Published on: June 2006-1 1 Page has been accessed 230 times.

Weng Tonghe (1830— 1904) was once praised by Kang Youwei as "the first mentor of China's reform". He is a great politician and a great calligrapher.

Half-acre garden is the library of Zhao family in Changshu, backed by mountain streams, pavilions, flowers and trees, stone lakes under the porch, and your bamboo shadow is swaying. Elegant environment, just suitable for literati collection. From 1872 to 1874, Weng Tonghe was temporarily idle because Ding was worried about returning home, so scholars from Changshu and surrounding areas gathered here and invited Weng to talk about calligraphy. It's very kind of you to refuse, and Weng Tonghe will also come clean about his experiences over the years-

Weng Tonghe believes that during the Qin and Han Dynasties, the best calligraphers were few and far between. He admired Cai Yong, and Lu Junbei wrote "heroic, cool as divine power". I also admire Zhong You, for example, "Clouds and cranes swim in the sky and crowds play in the sea". Among the famous calligraphers after Sui and Tang Dynasties, Weng Tonghe especially admired Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy. Many pagodas were neat and rigorous, and their pens were powerful. "The Monument to the Family Temple" combines rigidity and softness, and the needle is hidden in cotton; "Fight for a seat" is smooth and rolls well. The birth of the word "Yan" made the placards and plaques in China present a new description, and the style of the word "Yan" reflected the prosperous atmosphere of the Tang Dynasty. Weng Tonghe also thinks that Huai Su's pen moves dragons and snakes, which is magnificent and vivid, and is a model for learning cursive script.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, it became more and more popular to learn the official seals of Qin and Han Dynasties and the northern inscriptions. Weng Tonghe believes that learning a monument is more about learning its momentum than its shape. The attitude of learning inscriptions should be "learning from others" rather than "wholeheartedly", so as to cultivate many people to form their own families.

Weng Tonghe believes that people who get the moon first by being close to the water tower should master two keys: publishing and writing. Regarding the structure and composition of words, "beginners should learn distribution, but seek fairness;" Knowing that justice is right, we must pursue danger; When you are in danger, you will be rehabilitated. " These words have realized the meaning of negation of negation. Weng Tonghe also stressed: "Horizontal strokes are also a key for calligraphers." As for putting pen to paper, "it must be tortuous and clever" and "it must be cantilever and open." It is pointed out that the common fault of writing is "not stopping at the writing place" and "not stopping will make the whole word structure scattered and stand up" "Pay attention to roundness and strength when you drop ink", "If you talk about the inverted method, you should control the combination of emptiness and harmony", and the structure of words can be "both rigid and flexible".

Weng Tonghe also emphasized that mature calligraphy should have "qi" and "potential". Great momentum, reflected in the composition of length, small momentum, reflected in the knot of points and strokes. The structure should be hard, "books are expensive, thin and hard, and clever." Hardness is related to wrist movement. "Wrist is weak, you can't write a good book", but the pen is solid and the wrist is strong.

Weng Tonghe thinks that copying ancient posts and studying calligraphy theory complement each other. "The book of masters, all aspects have statutes. It is impossible to cause this situation without Mo Chi's pen zzzz. " Don't forget to read the book Theory when posting. Only by constantly absorbing the experience of predecessors and contemporary people about calligraphy can calligraphy be perfected day by day. He studied calligraphy theory, catching up with Sun, Zhao Mengfu in Yuan Dynasty, and praised Bao's Yi Yi.

Speak casually and leisurely, and let the listener be convinced in one sentence. With Hongyan spreading books, Weng's half-acre garden talks about books, which affects people who travel far to Changshu. Soon, people of insight in Beijing also talked about it.