Study the poet of Tang Dynasty, Li Bai’s post - “Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking”

Abstract: The post of “Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking”, which was written by Li Bai in Tang Dynasty, the color of the paper is ancient, compared with the Dunhuang manuscripts in the same period of Tang Dynasty, the materials and ink colors are almost the same. The style of writing is simple and straight, and the strokes are strong and free and easy.

Observing the style of the calligraphy, we can see that the style of writing is vigorous, and it can't be written without Tang brush. Undoubtedly, it is the calligraphy of people in Tang Dynasty. From the time of paper and ink, poetry, Tang brush, calligraphy style and so on, it should be the authentic work of Li Bai. It also embodies the unique cultural and artistic characteristics of the Tang Dynasty, and is an important cultural relic for the study of the history, literature and art of the Tang Dynasty, and conveys Li Bai's wild and unrestrained pure personality.

Keyword: Li Bai’s post-“Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking”

Li Bai (701-762 A.D.), a famous poet of Tang Dynasty in China, was named Taibai, Qinglian Jushi, and "banished immortal". He was known as "poetic immortal" by later generations. The Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) in which Li Bai lived was a powerful and influential Dynasty in Chinese history. It made great achievements in politics, economy, society, culture and diplomacy, and was one of the world powers at that time. Tang Dynasty had contacts with Asian and European countries and was the center of Asian economy and culture. With the economic prosperity, the culture and art of the Tang Dynasty also entered a prosperous period, reaching a peak in poetry, painting, calligraphy and other aspects, playing a movement of the magnificent and openness era. Tang poetry is one of the most representative art forms in the Tang Dynasty. It inherits the folk song and Yuefu tradition of Han and Wei dynasties, and develops the style of songs, which has the artistic characteristics of harmonious syllables and refined words.

Li Bai, as the representative of the romantic poetry school, focuses on expressing personal feelings, singing the desire and pursuit of personal value of free life. The art of Chinese calligraphy was highly developed and gradually popularized in the Tang Dynasty. Many literati were both poets and calligraphers. Among them, Li Bai, a great calligrapher who once served in Hanlin Academy, was covered up by his famous poems. Li Bai and Zhang Xu, one of the three great calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty in the same period, were called "Eight Immortals in drink", they have a close relationship with each other. His free and easy style of calligraphy had a certain impact on Li Bai's calligraphy style. Later, Li Bai worked in Hanlin academy, and its rich resources also provided more learning opportunities for Li Bai.

Because the royal family of Li in Tang Dynasty respected Wang Xizhi's running script, Li Bai was also affected in such an environment. Poets in the Tang Dynasty described and commented on the works of calligraphers in their poems, and calligraphers expanded the scope of poetry for the poets. Li Bai once wrote a poem "Wang Youjun", praising Wang Xizhi, " Youjun is pure, simple, free and unrestrained". Li Bai had a deep friendship with Huai Su and Zhang Xu, two famous representatives of cursive script in Tang Dynasty. He met Huai Su in Lingling and wrote the “Song of cursive script”. He met Zhang Xu on the way to seek refuge, and wrote the “Tiger's journey”. Li Bai wrote a poem when he was watching Huai Su's cursive script: " Like the howling winds and driving rains, rustling and startling. Like the falling flowers and flying snow, how boundless. Up to the wall without stopping, a line of words as big as a dipper. Frightened and uneasy, like seeing gods and ghosts, you can only see the dragon and snake walking. Plunge forward on left, dash in on right, it's like lightning all over the sky, also like the war between Han and Chu, back and forth.” This description shows the beauty of calligraphy through the lines and shapes of Chinese characters.

When it comes to Li Bai's calligraphy works, people are more familiar with the book "on the balcony" collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing, although controversial, it is still a wonderful ancient calligraphy work. But what people don't know is Li Bai’s calligraphy " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " which was lost overseas for many years. In the 1980s, a Japanese collector once went to the United States to find the author to identify calligraphy and painting. At that time, he brought several black-and-white photos, including Su Shi's "wooden stone painting" and Li Gonglin's "five horse painting". According to legend, these works were burned in Hiroshima, Japan during World War II, they didn't expect to keep them in the world. At that time, they were very surprised. The collectors said that there was another important work, a piece of Li Bai's calligraphy, which was unfortunately not seen at that time. In 2017, the staff of the Hong Kong Li Bai poetry and Calligraphy 。

Research Association came to the author and asked to identify a piece of Li Bai's " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " collected by a Japanese collector. After nearly three years of in-depth research, the author has a relatively in-depth understanding of the post's basic situation, circulation process and artistic value, and write this article to share with readers.

1. The basic situation and circulation process of the post of " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking "Li Bai's " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " is 26.4 cm in length and 67 cm in width, Paper material, and composed of 50 words, including the whole poem, which was signed by Li Bai. The content of the poem is “地白风色寒，雪花大如手。笑杀陶渊明，不饮杯中酒。浪抚一张琴，虚栽五株柳。空负头上巾，吾于尔何有”, several collection stamps, this poem has been collected in volume 182 of “ complete Tang poetry” and has spread until now. The calligraphy is natural and smooth, vivid, simple and straight, strong and free and easy. From observing the ink and style of the characters, we can see that the writing brush is the unique hard brush (Jiju brush) of the Tang Dynasty. The paper used is made in Sichuan Province in the Tang Dynasty. Due to its long history, the overall color is yellow and black, and the paper surface creases show that the paper is brittle and the fiber is fine, the whole paper color of the work is mellow and ancient, the style of calligraphy is vigorous, showing strong, bold and unconstrained.According to the information of Japanese academic, Li Bai's " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " is speculated to have been written in the twelfth Tianbao year of Tang Dynasty (753 A.D.), and was presented by Li Bai to the student that sent to Tang Dynasty by Japan who had close contact with him (According to legend, he is Abeno Nakamaro), which was consistent with the way and time when Li Bai's selected poems were introduced into Japan. As early as 717 A.D., Kibi Makibi, the scholar and politician from the Nara era of Japan and Abeno Nakamaro, the diplomat to the tang dynasty, and some others came to the Tang Dynasty to pay homage and exchange views. In 753 A.D., Kibi Makibi entered the Tang Dynasty for the second time, and returned to Japan with Jianzhen, the monk of the Tang Dynasty. He carried a large number of Tang Dynasty articles, including the post of " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking ". One of the purposes of Kibi Makibi 's two visits to the Tang Dynasty is to search Chinese classics. Li Bai was well-known in his time of life, and his anthologies were the target of collection and brought back to Japan by the diplomats to the Tang Dynasty. From the existing calligraphy books of Tang Dynasty in Japan, we can get a glimpse of a large number of Chinese books brought back from the Tang Dynasty by the diplomats to the Tang Dynasty. Among them, there are The remnant volume of the “Spring and Autumn Classics Collection”, part of the “Book of Rites”, a part of Wang Bo's calligraphy, fragments of Tang poetry and fragments of the “Historical Records” preserved in the National Museum of Tokyo, the “Collection of scholar's poems of the Imperial Academy” which is rated as national treasure of Japan, the sixth volume of the “New book of Shishuo”, etc. On November 16, 753 A.D. (the fifth year of Taiping Shengping, Japan), master Jianzhen returned to Japan with Abeno Nakamaro and Kibi Makibi. According to the biography of “Tang Dahe's eastern expedition”, Jianzhen carried the articles to Japan for the sixth time: "three thousand pieces of Tathagata’s relics, one of Wang Youjun's original running script, three “Xiaowang's authentic work” and Tianzhu, Zhuhe and other miscellaneous books are fifty... " After the 50th post, the ink was damaged and some words could not be seen clearly, and Libai's post may also include.Libai's " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " was once collected in Zhuzi Guanyin Temple in Taizaifu City, Fukuoka County for a long time. The temple was the residence of Jianzhen after his eastward voyage, and also the place of long sleep chosen by Xuanfang, another eminent monk sent to Tang Dynasty. Later, the Guanyin Temple suffered fire, and the post and all kinds of treasures were taken away and kept by the Tan family. During the Edo period, these properties became the private collection of Hosokawa Tadaoki (1563-1646), the Lord of Kokura Domain (today's Kokura North District, Beikyushu City, Fukuoka County). After the Meiji Restoration, Japan implemented the policy of "Abolishing the vassal state to set up a county". The old vassal had to move to Tokyo, and the Nishikawa family was forced to sell part of the collection one after another. After several twists and turns, the post was purchased by the Japanese ancient calligraphy collector Asuka Ningfan in the middle of the last century and stored in his library in Kyoto. In order to verify the authenticity and historical and artistic value of the post of "ridicule Wang Liyang refused to drink", Mr. Asuka Ningfan had many in-depth exchanges with relevant experts in the field of Culture and Museum in China in the 1980s. On December 18, 1989, Shumu library entrusted the cultural property preservation and repair Institute of the Kyoto National Museum and Yuzuomi Matsumotong Co., Ltd. to re-mount it in the form of vertical scroll according to the standards of Japanese cultural property. After mounting, the post was vertical scroll type and ivory scroll. In the 1990s, the most serious economic crisis after World War II broke out in Japan. Many big collectors sold their collections one after another. The post of " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " was also transferred to Sato family. In 2017, the Hong Kong Li Bai poetry and Calligraphy Research Association obtained the post from Japanese collectors and asked the author to identify it.2. The research and demonstration of the post of " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " by experts from China and JapanIn April 1986, Mr. Xie Zhiliu, who was the leader of the national ancient calligraphy and painting appraisal group of the State Cultural Relics Bureau at the time, visited Japan and saw it and left a deep impression on him. In his letter to his wife Chen Peiqiu, he said: "I was surprised to see Li Bai's Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking. His handwriting is strong and vigorous, and the style of calligraphy is in line with the style of the Tang Dynasty's calligraphy. It is the ink of the Tang Dynasty, I think it's the original work of Li Bai, which is very precious."

Letter from Xie Zhiliu

In November 1987, Asuka Ningfan brought the post to China. He had asked for advice from Mr. Shi Shuqing, vice chairman of the National Committee for cultural relics appraisal at the time, Shi Shuqing organized many experts and scholars, including Yan Shaodang and Sun Jing, professors of Chinese language and Literature Department of Peking University, and Li Zhizhong, director of rare books collection department of Beijing Library (now the National Library of China), to study and discuss the post of “Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking”.Mr. Shi Shuqing said: "the calligraphy is deep, old and natural, with strong and free and easy handwriting. From the ink writing method, it can be identified as the handwriting of Tang Dynasty people. Undoubtedly, it has the characteristics of free style of literati at that time." Through the study of the style of calligraphy and the paper, Yan Shaodang believes that "this roll of paper Similar to the Dunhuang manuscripts, it can be proved that they were written on paper in the Tang Dynasty... " Mr. Sun Jing believes that "through the in-depth study of taboo issues involved in this post, we can see that Li Bai's poetry style is in the coexistence of three religions and a relatively free-thinking environment in Tang Dynasty. He called this post one of the proofs of history". Through the observation of the paper and handwriting, Li Zhizhong thinks that "the paper used in the post is the same as the paper used in the Tang Dynasty in Dunhuang manuscripts, which is identified as the hemp paper of the Tang Dynasty. Its characters are full of ancient spirit, and have the style of Tang Dynasty literati. Judging from the style of paper, ink and characters, it is undoubtedly a relic of the Tang Dynasty, which is a treasure of the world." For a long time, in the recognition of Chinese scholars, the only surviving calligraphy work of Li Bai is “on the balcony" collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing. The demonstration of the post of “Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking” made the participating scholars very excited. They all agreed that the post, together with Li Bai's work collected in the Palace Museum, can be used as an important material for Li Bai's research, and its important literature value can be confirmed.In the spring of 1989, Mr. Qi Gong, the chairman of the national cultural relics appraisal committee at the time, went to Japan to participate in the calligraphy exhibition of ShangTiao Xin Shan, a famous calligrapher in Japan. During the exhibition, Asuka Ningfan invited him to make an appraisal of the calligraphy of “Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking”, After in-depth study, Mr. Qigong pointed out: "the calligraphy style of this work is unique, with both form and spirit. All aspects reflect the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty. The characteristics of the times are obvious. It must be the wonderful calligraphy of Tang people. Whether it was written by Li Bai himself, cannot be denied. From the perspective of calligraphy art, it is a wonderful calligraphy of Tang Dynasty."

Appraisal opinion of Mr. Qi GongMr. Fujieda Akira, a special member of the Japanese Council for the protection of cultural property, once wrote a special article pointing out that Li Bai's calligraphy, a collection of ancestral collections of the Nishikawa family, named “Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking”, From the point of view of the material of paper, it should be hemp paper produced in Sichuan Province, which was mostly seen in the Tang Dynasty, and the deer brush of the Tang Dynasty was used. The character pattern such as "历、风、花、杯、五、栽、何、有" used in poetry were no longer used in Song Dynasty. It is believed that this calligraphy work should be an important document in Li Bai's related research.In 2017, the staff of the Hong Kong Li Bai poetry and Calligraphy Research Association also invited Mr. Xie Zhiliu's wife, Mr. Chen Peiqiu, to reevaluate the post. After research, Mr. Chen peiqiu thought that "the calligraphy style of this post clearly shows the style of writing in the early Tang Dynasty and Sui and Tang Dynasties. This post is in line with the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty, and it is doubtless that the calligraphy is written by Tang people. A close look at this post shows that the literati's writing style is unconstrained and unrestrained. There is a subtle flow of sword spirit and wine spirit in the calligraphy, which is very consistent with the historical records that Li Bai is a sword immortal and a wine immortal in the Tang Dynasty. It is also a true work of Li Bai. "

Expert opinion of Mr. Chen Peiqiu

3. Recognition of the artistic value of the “Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking” In the Tang Dynasty, being a knight errant and being a general was the people's outlook on life. Throughout Li Bai's life, we can see the life experience of young knight errant, middle-aged official, and seeking Tao in his later years. Legend people often have an unmatched talent that makes them seem to be superior to others in everything they do. But because Li Bai's poetry fame is too dazzling, and the knight errant 's light is covered by it.According to historical records, both Li Bai and Zhang Xu were “eight immortals in drinking”, and Pei Min was Li Bai's master and the first swordsman in the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai also said that he had never been defeated except Pei Min, because his master was known as the first swordsman in the world, so Li Bai was also regarded as the top three swordsman in the Tang Dynasty.The author saw this piece of Li Bai's " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " this time, The style of the calligraphy is clean, with the skeleton of Ouyang Xun and Chu Suiliang, and some shadows of the Sui and Northern Qi dynasties. If you try to copy, you can feel that you can't do anything about it. It's pure to the extreme.Through observation, this post has the style of Jin and Tang Dynasty, also the same as Li Shimin's inscriptions on “Jinci” tablet, from the writing method to the characteristics of the pen, lift, press and so on, we can clearly see the common features of the early Tang Dynasty calligraphy style.The words "饮" and "肯" in the title of " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " appeared the phenomenon that "the ink in the center is twice thicker ". From this ink line, it can be seen that the ink is not concentrated in the middle of the strokes caused by the center stroke when the ink is fully dipped in the ink, but is obviously a hard brush scratch. This confirms that the brush used in writing the post is made by wrapping paper method unique to the Tang Dynasty, it was caused by the hard heart brush (chicken pitch pen). After the appearance of Sanzhuo brush in the late Tang Dynasty, the paper wrapping hard heart brush was not very popular, and was rarely seen in Song Dynasty, this also strongly proves that the style of calligraphy in this particular period was greatly influenced by the brush, and the writing style was elegant and clumsy, and the writing style was naive and natural. The author tried many times and found that only with the hard heart pen of Tang Dynasty can copy the original feeling. The paper used in this post is completely consistent with the regulations of common paper in the Tang Dynasty. The ink color is deep, and it is integrated with the paper. The paper surface is covered with pulp naturally. The color and paper surface fracture marks are the same as Du Mu’s “Zhang Haohao Poets”, collected in the Palace Museum.Since the post has not appeared in recent 30 years, the author, in a cautious attitude, also tries to test this cultural relic through modern scientific and technological means. Through microscopic observation, it can be seen that the calligraphy is very similar to the paper picture of the volume 6 of “Shuo Wugou Cheng Jing” (about 700 A.D.) and the lower part of the “Weimo Jisuo Jing” from Sui Dynasty to early Tang Dynasty, which can be basically identified as a work of the same era. The paper used in the post was tested by the Comprehensive Research Institute of Earth Sciences of Japan Co., Ltd. by means of carbon-14. The test results show that the production time of the paper used in the post is about 700 years (± 30 years), which is basically consistent with the works of the Tang dynasty recorded in the literature.

Ink contrast: The left is the Tang Scripture of the same period, and the right is the material of Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking

According to the notes on the annals of Li Bai's complete works, Wang Liyang is a county magistrate in the Tang Dynasty, located in Lishui County, Maanshan City, Anhui Province, named after "there is a Lishui river in the south of the county". In the twelfth year of Tianbao (753 A.D.), Li Bai, the poet immortal, came to Liyang after traveling to Youzhou. At that time, it was snowing heavily. Li Bai was invited to a banquet by Wang Xiancheng of Liyang county. Li Bai raised his glasses frequently during the banquet to appreciate the beauty of Liyang mountain, water and wine. Unfortunately, people were not "beautiful". Because no one accompanied him to drink, he wrote a poem " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking ". The surname and the place name of the official was a common appellation, which was often seen in Tang poetry. Although Wang Liyang is an unknown figure, he is well known for Libai’s poems and calligraphy.Throughout the "king of mockery Liyang refused to drink" post, the paper color is mellow, almost the same as that of the Tang Dynasty in the same period. The calligraphy is simple and straight, strong and free and easy. From the observation of the writing style, it can be seen that the writing style is vigorous, and it cannot be written without Tang brush. It is undoubtedly the calligraphy of Tang people, so it can be regarded as the authentic work of Li Bai. In response to the request of the Hong Kong Li Bai poetry and Calligraphy Research Association, the author has compiled, sorted out and verified part of the materials on this calligraphy in recent years, especially the collection of ancient calligraphy literature, and found many previously neglected details. He compiled Li Bai's " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " (published by the Palace Museum) and the masterpiece of Li Bai's era (published by Cultural Relics Publishing House) ）The purpose of the two books is the beginning.Li Bai's " Taunting Liyang Wang for not drinking " is a Tang Dynasty calligraphy treasure associated with Li Bai, the poet of the Tang Dynasty. It is a survivor who broke through time and space in the long history. It is an important cultural relic to study the history, literature and art of the Tang Dynasty. It also witnessed the long history of folk cultural exchange between China and Japan in the Tang Dynasty and Chinese traditional culture has been influencing Japan for thousands of years. It has important historical and artistic values. It is a fully deserved national treasure and an important cultural heritage of all mankind.

When the author studies this post