颜真卿拜师 yan zhenqing becomes an apprentice

前面提到的 [[ Yan Zhenqing 颜真卿 ]]是唐朝最有名的书法家之一。同时，他还在朝廷里做过很大的官。

Before, we mentioned that Yan Zhenqing was one of the most famous calligraphers to have lived during the Tang dynasty. He was a major official at the Tang court as well.

一开始颜真卿先到一个县里当县官，可是他一直惦记着读书写字的事，尤其对书法更是放不下。不管公事多忙，他每天总要抽时间练字。

Yan Zhenqing began his career as a county magistrate, but he always remembered to read and study, he was especially diligent when it came to practising calligraphy. No matter how busy he was with official business, he’d always make time to practice his writing.

过了一年，颜真卿听说草圣 [[ Zhang Xu 张旭 ]]正在洛阳一个朋友家里住，他就辞去了官，到洛阳去求见张旭，想跟张旭学习书法。

A year passed and Yan Zhenqing caught wind that Zhang Xu was staying at one of his friend’s house in Luoyang. Hearing the news, he quit his post and went to Luoyang to see Zhang Xu. He wanted to study calligraphy with him.

这一天颜真卿来到了洛阳城。没等安顿好他就带着平常练习写的各种字去拜访张旭。恰巧碰到张旭喝醉了酒，躺在椅子上“呼噜呼噜”睡着了。颜真卿只好耐心的等待着。等啊等啊，等了好半天张旭才醒过来。颜真卿马上上前行礼，说明来意，送上自己的书法手迹，请他指教，还要拜张旭为师。

On the day Yan Zhenqing arrived in Luoyang, he didn’t even wait to get settled down: instead, he took all of his practice specimens of writing to see Zhang Xu. When he arrived, Zhang Xu had been drinking as usual and was sound asleep in his chair, snoring. Yan Zhenqing had no choice but to wait until he woke up. He waited what seemed like an eternity before Zhang Xu finally opened his eyes. Yan Zhenqing bowed graciously and told Zhang Xu why he had come. He presented him with samples of his calligraphy and asked for Zhang Xu’s verdict, saying that he wanted to be his apprentice.

张旭看了颜真卿的书法以后，对他说：“您的字已经写的不错了，不必拜我为师了。您是国家未来的栋梁，哪儿能在写字上花那么多功夫呢？”

Zhang Xu examined Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy and said, “You’re writing is pretty good. There’s no need for you to be my apprentice. You represent the future of our nation, how would you have time for something as trivial as scribbling?”

颜真卿诚恳地说：“我明白您的意思，您怕我没有恒心学书法，所以不愿马上收我当您的学生。那好吧，我先回去，以后再来找您。”

Yan Zhenqing replied sincerely: “I understand. You are worried that I won’t have the perseverance necessary to master calligraphy, so you are unwilling to accept me as your student. So be it. I will leave now, but I’ll come back later to find you.”

说完，颜真卿象张旭告辞回家去了。后来朝廷又让他到长安做官。但是颜真卿始终惦记着学书法的事。不久，他又辞去差事，再次到洛阳向张旭请叫。张旭看到颜真卿态度十分恳切，就把一向不轻易传授的写字方法告诉了他。

With that, Yan Zhenqing bid Zhang Xu farewell and returned home. In time, the imperial court summoned him to the capital, Chang’an to serve as an official, but Yan Zhenqing still hadn’t forgotten his goal of learning calligraphy. It wasn’t long before he’d quit his post and again went to Luoyang to ask Zhang Xu for instruction. Zhang Xu realised how sincere Yan Zhenqing was, and so he divulged his closely guarded secrets to Yan Zhenqing.

后来，颜真卿的楷书和草书都形成了自己的独特风格。人们把他的字叫做“颜体”。颜真卿对张旭的教导十分感激，写了一篇《 [[ 张长史十二意笔法记 ]]》，记载他跟张旭学书法的经过。并且毫无保留的把张旭的书法要诀告诉别人。

Later, Yan’s regular and cursive scripts both blossomed into unique styles of their own. People called this: Yan Ti or Yan style. Yan Zhenqing was eternally grateful to his mentor Zhang Xu and wrote an article titled “A Record of 12 Brushwork Concepts Taught to me by the Magistrate Zhang Xu.”, detailing things he has learnt from him. Without the slightest reservation, he generously passed Zhang Xu’s calligraphy tips on to everyone.

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