Zhang Xu (张旭 685? -759?) was a calligrapher and poet of the Tang Dynasty, known as the “Saint of Cursive” because of his attainments in cursive calligraphy, and also nicknamed “张颠”, which means ” Wild Zhang”, because he loved to drink too much and always wrote calligraphy with his head when he was drunk.
He was born into a family of high rank and learned calligraphy from his cousin’s uncle, and when he was old enough, he joined the civil service by applying for or recommending for the draft, and became a lieutenant of Changshu County.
Influence on calligraphy
In terms of calligraphy, Zhang Xu was a diligent observer of objective things, good at combining objective natural objects with his own subjective emotions, inheriting tradition and innovating, making his own wild cursive art reach a peak during the Tang Dynasty by inheriting the achievements of his predecessors and innovating.
Although Zhang Xu’s wild cursive works are magnificent and unrestrained, the dots and lines in his works are all legalistic, first by adhering to his family’s school of brushwork and cursive rules, and then by expressing the new meaning of the times with the ancient methods based on his mastery of the traditional techniques of expression, thus making his works recognized by the world. In short, Zhang Xu’s calligraphic style is not only wild and elegant, but also characterized by its unconventional nature. Zhang Xu’s calligraphic works are characterized by his mastery of the ancient method of the center stroke. According to “Zhang Chang Shi twelve Italian brushwork record”, Zhang Xu to hide the front of the ancient method of comprehension thanks to Chu Suiliang, Chu Suiliang’s calligraphy brush hidden front, the line appears thick and clumsy, the line characteristics of the line is very obvious. Zhang Xu was inspired by Chu Suiliang and became the first person in the Sheng Tang Dynasty to use the stroke method in a pure manner and be able to assign shapes and express the character of the calligrapher’s temperament freely.
Multiply drunk cursive script
This Zhang Xu, has a special hobby, that is, before each writing, must drink, and must be drunk, each time after drinking, must first dance to do some warm-up, and only then will be excited to bring up the pen to write. If you can’t find a pen, you will dip your hair into the ink, and then shake your head in a very disciplined way to write on the wall with a pen in your hair.
After sobering up, he saw the words he had written on the wall with his hair, and thought they were written in a very glamorous way. So he rewrote the words he had already written with his hair, but the words he wrote at this time no longer had the characteristic soundness and the flying colorful charm of the light after getting drunk.
Zhang Xu therefore confirmed inwardly that the cursive script, which was written after getting drunk, must have been assisted by the gods in heaven, otherwise it would not have been impossible to write it again.
When people saw Zhang Xu’s unusual artistic behavior, they thought it was very strange and incomprehensible, and they all agreed that he was mentally disturbed, so they called him “张颠”.
