In traditional societies with strong concepts of "people are valued when writing" and "character is the quality of calligraphy", when people comment on the works of calligraphers, they often associate character with the quality of calligraphy. If the character is good, the book quality will be high, and vice versa. In fact, sometimes the two are really at odds with each other, as was the case with Prince Cheng Yongxuan in the Qing Dynasty.




stingy, mean, bullying


Prince Cheng (1752-1823), Aixinjueluo Yongxuan, the eleventh son of Qianlong, the brother of Emperor Jiaqing, and his biological mother was Jin Jia, the noble concubine of Emperor Shujia. In the fifty-fourth year of Qianlong's reign (1789), he was granted the title of Prince. During the Jiaqing period, he served as a military officer. Yongxuan was known as Shaochang and Jingquan, also known as the master of Jinzhai. He, Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong, and Tiebao were also known as the "Four Qianlong Masters", also known as the "Four Masters of the Qing Dynasty".
 

Prince Cheng's "Regular Script (Leshan Pavilion)"

Emperor Qianlong loved him very much and often visited his mansion. Yongxuan had considerable power in the court, and the emperor even made an exception and allowed the palace to be built with jade and a fence second only to the imperial palace. His wife, Fucha, was the daughter of Fu Heng, a great scholar at that time, and the niece of Yongxuan's aunt, Empress Xiaoxian Chun. According to common sense, Fucha's life should be very comfortable as the prince's direct descendant. However, Yongxuan was eccentric, stingy and mean. As soon as Fucha married into the palace, her dowry was taken away by her husband, and she had to wear linen clothes and eat food all day long. Simple meals. However, Yongxuan is not only strict with his family, but also with himself. Once, a horse raised in the palace died of illness. Yongxuan couldn't bear to throw it away, and finally asked the chef to cook it. The whole family ate the horse meat for three days in a row without even touching the rice.

One of Prince Cheng’s regular calligraphy copybooks

Emperor Qianlong criticized Yongxuan's bad habits several times, but Yongxuan still went his own way. In the end, Emperor Qianlong had no choice but to turn a blind eye. Although being too stingy was unworthy of the royal family, it was better than squandering. Extravagance and waste. In addition, Yongxuan was also very accommodating to the powerful, and he was always willing to flatter the powerful people of the day, but he was arrogant towards his subordinates, and he often insulted and beat him. However, such a person had very high attainments in calligraphy and painting, and was listed as one of the "Four Great Masters of the Qing Dynasty" along with Weng Fanggang, Liu Yong, and Tie Bao. Therefore, many people wanted to ask him for a calligraphy painting, but most of them were turned away because Prince Cheng Yongxuan generally did not write inscriptions easily.


So beautiful and beautiful


Yongxuan loved the art of calligraphy since he was a child, and he studied hard and was good at poetry. With unique conditions, he saw a lot and had a wide knowledge. He had a glimpse of the inner palace's collection. He was very rich in his own collection, and his books were famous for a while. He is good at calligraphy and painting, specializing in Zhen, Xing, Zhuan and Li. He is famous for his regular script and running script, especially his small regular script, which is beautiful, elegant and popular, and is loved by everyone.

Prince Cheng, Yunfeng Ye Temple, hanging scroll

He first studied the calligraphy of Zhao Mengfu, and later also studied the calligraphy of Ouyang Xun. He used small regular script in the Jin and Tang Dynasties, and the two kings. He also extensively copied the calligraphy of various calligraphy schools in the Jin, Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties, and deeply understood the ancient people's meanings in their brushwork. His calligraphy has a graceful brushwork, a clear structure and an elegant style. In fact, his calligraphy was more influenced by Ouyang Xun, because he could get a glimpse of the ancient famous relics hidden in the inner palace, so he followed the path of calligraphy. From the perspective of his calligraphy, it not only has the characteristics of the imperial court style, but also has the characteristics of Ouyang Xun's calligraphy turning point and force. This is different from the Guange style which only pursues uprightness and beauty. His cursive writing is also elegant, profound and elegant.

Prince Cheng's Seal Script Room "Room of Three Fears and Four Knowledges" Banner Wax Paper

Since Yongxuan's calligraphy resembled that of his father, Emperor Qianlong, he was often the one to write edicts for Emperor Qianlong, which can be regarded as Emperor Qianlong's personal edicts. This was a well-known thing in the Qianlong Dynasty. From one side It can be seen that Emperor Qianlong trusted Yongxuan very much. In the forty-second year of Qianlong's reign (1777), the Empress Dowager passed away. The Western Jin Dynasty Lu Ji's "Pingfu Tie", known as the "ancestor of Dharma books" collected by the Empress Dowager, was also awarded to Yongxuan by Emperor Qianlong. Yongxuan was so happy that he named his study "Yi Jin Zhai". "Pingfu Tie" was later acquired by Pu Xinshe and Zhang Boju. After the death of Qianlong, Emperor Jiaqing also admired the calligraphy of his eleventh brother and highly praised it. In the ninth year of Jiaqing, he issued an edict saying: "My brother Cheng has specialized in calligraphy since he was a child, and he has learned the meaning of the ancients' pens." Bo She Various families have worked on various types of works, and they have been working in the pond for decades. In recent times, there are few people like him who can write calligraphy for courtiers." For this reason, he was specially asked to write Emperor Qianlong's "Yuling Holy Virtue and Divine Merit Stele", which shows that he is extremely glorious. . Yongxuan is also good at painting, specializing in landscapes, flowers and birds, and has skilled creative techniques. He is the author of "Collection of Poems and Essays of Yi Jinzhai", "Essays of Yi Jinzhai", "Sequel", "Canglong Collection", "Tingyuwu Collection", etc.

　

Favored in the past, popular today


Prince Cheng Yongxuan's calligraphy was very popular among dignitaries and literati during his lifetime. It is said that in order to obtain Prince Cheng's calligraphy, a certain Xianghongqi Commander personally purchased rice paper and spent a lot of silver to buy gifts and went to Prince Cheng's mansion to ask for it. Character. Unexpectedly, Prince Cheng ignored him, so in desperation, they all gritted their teeth and simply knelt down in front of Prince Cheng and knelt for two hours. Prince Cheng felt disgusted and even sent someone to persuade him to give up halfway, but he insisted on kneeling. Finally, Prince Yongxuan saw that he was sincere, and promised that after he finished writing it tomorrow morning, he would send his men to deliver it. They were all overjoyed at the same time, thanked him profusely, and got up and left. The next day, Prince Cheng sent his servant to deliver the wrapped banner to Dutong's home. After Dutong opened the banner, he found that the entire rice paper was blank. After careful inspection, he found that there were dot-like ink spots in the lower left corner of the rice paper. After careful identification, Dutong finally saw clearly the words hidden under the ink spots. He After looking over it several times, I found three small characters written on the rice paper - "You are worthy, too." Dutong knelt in Prince Cheng's mansion for a long time, and in the end he only asked for three words of insult and ridicule. I think Dutong would be furious. In fact, it is not the case. Although these three words are meant to be mocking, they are the authentic works of Prince Cheng and are of very high value. It is not an exaggeration to say that "a word is worth a thousand pieces of gold". So the emperor immediately asked his servants to frame it and hang it grandly at home. It became a joke for a while.

Prince Cheng (1752-1823) Eight-Character Couplet in Regular Script

Prince Cheng's "Five Character Couplets in Running Script"

After the rise of art auctions in China in the early 1990s, Yongxuan's calligraphy frequently appeared at auctions. In 1995, Hanhai launched a vertical scroll of Yongxuan's "Running Script" written in 1790, which was sold for 30,800 yuan. This price was not high at the time. Low. In 1996, Yongxuan's "Lin Zhu Tie Twelve Pages" painted in 1797 was sold at Duoyunxuan for 24,000 yuan. In the same year, the hand scroll "Lin Wangxian's Luo Shen Fu" painted in 1815 was sold at Hanhai for 22,000 yuan. After that, the price basically remained at this level for ten years. It was not until 2007 that Kuangshi International grandly launched his "Ringshu Heyuan Chronicles" hand scroll. This volume not only embodies Yongxuan's calligraphy Art, and has high historical and documentary value, with an estimated value of 1-1.5 million yuan. After being auctioned, it was favored and sought after by many buyers. Finally, it was purchased by a buyer for a whopping 4.536 million yuan, creating a record of Yongxuan Shu. reached a new market high. After that, Prince Cheng's works often sold for hundreds of thousands or even millions. In 2011, "Five Character Couplets in Running Script" was auctioned by Zhongmao Shengjia for 470,400 yuan; in 2015, "Vajra Prajnaparamita Sutra Forty Pages" was auctioned by Poly for 172.5 yuan. 10,000 yuan; in 2016, "Four Screens of Running Script" was auctioned by Zhongmao Shengjia for 1.3225 million yuan; in 2017, "Twenty-Four Volumes of Ancient Dharma Books" was auctioned by Xiling Seal Society for 1.955 million yuan. In the same year, the hand scroll of "Calligraphy of Famous Masters of the Past Dynasties" was sold It was sold by Kuangshi International for 1.725 million yuan. There are not many extant paintings by Yongxuan, and the occasional paintings by Yongxuan have good market prices. In 2002, the vertical scroll "Yunfeng Ye Temple" was sold at Duoyunxuan for 66,000 yuan; in 2005, "Landscape Ten-leaf Album" was sold at Christie's for 456,000 Hong Kong dollars. ; In 2017, the "Golden Fruit Picture" vertical scroll was sold at Poly Xiamen for 92,000 yuan.