu Yaoji).

It is rare to find someone in Singapore who earned his living as a professional calligrapher, and Tsue was one. It is a pity that his works are not systematically studied and preserved.

.

崔大地（1903-1974）出生于北京，是一名受训教师。然而，他相信生命就是生活，生活就是体验，所以他于1937年离开了中国，尽情游览东南亚各国，并于1946年来到新加坡。

从小就喜欢书法，并广学各体书法。对追求知识的痴迷，使他于1953年又踏上了伦敦之途。在那里他找到了机会在大英博物院研究书法，尤其是甲骨文。他也在伦敦与巴黎举办了不少书法展览会。

他于1958年离开伦敦，前往槟城，勤练书法。在槟城期间，他并没有收学生，但那里肯定在留下了他的书法痕迹。今天，他写的招牌匾额，在槟城还是随时可见。1965年，他终于回到新加坡定居，把剩余的时间放在书法教学与推广上面。他担任过华义中学书法会的义务书法导师。他也在新马举办了不少的书法展。

崔先生教导学生时，多数先学隶书，然后学魏碑、篆书、楷书及行草各种书体。学生所临摹的碑帖，都是经过精心挑选，并依个别学生的进度、性格与风格作适当的选择。因此，学生们都能各自发挥己长，发展自己的个人风格。

对那些关注新加坡与这一地区书法发展的人来说，提到崔大地的书法，必然令人肃然起敬。

在新马，他是少数精通各体书法的书法家之一，楷、隶、草、篆、钟鼎文、甲骨文，样样皆精。同时，他也不怕进行新的尝试，为书法开辟新道路。他美丽而又控制的书法线条，具有特色的扭与转，熟练地表达了每一个字与形式所要透露的意思与情感。他是个多产的书家，作品有活力刚强、优雅美丽。

他的一些学生如今在书法界有名气的包括：杨昌泰与吴耀基。

在新加坡，以书法为生的专业书法家不多见。崔大地就是这样的一个。很可惜他的书法没有被有系统的整理与学习。

Zhi Yong: A News Maker? 智永：炒作大王？

Zhi Yong was a descendent of Wang Xizhi, the sage of Chinese calligraphy. He had in his possession many original works of Wang, including the ‘Preface to the Lanting Collection of Poems’ (Lan Ting Xu), which is reputed to be the best walking script in the calligraphy history. Naturally, he practiced diligently from this masterpiece, as well as from Wang Xizhi’s other works.

Zhang Huai Guan, the famous calligraphy theoretician told a number of stories about Zhi Yong in his book entitled ‘Judging Calligraphy’.

It was said that Zhi Yong lived and practiced calligraphy in Yongxin Temple for more than 30 years. He spent many hours every day at his calligraphy so that he used up many brushes. When the brushes became unusable or ‘bald’ with the hairs worn down to the holder, he just tossed them into a large bamboo basket. Over the years, Zhi Yong filled up ten of these baskets. Later he buried them together at a place which was later known as the ‘Brush Tomb’, as if the brushes were heroic soldiers who had fallen on the battlefield.

His skill as a calligrapher brought him fame and the demand for his calligraphy was great. His was best at writing the cursive style (choshu), which was known for being smooth and beautiful, moist yet vigorous. So great was his fame his house was always full of people who came to ask for his calligraphic works. The situation was so bad that his doorway or the threshold was damaged with deep hole by crush of people, so he had to cover it with iron sheets and bars. Zhi Yong’s nickname thus became ‘The Iron Threshold’.

However, there are those who believe that all these were some of his deliberate news-making shows aim to make him famous. If that is the case, Zhi Yong probably is one of the most successful new-makers in the history of Chinese calligraphy.

.

智永是书圣王羲之之后人。他拥有王羲之不少书法原作，包括被称为天下第一行书的《兰亭序》。很自然的，他很用功学习这幅帖与王羲之的其他法帖。

著名书法理论家张怀瓘在他的《书断》中就讲到智永的故事。

据说智永在永欣寺住了三十多年，一直学书法。他每天花很多时间写书法，用了很多毛笔。当毛笔不能用，或笔毛脱落到笔杆时，它就顺手丢在大竹篮里。长年累积了十大篮。后来他把它们埋葬了，犹如它们是在战场上牺牲了的英勇战士。这就是后来叫的‘退笔冢’。

他的书法给他带来了名誉，对他书法的需求也就很高。他最擅长于草书。他的草书流畅而优美，润滑而强劲。向他要字的人多到每天他的家都充满了来求字的人。情况坏到他家的门槛都被挤出了洞来，需要用铁片来盖住。所以智永又被称为‘铁门槛’。

但是，也有人认为以上都是智永炒作或做秀之举，以使自己成名。如果是这样，智永可以说是中国书法史上最有成功的炒作大王了。

以下是《书断》里的原文：

永公住吴兴永欣寺， 积年学书，后有秃笔头十瓮，每瓮皆数石。人来觅书并请题额者如市。所居户限 为之穿穴，乃用铁叶裹之。人谓为“铁门限”。后取笔头瘗之，号为“退笔冢”。

Zhi Yong Popularised the Thousand-Character Essay 智永推广《千字文》

Zhi Yong’s famous calligraphic work is ‘The Thousand-Character Essay in Regular and Cursive Scripts’ (Zhencao Qianziwen). As the title implied, it was written in both regular and cursive scripts. A copy of it is now kept in Japan. The copy is said to be an authentic copy. However, some suggested that it was actually written by someone in the Tang dynasty. Another rubbing copy is now collected by Beijing Palace Museum.

The ‘Thousand Character Essay’ was reportedly composed on the order of the Liang dynasty emperor Wudi (464-549) as a form of instruction in calligraphy for his princes. Rubbings were made from works by the master calligrapher Wang Xizhi in the imperial collection to compile a list of one thousand non-repeating characters. Zhou Xingsi (?-521) was then ordered to put them to rhyme, creating lines of four characters each. The contents of the essay touch on a variety of subjects, including nature, society, history, and ethics.

Since all the characters are unique and of appropriate length (as well as familiar and popular among readers), the Qianziwen became a primary choice of text among learners of calligraphy and this turn motivated calligraphers to create model books for study, resulted in many great transcriptions of this text.

Copied and written in various calligraphic forms innumerable times through the ages, the Qianziwen became an important part of mainstream calligraphy. Consequently, almost all renowned calligraphers through the centuries made transcriptions, turning the text into a unique cultural phenomenon in the history of Chinese calligraphy.

The Qianziwen calligraphic textbook was originally intended for the exclusive use of the imperial family. It was Zhiyong who made it available to the common people. Zhi Yong spent more than 30 years to write more than thousand copies of the essay in calligraphy and selected 800 copies for distributing to all the Buddhist temples and monasteries in eastern China. Before long, recitations of the textbook could be heard throughout China.

Some were passed to Korea and Japan and had a significant influence on the development of calligraphy in these countries. In the 19 century, copies of the essay even made their way to Europe in the hands of French and English visitors to China.

This has ensured that Zhi Yong is remembered in the Chinese calligraphy history.

.

智永的书法传世作品为《真草千字文》。如帖名所示，它是以楷书与草书学的。现传世的有墨迹本为日本所藏，论者认为墨迹本为智永真迹，也有人疑为唐人临本。另有拓本为故宫博物院藏。

据说，《千字文》是梁武帝（464-549）梁武帝下令在宫中收藏的大书法家王羲之书法拓本中取出不重复的一千个字，供皇子们学书用的。周兴嗣被令为这千字编为四字韵文。它的内容取材广阔，包括了自然、社会、历史及道德等等。

由于没有一个字重复，长度适当（加上该文广为人知与流行），《千字文》成为书法爱好者用来学习书法的第一选择，并由此鼓舞了书法家书写更多法帖。

经过历代无数人的临摹与用不同书体来书写，《千字文》成为书法重要主流。历代许多大书法家都有书写，因而在书法历史上形成了一个独特的文化现象。

《千字文》原本是皇家独用的书法练习本。智永把它带到普通人民的手中。智永花了超过三十年的时间写了千多本《千字文》并从中选了八百本分赠给中国东部的寺庙与僧院。不久，咏诵该文就遍及全国。

有一些书法本还传到了朝鲜与日本，重要地影响了书法在这些国家的发展。在十九世纪，这些书法还经过来访中国的法国与英国人带到了欧洲。

这就确定了智永在书法史里为世人所知。

Zhi Yong 智永

In Chinese history, the Qin and Han dynasties witnessed the most dramatic change of Chinese writing system. However, it was during the period of Wei, Jin and Southern & Northern dynasties that the prominence was given to the development of calligraphy. This period is defined by modern calligraphers as ‘the establishing period of Chinese calligraphy’.

Fast forwarded to Sui dynasty that was founded in 581 AD. During this period, the society flourished in every aspect, including calligraphy. However, calligraphy of the Sui dynasty, represented by Zhi Yong, was really just a transition from one high point in Wei Jin dynasties to another in Tang dynasty.

Zhi Yong, also name Faji, was born in Huiji (now Shaoxing in Zhejiang). His family name was Wang, and according to the records of some ancient books, he was the seventh-generation descendent of Wang Xizhi, the sage of calligraphy. His birth year was unknown. He first became a monk in Yongxin Temple and moved to Ximing Temple in Chang-an later. Yongxin Temple was originally the residence of Wang Xizhi, was converted to a temple for unknown reason. When it was converted, it was called Yunmen Temple.

Zhi Yong’s calligraphic works were first known by people in the Chen period (557 – 589) of the Southern Dynasties and became very famous in the Sui dynasty. So his calligraphy is considered to be part of Sui calligraphy. He was also famed by his student, Yu Shinan, a great calligrapher in Tang Dynasty.

Zhi Yong became a monk when he was very young and lived a seclude life in Yongxing Temple for 30 years. During that period, he got up early every morning and prepared a large grail of calligraphy ink to practice in Wang Xizhi’s model calligraphic works. He was good at regular script and cursive script. His work in regular script was brisk and yet precise, and his cursive style was free and firm.

His famous calligraphic work is ‘The Thousand-Character Essay in Regular and Cursive Scripts’ (Zhencao Qianziwen). It is said to be a piece from heaven, and is widely used by calligraphy learners as a model book.

.

中国的历史里，中文在秦汉的改变最大。但是，书法在魏晋南北朝时的发展最为显著。现代书法家把这个时期称为‘书法的建立时期’。

隋朝于公元581年建立。这个时期，社会各方面都很发达，包括书法。但是，以智永为代表的书法在隋朝其实是由魏晋的一个高峰到唐朝的另一个高峰的过渡期。

智永又名法极，生于会稽（今浙江绍兴）。他俗性王，据古书记载，是书圣王羲之的第七代孙。他的生年不详。开始在永欣寺出家为和尚，后来到长安的西明寺。永欣寺原为王羲之旧宅，后不知为何改成寺庙，当时称云门寺。

智永的书法在南朝之陈代（557-589）就有所闻，到了隋朝就更加著名了。所以他的书法就放入隋朝来叙述。他的书法还靠他的学生虞世南而闻名。虞世南是唐代大书法家。

智永从小就出家为僧，在永欣寺过了30年出家人的生活。这期间，他每天很早就起身，磨了一大盘墨，临写王羲之的字帖。他擅长真草二体。真书活泼严谨，草书自由沉稳。

他有名的书法作品为‘真草千字文’，被誉为‘神妙之作’，为历代书法爱好者所临摹的书法范本。

Wong Joon Tai on Chinese Calligraphy 王运开的书法之路

Wong Joon Tai (Wang Yunkai), who calls himself a simple-living person, claims to have understood the meaning of life at the age of forty and started fulfilling that meaning by learning Chinese calligraphy at fifty. Confucius once said, ‘At forty, I had no doubts and at fifty, I knew the mandate of Heaven.’ That is to say meaningful life only starts at fifty when one knows the mandate of heaven and acts on it.

In 2003, Wong learned Chinese calligraphy under Lee Kim Guan (Li Jinyuan), practised lishu ‘Caoquan Bei’ (Epitaph on the tombstone of Cao Quan, Han Dynasty) for three years, also practiced briefly the ‘Maogong Ding’ (Incense Burner), scripts on bamboo of Han, and ‘Shimen Song’ (an Ode Inscribed on the Stone Gate). Happened to pass by the Singapore Calligraphy Centre one day in 2004 and enrolled into calligraphy class conducted by Professor Tan Siah Kwee (Chen Shenggui). He then practised the walking style (xingshu) ‘Shenjiao Xu’ (The Preface to the Sacred Teaching) for five years and Zhao’s walking style xingshi for one year.

In 2007, he was influenced by Han Yutao’s theory that Chinese calligraphy is philosophical in nature and is about expression of feelings. This had led him to study on his own the Western and Chinese philosophies, aesthetics. He then created three blogs to keep notes of his study: Follow the Desires of My Mind, Chinese Calligraphy and The Chinese Lifeworld.

The experts seem to advocate that the only way to realise Chinese calligraphy as an art of expression is to work on cursive style of writing (caoshu). Therefore, he probably will spend the next three years on Caoshu. By that time he will be sixty years old, and if anyone criticises that he is crazy, he should be able to accept that criticism with a calm mind.

The copying work shown here is his practice on Wang Xizhi’s ‘Shiqi Tie’ (The collections of some of Wang Xizhi's letters).

Confucius once remarked, after he had begun the study of the Yijing (Book of Changes) at fifty, ‘If I could hope to live some years more, long enough to complete my study of the Yijing, I should then hope to be without any great shortcomings in my life.’

In his case, since he started learning Chinese calligraphy at fifty, he would say, ‘If I could hope to live some years more, long enough to complete my study of Chinese calligraphy, I should then hope to be without any great shortcomings in my life.’

.

王运开，自号‘简易居士’。自认于不惑之年肯定了人生意义，知命之年开始行动而学书法。子曰：‘四十而不惑，五十而知天命。’就是说有意义的人生是在五十岁知道天命之后，并有了行动才开始的。

2003年跟李金源老师学书法，临了三年《曹全碑》，亦临过《毛公鼎》，汉简，《石门颂》。2004年无意中来到了新加坡书法中心，报名进入陈声桂教授的书法班，从此临了五年的《圣教序》与一年赵体行书。

2007年受到了韩玉涛书论的影响，说书法是哲学的，又是写意的。于是自修中西哲学，美学，并创立三个博客来作读书笔记：随意运开，中国书法、华人的生活世界。

看来书法专家多认为书法写意唯有草书。所以他大概会在以后三年苦练草书。那时已是耳顺之年，如果别人说他狂，应能以平静之心来看待了。

这里所展示的是他临王羲之《十七帖》的习作。

子曰：‘加我数年，五十以学易，可以无大过矣。’

吾曰：‘加我数年，五十以学书，可以无大过矣。’