卫夫人讲书法 madam wei talks about calligraphy

东晋的时候， 有一个女书法家叫 [[ 卫铄 Wei Shuo ]]。她是汝阳太守 [[ 李矩 Li Ju ]]的妻子，人们又管她叫卫夫人。著名的大书法家王羲之小时候就跟她学过书法。传说她还写过一本专门研究书法的书叫 [[ 《笔阵图》Bi Zhen Tu ]]。

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there was a female calligrapher called Wei Shuo. She was the Prefect of Ruyang, Li Ju’s wife. People called her Madam Wei. The famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi studied calligraphy with her in his infancy. Legend has it that she authored a work called the “Bi Zhen Tu”.

有一次九岁的 [[ Wang Xizhi 王羲之 ]]在卫夫人的书房里玩耍，看到卫夫人的桌子上放着一本手抄的书。拿起来一看，原来是《笔阵图》的手稿。王羲之仔细的看起来，可有些还看不懂。他马上拿着这本书去找卫夫人。

One day, when Wang Xizhi was nine years old, he was playing in Madam Wei’s study. He saw a manuscript on Madam Wei’s table. Picking it up to take a closer look he found it was her manuscript for the “Bi Zhen Tu”. Wang Xizhi read it attentively, but there were still some things he couldn’t understand. He took the manuscript and went looking for Madam Wei.

这时候，卫夫人正和几个丫环在后院里打秋千，玩儿得正高兴。她见王羲之来了就下了秋千，走到他的面前问：“有什么事吗？”

Meanwhile, Madam Wei was having a wonderful time in the garden with her ladies-in-waiting, playing on a swing. When she saw Wang Xizhi, she got off the swing and walked over to where the boy was standing, asking: “is there something you need?”

王羲之说：“我刚才在你的桌上看到这本《笔阵图》里面，有的我看不懂，想请您给我讲讲。”

Wang Xizhi replied: “I found this book called the ‘Bi Zhen Tu’ on your desk. There are some bits that I don’t understand. I was wondering if you could explain them to me.”

卫夫人高兴地答应了，带着羲之回到了书房。

Madam Wei nodded smilingly and took Xizhi back into the study.

羲之打开《笔阵图》问：“书上说，‘写字就像打仗一样’，这是什么意思？”

Xizhi opened “Bi Zhen Tu”, and asked: “It says in the book that ‘writing is like going into battle’, what does that mean?”

卫夫人笑着反问他：“写字要用些什么东西？”

Madam Wei chuckled, answering with a question of her own: “What tools do we use when we write?”

羲之回答说：“要用纸、笔、墨、砚。”

“Paper, brush, ink and inkstone.”, Xizhi replied.

“是啊，这纸就像是战场，笔就像是武器，墨就像是盔甲（盔 kuī），砚就像是一座城池，我们写字人的心意就是主帅，本领就是副将参将，字的结构就是用的谋略，运笔就是吉凶，出入就是号令， 曲折就是砍杀。你想想，这不是跟打仗差不多吗？”

“That’s right! Paper is like the battlefield and the pen is like an arsenal. The ink is like armour and the inkstone is like a fortress. The calligrapher’s intent is the generalissimo and his talents are his lieutenants. The structure of the characters is like military strategy and the movement of the brush is luck: good and bad. The start and finish of each stroke is an order, the twisting and turning motion the swish of murdering blades. Don’t you think it’s like fighting a battle?”

羲之听了，高兴的拍着小手说：“啊！我明白了，怪不得这本书叫《笔阵图》啊！”

Hearing the explanation Xizhi clapped his hands with delight, and said: “Aha! I get it. It’s no wonder the book is called Bi Zhen Tu! “

卫夫人接着说：“你明白了一点，可还有一点你不一定明白：就是对待写字也要象对待打仗一样，要刻苦练习，用心研究战略，还要不怕失败。不然这个’仗‘，你是打不赢（yíng）的。

Madam Wei continued: “You understand a little, but there is still more that you have yet to learn: you should treat practising calligraphy with the same attitude as going to war. You must train hard, study strategy, and not be afraid of defeat. Otherwise, calligraphy is a war that you’ll never win.”

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