He also began to learn calligraphy, but he advocated the "wild grass" style and the "Soviet" style, emphasizing strength.
Liang said in the book review post: "There is a pen to write, and the pen is strong. However, his intention is horizontal, less reserved and quiet. His products are not expensive. Ruitu began to learn Sun's calligraphy spectrum, and later learned Dongpo's cursive Zuiwengting. In the Ming Dynasty, calligraphy was still gentle and charming, and Wang and Zhang tried their best to correct this habit. Although they are not fascinated, they are immortal. "
The calligraphy style of cursive script is highly mature and heavy, which is marked by the birth of Wang Xizhi's Preface to Lanting. Its rich and subtle usage changes have already become classics. Since then, in addition to Chen, Sui and Zhi Yong's Thousand-Character Works, only Sun's Shu Pu and many works of Song and Mi Fei still emphasize this important technique.
Throughout the Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, although they all had their own characteristics, they all tended to be concise (or simplified) and devoted their energy to the pursuit of "novelty and abnormity" to varying degrees. They all have a common feature in using the front, that is, they all follow the nature of the brush "sharp, neat, round and healthy" and make their own front movements.
Zhang Ruitu didn't satisfy this traditional and "conventional" style of writing, but was guided by an awkward interest. He only used his pen to make a cross-folding action on the exposed side, thus creating a feeling of stirring and jumping, and the sword was biased. It has expanded the new changes in the use of the front. Liang Qing Liang's Record of Jijinzhai said: "Shui Shu, knowing the inner feelings without twists and turns, is a change of ancient law."
Ni Houzhan also said: "His book was changed from Erwang's cursive script, but there was no twist in seal cutting, and the round body was completely deleted. At first glance, I know that it is Ershui, but it can also be seen from the structure that there are no rules for writing. "
Zhang Ruitu also learned vigorous brushwork from the Six Dynasties tablet in the north. Close to Zhang Zongxiang's "On the Origin of Calligraphy", he said: "Zhang Ershui dissolved the North Monument, thinking that it was cursive, not the Six Dynasties, and used the method of writing to learn from the Six Dynasties."
The formation of Zhang Ruitu's unique calligraphy style is the product of the change of aesthetic thoughts of the times.
Under the Ming dynasty fashion dominated by attractive calligraphy style, there appeared an ideological trend of appreciating ugliness and arrogance. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhang Bi's cursive script was "odd and fluctuating", Chen Xianzhang's cursive script was "clumsy and skillful", and Zhu Yunming's cursive script in the middle Ming Dynasty was "rambling" and "writing from time to time", all of which showed the tendency of anti-unification.
After the mid-Ming Dynasty, with the prosperity of commercial cities and the rise of civic culture, the "public security school" in literature (the Third Hospital of Public Security: Yuan Zongdao, Yuan Hongdao and Yuan Zhongdao) and the "heresy" thought in Neo-Confucianism (the list of Quanzhou people: Li Zhi) made this trend of unification.
In the field of calligraphy, there are a number of "crazy" calligraphers, such as Xu Wei, Huang Daozhou, Ni, Wang Duo and Fu Shan.
Although Wang Duo said that he came from afar with the "Two Kings", in fact, his stubbornness has destroyed the peace and grace of the "Two Kings".
Huang Daozhou played the clock and the king in regular script, and went to Beibei to catch up with Suo Jing. The cursive brushwork is strange and dense.
Ni's new construction of Yan Zhenqing and Su Shi started from his strong character. Its cursive script, with a pen, is dangerous, the wind is clear and the bones are firm, and the clouds are lingering.
Fu Shan's theory of "Ning Zhuo coincidence" is advocated in theory.
These people changed the aesthetic atmosphere of the times historically, but Zhang Ruitu went the farthest. They abandoned the neutral and graceful posture and norms, separated from each other, and took ugliness as beauty; Pen and ink move with the times, breaking the rules of formal beauty, such as "hiding the head and protecting the tail" and "being fair and steady", and showing the edges and corners freely; The layout does not seek balance and harmony, but criss-crosses, scattered and disorderly.
This ugly and arrogant book style prevailed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. As one of them, Zhang Ruitu is not only unique in "Late Ming Sijia", but also a leader in this field. Comments on Zhang Zongxiang's "On the Origin of Calligraphy": "In the Ming Dynasty, those who stood out from the crowd were better than two: First, Huang Shizhai (Huang Daozhou) tried his best, and there was no Jin and Tang Dynasties at the bottom of his wrist, let alone Song and Yuan Dynasties; One is Zhang Ershui (Zhang Ruitu), who dissolved the North Monument, thinking that it was a line of grass, not the Six Dynasties, so he used the law of writing to learn the Six Dynasties. This is a unique person. "
Compared with Huang, Ni, Wang and Fu's calligraphy, there are many similarities in external form and pen and ink form, showing the same aesthetic pursuit. Yang Qingshou respects Postscript: Although "Yue: Zhang" has calligraphy, it has the ambition of Ni Hongbao and Huang Shizhai (Huang Daozhou). "
However, its name is not among the schools with similar styles, such as Huang, Ni, Wang and Fu, but it is also called Xing, Mi and Dong, and its path is different, which only shows that there is a complicated relationship between Feng and other schools.
Zhang Ruitu's words are really "absurd", but sometimes they are also absurd. Many words are crazy and difficult to identify; It's a bit too much to escape. Many pens are placed vertically, just like graffiti. According to the annotation cloud of Tongyin Painting: "There are few people who draw with bows, but many people who write books. According to legend, Zhang is mercury, which can be hung in the study to avoid fire, and those who are curious can do it. " This at least shows that Zhang Ruitu's calligraphy is very strange, with the flavor of Fulu, which can be used to hang Fulu.
In addition, Zhang Ruitu is gentle, extreme, stubborn, too exposed, and lacks reserve and elegance. For example, Liang Qing's Book Review Post said: "Zhang Ruitu has to start writing, and he is strong and healthy, but he is bent on horizontal support. He is rarely reserved and silent, and his products are not expensive." Zhang's extreme pursuit of art, loss of degree and low interest have some similarities with his political performance, which is undoubtedly the influence of personality on books.
Therefore, although Huang San people, Ni people and people belong to a strange and stubborn style of writing, they cannot be classified into the same category, let alone the same category.