What is the priceless bottom line in "The Wind and the Bright Moon"?

The breeze and bright moon are priceless.

"The breeze and the bright moon are priceless, and the water is near the tower." This is a couplet carved on the stone pillar of Canglang Pavilion in Suzhou Garden. The first couplet comes from a poem written by Ouyang Xiu, a famous minister in the Northern Song Dynasty, in Canglang Pavilion, "The breeze and bright moon are priceless, but it only costs 40,000 yuan". The second part comes from the next sentence of the poem "Egrets and Egrets are all complacent, and they are close to the water and far away from the mountains" written by Su Shunqin, founder of Canglang Pavilion and contemporary of Ouyang Xiu.

The antithetical couplets of the upper and lower parts are neat, which not only records the origin of the private garden in Su Shunqin where the Canglang Pavilion is located with a total investment of 40,000 yuan, but also highlights the beautiful scenery of "remote mountains and near water" here, which can be described as a perfect match and complement each other. Canglang Pavilion has been destroyed and restored many times in history. This couplet was carved by Liang Zhangju, Jiangsu Buzheng, when he rebuilt Canglang Pavilion in the seventh year of Daoguang reign in Qing Dynasty (1827). Couplets are composed of famous poems, and their writing style is dignified and rigorous, which adds a lot of luster to the famous pavilion.

For 200 years, many literati have been wandering in front of the pavilion, watching the scenery and thinking about things. More than one hundred years later, Wang Xiaju, a famous contemporary calligrapher, wrote this couplet. Calligraphy and couplets complement each other, and poetry and ink blend, expressing the beautiful feelings of a generation of calligraphers.

Extended data

Wang Xiaju (1909- 1995), formerly known as Keyuan, was born in Jianli, Hubei. His works are good at poetry and general history, and he is good at Chinese painting, especially calligraphy. He used to be a librarian of China Art Museum, president of Cross-Strait Calligraphers Association, director of China Calligraphers Association, president of China Calligraphy Art Research Institute, and a famous contemporary calligrapher. His works have participated in many exhibitions at home and abroad, and he is known as "China Calligraphy" and "Kyoto Calligrapher".

This pair of seven-character calligraphy couplets, paper version, vertical 130, horizontal 30 cm; The upper and lower couplets are taken from the couplets carved on the stone pillars of Canglang Pavilion: "The breeze and the bright moon are priceless, and there is love near the water and distant mountains." Signature: Wang Xiaju and Zhu Wen's "Wang Xiaju" seal.

Influenced by his father, who loves writing, Wang Xiaju diligently practiced calligraphy, studied rubbings and dabbled in traditional Chinese painting, which laid a good foundation for calligraphy, so that when he was only nine years old, he wrote Spring Festival couplets to fellow villagers with his father and won the admiration of fellow villagers. His calligraphy is full of authenticity, cursive script, official script and seal script. His calligraphy works are elegant and smart, combining rigidity with softness, and his brushwork is strong and full of tension.

Wang Xiaju's calligraphy had better use official script and cursive script. Official script mainly adopts the classic inscriptions of Han Dynasty, and has the meaning of seal script. In this pair of calligraphy works, the author combines the interests of neatness, Gu Zhuo, thinness, hardness and elegance in the calligraphy room, and the glyph structure is based on the horizontal trend of official script, which is long and powerful and effectively sweeps away a thousand troops.

The stroke thickness is natural, concise and smooth. Although it is mainly Fang Bi, there is no shortage of round and full taste. The pen is steady, the center and winger are used alternately, and they can be freely retracted, making the knot look steep and vigorous without losing stability and agility. The brushwork stretches, turns the pressure, lets loose but not wild, thick but not stagnant, and opens and closes the atmosphere.

Although there are only dozens of words in the whole work, the layout is unique, the spacing between words is symmetrical, and calligraphy and calligraphy are combined, which not only has the precipitous indulgence of the tablet body, but also has the elegant charm of the cursive script, which complements each other, is hidden, vigorous and unique, and is dynamic and interesting.

Wang Xiaju has been rigorous in his studies all his life, being peaceful and sincere, and being humble and sincere to others. His calligraphy is unconventional, learning from each other's strong points, emphasizing extra-textual kung fu, and finally becoming a well-known calligrapher at home and abroad. The most commendable thing is his experience of calligraphy: "A calligraphy work should be the sum of the writer's personality, emotions and various accomplishments, rushing from the chest and wrist to the paper."

Just as he is familiar with the vicissitudes of Canglang Pavilion with the theme of Canglang Pavilion couplets, he seems to have entered the realm of selfless calligraphy when he writes. He has a well-thought-out plan. It is his own art, knowledge, thought and personality cultivation that makes his works full of artistic purport, and makes the authors spread all over the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Dianchi Lake in Yunnan and Yellow River Forest in Zhengzhou.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Canglang Pavilion

Baidu Encyclopedia-Wang Xiaju