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.

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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”。