Wen Zhengming, Poems in Running Script | 文徵明　行草《重葺停雲館詩十律》　水墨紙本　手卷

Christie's New York, Fine Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy, 19 September 1997, lot 20

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佳士得紐約，中國書畫，1997年9月19日，拍品編號20

The Leshan Tang Collection of Classical Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, Leshan Tang, Taipei, July 2006, pp. 68-73, 151

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〈樂山堂藏古代書畫〉(臺北，樂山堂，二〇〇六年七月)，頁68-73、151

Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), one of the Four Masters of the Ming dynasty, excelling in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, had the greatest influence of the Four Masters in the history of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy. He learned calligraphy from Li Yingzhen (1431-1493), and changed the standardized Secretariat Style of the early Ming dynasty. He also learned the calligraphy of the Jin and Tang dynasties, the regular script of Zhong Yao (151-230) and the two Wangs (refer to Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, the two great calligraphers of the Eastern Jin Dynasty), and the cursive script of Huai Su (725-785). He imitated the large script of Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), and the running script of monk calligrapher Zhiyong and Preface to the Sacred Teaching Scriptures (Shengjiao xu) in Wang Xizhi's collated characters. In particular, he was renowned for his running script and Xiaokai (regular script in small characters). His calligraphy style was elegant and vigorous, developing his own manner admired at home and abroad. He also had many students, and played a crucial role in the calligraphy scene in the mid-Ming period. Wang Shizhen, contemporary with Wen Zhengming, once commented, "The best calligraphers in the world all come from Wu region (mainly around today's Suzhou City). And among them, Zhu Yunming from Jingzhao is the best, followed by Wen Zhengming and Wang Chong. They were known as the 'Three Talents of Wu Region'."

This scroll contains ten poems written by Wen Zhengming himself when he invited his friends over for a drink after the renovation of his study, Tingyun Pavilion (Tingyun guan). All the poems rhyme with the Chinese character "pin", meaning "poor". The poems are graceful and recitable, but unfortunately, they are not included in his Collected Works of, Futian (Futian ji). There is an inscription of "Bi" (his name before 40) at the end of the scroll, which means it was written before he was 40 years old (around 1510). With consistent layout, meticulous character structure, and rounded, powerful and elegant brushwork, his works rival those of the Jin masters. It is a work of his prime years.

Cheng Shaokuan's Records of the Paintings and Calligraphies of Fulu (Fulu shuhualu) has another Wen Zhengming's poem scroll in cursive script, which also includes some verses from the above scroll, as well as four other poems with different rhymes. It was dated Zhengde Renshen (1512) when he was 43 years old. The signature "Zhengming" on it shows that it was created later than the above scroll, so it can be used as reference.

The person who wrote the frontispiece is Wu Yi (1472-1517), a famous scholar in Wu region. He was a native of Changzhou, and a nephew of Wu Kuan (1435-1504). As for the person who wrote the inscription, according to some records, it should be a man named "Yang Guanji", a scholar (jinshi) in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, with the courtesy name Jichang, from Fujian province. But since the inscription has the date of Jiaqing Jiayi (1804), the man's exact identity remains to be verified.

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註：

中國古代書畫史中，明四家之一文徵明(1470-1559)為影響力最大，詩書畫皆絕。其書學李應禎(1431-1493)，一改明初臺閣體平正端方之風，受令習晉唐法書，楷宗鍾繇(151-230)、二王，草書師懷素(725-785)，大字仿黃庭堅(1045-1105)，行書擬智永與集王書《聖教序》，尤以行書、小楷見稱。書風秀雅健勁，借古法而自成一家，名震海内外，且門生衆多，據明代中期書壇重要地位。時人王世貞有道：「天下法書歸吾吳，而京兆允明為最，文待詔徵明、王貢士寵次之。」是為「吳門三家」。

本卷書寫了自書詩十首，以重葺其書齋停雲館，而承邀諸友過飲為背景，即興酣觴賦詩。詩皆拈「貧」字韻，清婉可誦，惜詩文未載於《甫田集》。 卷末署「壁」，蓋四十歲前(約1510年前)書也。佈局行氣一貫，字體結構嚴謹，用筆沉著勁爽，清新雋永，直入晉室，是壯年得意之書。容庚《伏廬書畫錄》中收有另一卷文徵明草書詩卷，也包括了本卷中的詩句，以及另有四首押不同字韻的詩文，紀年為正德壬申(1512)，時為43歲，署名「徵明」，是在本卷以後的創作，可資參考。

本卷題引首者吳奕(1472-1517)，長洲人，乃吳寬(1435-1504)之侄，吳中名士。至於題跋者，在可查資料中，歷史上名「楊觀吉」者有明末清初進士，字吉長，福建人。但因本卷題跋有紀年曰嘉慶甲子(1804)，自稱吳江人，故題跋者之確實身份待考。