1. Washing the Ink Pond

Wang Xizhi practiced calligraphy at the age of 7 and was diligent and eager to learn. When he was 17 years old, he stole his father's secret collection of calligraphy treatises from previous generations and read them. Once he was familiar with them, he practiced writing. He sat by the pool every day and practiced calligraphy, saying goodbye to the dusk and welcoming the dawn. After writing more or less ink, The writing tip was more or less rotten. After practicing calligraphy every day, I would wash my pen in the pond water. Over time, the entire pond water was washed into ink color. This is the legendary ink pond that people see in Shaoxing today.

2. Grave-digging and stealing art

Zhong Yao was born in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was very dedicated and enthusiastic about the study of calligraphy, almost to the point of madness. Wei Dan was also a calligrapher at that time. Zhong Yao wanted to borrow this "Book of Writing" from Wei Dan, but Wei Dan refused and refused again and again. Zhong Yao was so angry that he beat his chest and vomited blood. Fortunately, Cao Cao used the Five Spirit Pill to save him. His life. After Wei Dan passed away, Zhong Yao sent someone to dig out the book from the grave, studied it repeatedly, and finally understood the secret of using the pen.

3. Shilang Xingzhe

In the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, there was a man named Xu Anzhen. When he was an official, he was afraid of getting involved and fled to the mountains. He was mute due to illness and could not speak. A few years later, a Buddhist temple wanted to select people who were good at calligraphy to write couplets for the temple's beams and pillars. Xu Anzhen accidentally stepped over the beam placed on the ground and committed a taboo. The abbot of the temple was very angry and hit him on the back with his cane. He quickly wrote on the ground with his hand: "Although I can't speak, I have learned large-character calligraphy. I hope I can try it." As a result, they allowed him to give it a try, and the monks in the temple were all convinced and willingly asked him to write it all, regardless of his faults.

4. Brush Tomb

Zen Master Zhiyong was born between the Sui and Tang Dynasties and was the seventh generation grandson of Wang Xizhi. Because he practiced calligraphy very hard, all the worn out brushes were discarded in big bamboo baskets. Here, after years of living, he accumulated five large baskets, so he made inscriptions himself and buried these pens, which are called pen tombs, which shows his love for books and cherishing things.

5. Iron Gate

Zen Master Zhiyong is good at regular script and cursive script, and can imitate Wang Xizhi's style. Although he practiced in Yongxing Temple, his reputation for calligraphy became more and more famous. Many people came to ask for his calligraphy works through various connections. People came and went in an endless stream, and the threshold was trampled down. He had to wrap the threshold with iron sheets, and people laughed and called it "Iron Gate".