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Confucius once praised his disciple Yan Hui: "'How virtuous Hui is! He lives in a humble alley with only a bowl of rice and a jug of water. People cannot bear the worry, but Hui does not change his joy. How virtuous Hui is!'" Even though he lived in a humble room, he could still enjoy himself and did not complain about the world. This spirit inspired many poor students.

Inspired by this, Liu Yuxi, a great writer in the Tang Dynasty, wrote the famous "Humble House Ode". To this day, many people still write it out and hang it in their houses to encourage themselves. This article has also become the most popular subject for famous calligraphers to copy. Su Shi, Zhao Mengfu, and Dong Qichang all have works handed down.

The Beijing Palace Museum has an authentic copy of "Ode to the Humble Dwelling", which has also been rated as the work with the "most literati sentiment". This work was written by a modest gentleman, Wen Zhengming. The famous writer Xu Pingyu believes that Wen Zhengming has noble character, great talent, and longevity, which is in line with the sentence "This is a humble room, but my virtue is fragrant", and he is the best candidate to copy "Ode to the Humble Dwelling" from ancient times to the present.

Wen Zhengming lived up to the expectations. His work integrated talent and technique. The vigorous and mature strokes were not at all vulgar. It can be said to be "double excellence" with Liu Yuxi's work. Wen Zhengming was born in a scholarly family in Wu County, Suzhou. His ancestor was the famous Wen Tianxiang, and his father Wen Lin was also a Jinshi. He read a lot of books since he was young, and learned poetry, calligraphy and painting under the guidance of famous masters such as Li Yingzhen, Xu Youzhen and Shen Zhou. He was listed as one of the "Four Talents of Jiangnan" for his talent.

Wen Zhengming's calligraphy career was extremely long, and his works became more and more exquisite in his later years, especially after he turned 60. He had accumulated decades of skills and reached the state of "both the person and the calligraphy are old". This "Humble House Inscription" was written when he was 84 years old. It is 67 cm long and 45 cm wide, with 8 lines and 112 characters. The character diameter is about 3 cm, and it is written in regular script.

Some netizens read this work and said that the content was wrong. Wen Zhengming wrote "有仙则名" as "有仙则灵" and then made some corrections next to it. However, this "mistake" shows his leisurely state and natural writing style when he was writing. There is no pretense and it is full of true feelings.

Wen Zhengming's regular script is inspired by Zhao Mengfu, Mi Fu, Li Yong and Wang Xizhi. He starts with the tip of the pen, then rubs and lifts the pen tip, using both the center and side of the pen to create a strong and graceful style. The strokes are elegant and vigorous, with a continuous twist and turn, all in one go. Although he is inspired by Zhao, he has more maturity and rationality, and less beauty and roundness.

The writing style of "Humble House" is both square and round, with sharp corners at the turning points and sharp edges at the beginning, but it is still restrained and not overbearing. For Wen Zhengming, who has seen through the world, he has understood the value of "returning to the normal". The characters are compact and strange, open on all sides, with a well-decided composition, and the ink is evenly applied, with a proper dryness and moistness.

This work by Wen Zhengming has rich and rigorous brushwork, delicate and exquisite penmanship, and elegant and refined aura. It is not only an excellent copybook for us to learn calligraphy, but also a great choice for improving aesthetics and decorating halls.

Now, we have reproduced Wen Zhengming's "Humble Dwelling Inscription" in ultra-high definition and 12 colors, making it as if you were seeing the original. It has also been hand-framed, making it very convenient for you to copy and appreciate. If you are interested, please click the link below to take a look!