Yu Shinan was born in the second year of Chen Yongding in the Southern Dynasties (558). He was quiet and knowledgeable, and Emperor Taizong became a bachelor of Hong Wen Pavilion.
Yu Shinan is weak in appearance, but honest and frank in character. ]
He used natural disasters such as the Longyou landslide to persuade Taizong to rectify the prison and help the victims.
He also used astrological variation to persuade Taizong to guard against arrogance and rashness, and to be as cautious as before;
When Emperor Taizong was preparing for a thick burial, he quoted the previous code law and advocated a thin burial.
In his later years, Emperor Taizong liked to hunt in the wild, and also advised him to "stop hunting cars" so as not to disturb the people.
Emperor Taizong praised this: "If all the ministers are in the south, why should the world care!"
Emperor Taizong also said: South of the city is also a "five wonders", which means five wonders in the world. Among them, erudition is the best, morality is the best, calligraphy is the best, articles are the best, and ethics is the best. A total of * * * five firsts, the average person as long as there is a first is great, but Yu Shi Nan 'an ranked five.
Because Yu Shinan studied with Sun Zhiyong, the seventh generation of Wang Xizhi, when he was a child, and he handed it down personally, Wang Xizhi's brushwork was quite wonderful. Therefore, Emperor Taizong, who loved Wang Xizhi very much, respected him and regarded him as the object of calligraphy study. Legendary calligraphy can't be written well as long as there is a word "ge". Once, he wanted to write a word "Zi", but his heart sank when he saw the word "Ge" on the right. Suddenly, he had a plan, so he emptied the "Ge" department and asked Yu Shinan to fill in the word "Ge". After writing it, I proudly showed it to Minister Wei Zhi. Unexpectedly, Wei Zhi looked at it and replied: It seems that only the word "Ge" is well written. Emperor Taizong laughed and exclaimed, you really have a good eye.
On another occasion, the emperor ordered Yu Shinan to copy seven articles and seven volumes of Liu Xiang's Biography of Woman in the Western Han Dynasty. I saw Yu Shinan copy the article directly on the screen without reading a book. Afterwards, Emperor Taizong secretly checked it and found that it was verbatim, which was very admirable.
Unfortunately, there is only one piece of Yu Shinan's calligraphy left at present, namely "Confucius Temple Monument". When the monument was built in 630, people came from all over the world to visit it. At that time, it was recorded that "the car was filled under the monument." It's like we're watching idols Later, Emperor Taizong gave him a yellow seal used by Wang Xizhi as a reward, which was valuable.
In fact, when Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, Yu was nearly seventy years old. At that time, he asked to retire and was not approved. It was not until the twelfth year of Zhenguan (638) that he was allowed to retire. He died in May of that year at the age of 8 1. Emperor Taizong wept bitterly when he learned of his death. Ask him to bury Zhaoling (the tomb of the royal family), give him a gift history, Wen Yi, posthumous title, and paint his portrait in Lingyange (dedicated to the founding heroes). Yu Shinan is really "compassionate".
It is a well-known fact that calligraphy prevailed in the Tang Dynasty. Especially in the early days of Emperor Taizong, Wang Xizhi, a "book saint", was highly respected, so he collected it widely. After obtaining the Preface to the Lanting Pavilion from Xiao Yi, a monk who knew talents by strategy, he gave it to three masters in the early Tang Dynasty-Yu Shinan, Ou Yangxun and Chu Suiliang to write, which indirectly made the calligraphy art shine. Among them, Yu Shinan was the most valued by Emperor Taizong. When discussing calligraphy theory with him, he was almost a calligraphy teacher of Emperor Taizong. Yu Shinan's calligraphy can be said to be the representative of Wei Jin and early Tang Dynasty.
Yu Shinan, born in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, was the second year of Emperor Wu of the Southern Dynasties-the twelfth year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (558-638). Emperor Taizong is a bachelor of Hong Wen Pavilion. In the seventh year of Zhenguan, he was a secretary supervisor, a son of Yongxing County, and later served as a doctor in Yinqingguang, so he was also called Yu Yongxing or Yu Secret Supervisor. His calligraphy is famous as "Confucius Temple Monument".
Monument to Confucius Temple: It was written in the seventh year of Zhenguan in Tang Dynasty (633), and the inscription was also written by Yu Shinan. It is said that only a few dozen pieces of paper were given to princes and nobles, and they were presented to Emperor Taizong, and the internal history seal of Huiji was given (this seal was used by Wang Xizhi and Zeng Pei). Soon after, the monument was destroyed and re-engraved in Chang 'an, Wuhou for three years (703), but it has been lost now, but Wang Yanchao copied it from Jianlong to Gande in the Song Dynasty.