褚遂良辨真假 chu suiliang spots a fake

唐朝书法家 [[ Chu Suiliang 褚遂良 ]]（褚chǔ）是杭州人。他的楷书和隶书写的特别好。

The Tang dynasty calligrapher Chu Suiliang was from Hangzhou. His Regular Script Kai Shu and Clerical Script Li Shu are both outstanding.

褚遂良曾经下了很大的功夫来学习 [[ Wang Xizhi 王羲之 ]]的《 [[ 兰亭序 ]]》帖的字体和笔意，揣摩他用笔的特点和每个字的神态。可以说费了不少心血。

Chu Suiliang once spent a lot of time and effort studying a piece of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi called “Preface to the Orchid Pavillion”. He paid particular attention to the brushwork and the techniques which Wang Xizhi used to create this masterpiece. He worked incredibly hard to achieve a deep understanding of it.

褚遂良在朝廷里做官。唐太宗 [[ Li Shimin 李世民 ]]也非常喜欢王羲之的书法。他曾下令到全国各的去搜集王羲之的字帖和真迹。不久就收集了三千二百多件，但是不知道哪些是真的，哪些是假的。怎么办呢？

Chu Suiliang was an official in the Tang Court. Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin, was also a big fan of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. He issued a nationwide decree in search of authentic works of calligraphy by Wang Xizhi. It wasn’t long before the court had received over 3200 works. But they had a problem: how could separate the real thing from the fakes?

唐太宗派人把褚遂良找来，想先考考他。唐太宗叫人把名书法家 [[ Yu Shinan 虞世南 ]]生前临摹的《兰亭序》字帖拿来，然后很客气的对褚遂良说：“今天召见您，有一事相求：这有王羲之写的《兰亭序》帖，不知是真的还是假的？听说您对王羲之的字体很有研究，就请辨认一下吧。”说完，把那字帖传下去交给褚遂良。

Emperor Taizong summoned Chu Suiliang: he wanted to test him. Emperor sent someone to fetch a copy of the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion which had been completed by the esteemed calligrapher Yu Shinan before his demise. Politely, the emperor addressed Chu Suiliang: “I summoned you here today as I have a favour to ask: this is Preface to the Orchid Pavilion by Wang Xizhi. Is it real or fake? I hear you’re quite the expert when it comes to Wang’s calligraphy, could you take a look for me, please.” with the wave of his hand, he had the work presented to Chu Suiliang.

褚遂良接过来，从纸的质地，色彩到字的笔划形态，认真地鉴别了一番。最后，他说：“奏陛下，这件《兰亭序》我看是假的，不是王羲之的真迹。”

Chu Suiliang took the scroll, examining the quality of the paper, the hue of the ink, and the shapes of the brush strokes, making a careful evaluation. Finally he turned to the emperor: “Your highness, in my opinion this copy of the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion is fake. It isn’t the work of Wang Xizhi.”

“你有什么根据呢？”唐太宗问他。 “What evidence supports that conclusion?” asked Emperor Taizong.

“先说说纸：它用的纸是本朝的纸，不是晋朝时候的纸；另外，王羲之的字体妍美流畅，笔势雄健又多变化，有‘游云惊蛇’的姿态，而这件《兰亭序》正好缺少这些，并且前后的墨色不一样，前浓而后淡，可见不是一气呵成。因此，我断定这决不是王羲之的真迹。”

“First of all, the paper: this work is written on paper produced during our current dynasty, it isn’t Jin dynasty paper; besides, Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy is elegant and flowing, full of vigour. People describe it as being like ‘floating clouds and startled snakes’. This copy of the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion lacks these qualities. Whatsmore, there is a subtle difference in the shade of the ink. The beginning is darker than the later portion, evidence that it wasn’t completed in one session. That’s why I conclude that this could never be a work by Wang Xizhi.”

唐太宗听了褚遂良的讲解非常高兴。从此，褚遂良经常为唐太宗辨认王羲之的书法，还和唐太宗一起探讨书法艺术。

Emperor Taizong was tickled pink by Chu Suiliangs explanation. From that day on, Chu Suiliang would often help the emperor appraise works by Wang Xizhi, engaging in deep conversations about the art of Chinese calligraphy.

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