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We often see people complaining online about doctors' illegible handwriting, saying they can hardly recognize a single word, but when they give the prescription to the pharmacist, they can easily recognize it and there will be no mistakes when they get the medicine. Some netizens even asked, "Does the hospital have its own writing system?"

Of course, this is all a joke. The reason why pharmacists can recognize it is that doctors often write the drug's symbol, code, English abbreviation or abbreviation when prescribing medicine. This is not difficult for experts, but we laymen can only watch the fun. However, if we appreciate the prescriptions of old Chinese medicine practitioners in the old society, we will find that almost all of them are calligraphers, and their handwriting is more beautiful than that of members of the contemporary Calligraphy Association.

The National Palace Museum in Taipei, China, houses a priceless treasure, a prescription with exquisite calligraphy from a famous author. It is Huang Tingjian's "Zhi Ying Xiang Fang Tie". In the words of a museum curator, "Every word in this work is free and unrestrained, turning rules into rules without rules, as if with divine help."

Huang Tingjian is one of the "Four Masters of Song Dynasty". He pioneered a new style in cursive script and can be regarded as the most innovative and distinctive one among the four. "Zhi Ying Xiang Fang Tie" is also known as "Yao Fang Tie". It is written in cursive script and should be his early work, estimated to be completed between 1086 and 1093.

This is a paper copy, 28.7cm in height and 37.7cm in width, with 9 lines and 81 characters. The text reads: "For infant incense, grind 3 liang of horn agarwood, 4 qian of cloves, 7 qian of camphor separately, 3 qian of musk separately, 1 qian of Zhigongjiaxiang, grind all the above ingredients evenly. Add 0.5 liang of yaxiao and grind evenly. Add 6 liang of refined honey and mix evenly. After one month in the shade, take out and make pills as big as a chicken's head. I remember this roughly. If you find a different book when you check it, don't record it."

In this letter, Huang Tingjian taught others how to prepare infant fragrance. The so-called "infant fragrance" is a kind of spice, which is named because of its strong and warm fragrance, like that of a young girl. Tao Hongjing's "Zhen Gao" records: "The goddess and her attendants have bright faces, as clear as jade, and are fragrant with five spices, like the fragrance of burning incense."

Smelling this fragrance often can regulate the internal energy and calm the mind, so this calligraphy has multiple values ​​of calligraphy, incense making, and medicine. In his early years, Huang Tingjian learned calligraphy from Zhou Yue, Su Shi, Yang Ningshi, Yan Liu and other masters, and benefited from "The Inscription on the Buried Crane". In his daily life, he was inspired by the action of the boatman rowing the oars and created the "rowing brushwork".

When writing "Zhi Ying Xiang Fang Tie", Huang Tingjian's personal calligraphy style was initially formed, and the horizontal and left strokes already had the style of "long spears and halberds". He started with the tip of the brush in the opposite direction, and used the side of the brush during the writing. The strokes were vigorous and varied, especially when writing long strokes. Huang Tingjian did not write straight, but increased the changes in the strokes, and the treatment appeared slow, light and heavy.

The writing style of "Zhi Ying Xiang Fang Tie" is both square and round, and the characters are tilted to the upper right, which is dangerous but not empty, and the center of gravity is swaying but not losing stability. The composition is well-spaced, the size of the characters is staggered, and no characters are the same, which can be called the unity of mind and hand.