时间：2022-06-13 07:06:21
梅兰芳学画
1915年前后，梅兰芳二十几岁的时候对绘画越来越发生兴趣。先从王梦白习画，后向陈师曾、齐白石等学艺。
梅兰芳虽然早就认识白石先生，但跟他学画却在1920年的秋天。一次，梅兰芳邀他到家里来闲谈，白石先生一见面就说：“听说你近来习画很用功，我看见你画的佛像，比以前进步了。”梅兰芳说：“我是笨人，虽然有许多好老师，还是画不好。今天要请您画给我看，我要学您下笔的方法，我来替您磨墨。”白石先生笑着说：“我给你画草虫，你回头唱一段给我听就成了。”
那一天齐白石给梅兰芳画了几开册页，草虫鱼虾都有，落笔时还讲了一些心得和窍门。等到琴师来了，梅兰芳就唱了一段《刺汤》。国画大师和京剧大师都喜气盈盈。
梅兰芳在抗日战争时期息影舞台，还曾经在上海以卖画为生。（焦文）
《韩熙载夜宴图》系间谍杰作
《韩熙载夜宴图》出自五代画家顾闳中之手，描绘的是名士韩熙载夜宴娱乐的场面。人物传神，设色浓丽，是中国工笔人物画的杰作。许多人都清楚这是一幅中国人物画的巅峰之作，可很少有人知道这幅传世杰作本是一张情报图。
韩熙载的父亲韩光嗣原是一名军中统帅，被后唐明宗李嗣源所杀。韩熙载化装逃往江南，投奔南唐，想凭着自己的才干，可不被南唐后主李煜重用，时时提防，生怕他干些什么于朝廷不利的勾当，于是派画院待诏顾闳中当间谍去他府上窥探。
秋日傍晚，趁着苍茫暮色，顾闳中潜入韩府，悄悄隐身在一片竹林之中。他凝神定气，静静地观察着韩府上下的风吹草动。此时状元朗粲、名妓王屋山、太常博士陈雍、教坊副使李嘉明与他的妹妹等纷至沓来，整个韩府灯火通明，笑语喧哗，宾客满堂。韩熙载高冠长髯，端坐榻沿；朗粲俯身抱膝，半卧榻上；陈雍和门人舒雅分坐案前……全场人都在静听李嘉明的妹妹弹奏琵琶。
歌舞既罢，宾客稍事休息。韩熙载退入内室，一侍女缓步而入，奉上一盆清水让他洗手。另外两名侍女忙着准备乐器，添酒换茶。一阵尽兴的欢愉，韩熙载的身上仅着内衫，袒胸露腹，脱去双履，盘坐于漆椅之上，一边轻摇纱扇，一边与侍女叙话。
曲终人散。从韩府回到家中，顾闳中凭着目识心记，详尽地描绘了这场夜宴的全部过程和整个场面。顾闳中是做间谍的好料，也是画家的天才。这张华贵富丽的情报图既使皇上得到了韩熙载与人交往的秘密，也倾倒了才子皇帝李煜，他将此画藏于深宫，视为至宝。
（云成）
欧阳修怕“笑”
北宋大文豪欧阳修和两位朋友在街上散步，看到一匹脱缰的奔马踏死了一只狗。他提议，看谁能把这件事简练地记述下来。一朋友说：“有犬卧于通衢，逸马蹄而死之。”用了12个字。另一位说：“有马逸于街衢，卧犬遭之而毙。”也用了12个字。欧阳修嫌他们说得不精练，只用了“逸马杀犬于道”6个字。
欧阳修写作严谨，往往是“为求一字稳，耐得半宵寒”。妻子心疼地劝说：“你平日的文章已经那么用心写了，难道还怕那些先生骂吗？”欧阳修笑着回答：“不怕先生骂，可怕后生们笑啊！”
（王进建）
王一品斋来历
在众多的湖笔店中，名气最大的要数“王一品斋笔庄”。王一品斋笔庄于乾隆六年始建，世代相传已240余年。该店的创业者“王一品”，本名并非叫“一品”。据说是乾隆年间科举开考，各省举子纷纷赴京会试，这位湖州王姓制笔匠人，认为这是推销产品的好机会，于是就带了一批毛笔进京，向各地考生兜售。有位举人买了他的笔，用起来得心应手，巧的是他不仅高中了进士，而且殿试又一举夺魁，成了“一举成名天下扬”的状元公。有人附会说此公得中状元，与所用之笔有关。故王某所售毛笔，被一些举子称为“一品笔”，他本人则被称为“王一品”，于是也就有了“王一品斋笔庄”的店号。
“王一品”的毛笔，吴昌硕爱用其羊毫；贺天健爱用其石权笔；而傅抱石则对王一品的白云笔赞不绝口，并画《奇峰突兀图》相赠；郭沫若也曾为王一品笔书写匾额。（文之）
Anecdotes in the Realm of Art and Literature
By Yun Cheng, Wang Jinjian, Wen Zhi
Mei Lanfang Learned Painting
About 1915, Master Mei Lanfang (1894-1961) in his twenties began to take a strong interest in painting. He learned how to paint first from Wang Mengbai and then learned from Chen Shizeng and Qi Baishi.
Though Mei had known Qi Baishi for a long while, it was in the autumn of 1920 that Mei began to paint under the tutelage of Master Qi. One day Mei invited Qi to his house. Upon arrival, Qi said, “I hear you’ve been working hard at painting. I just saw a Buddha portrait you painted. You’ve made big progress.”Mei Lanfang replied, “I am slow. Though I have had many good teachers, I am a lousy pupil. Would you please demonstrate to me today how to paint? I want to learn the way you use the brush pen. Let me grind the ink for you first.” Master Qi smiled, saying, “I will draw some grass and insects for you. In return, would you please sing me an aria later, all right?”
Qi painted grass, fish, shrimps and insects for Mei Lanfang and demonstrated to Mei how to use the pen. When the accompanist came, Mei sang an aria. That day, both the master of Chinese painting and the master of Peking Opera had a good time.
Mei Lanfang retired from acting during the Resistance War against the Japanese Invasion during World War II. During these years he lived partly on proceeds from his own paintings he sold in Shanghai.
Han Xizai at a Night Feast
Han Xizai at a Night Feast was created by Gu Hongzhong, an artist of the Five Dynasties (907-960). The painting depicts a night carousal held by Han Xizai, a high-profile celebrity. The vivid characterization and rich colors in the fine-brushwork style make the painting a masterpiece of Chinese fine arts. Although it is known as a milestone painting in the history of Chinese fine arts, few know the painting was in fact a graphic report made by a spy.
Han Xizai disguised himself and fled to the Southern Tang Dynasty after his father, a general of the Later Tang Dynasty (923-936), was killed by the emperor. He was appointed to an official post, but was never fully trusted by Li Yu, the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty (937-975). The emperor watched him closely for fear that the renegade might do something detrimental to the government. One night Gu Hongzhong, an artist at the Imperial Art Academy, was sent to Han’s house to spy on him.
The spy watched the banquet closely. Later, he recreated the party in a painting based on his memories. The painting was presented as an intelligence report to the emperor. The emperor, who was a scholar himself, liked the painting so much, that it came into his art collection.
Ouyang Xiu’s Worries
One day when Ouyang Xiu, a great literary master of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), took a stroll in the street with two friends, they saw a running-wild horse kill a dog. Ouyang proposed to his friends to describe the event in a minimalist style. One friend used 12 characters. The other friend could do no better. Ouyang Xiu used only six characters.
This anecdote embodies Ouyang’s uncompromising pursuit for accurate diction. He even described his concern with accuracy in a poem, saying that sometimes he spends half a night to search for one right word. Worried about his health, his wife said to him that since he was already a master, he did not need to worry that his teachers would scold him. To this Ouyang replied, “I did not worry about my teachers’ criticism, but I am afraid of being laughed at by after-borns!”
Wang Yipin Studio Brush-pen Shop
Wang Yipin Studio Brush-pen Shop is the most famous of all the brush-pen shops in Huzhou. The business started in the sixth year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The proprietor’s name was not Wang Yipin at that time. As story goes, when provincial graduates would meet in Beijing for imperial examinations, the brush-pen maker thought it was a good opportunity to promote his products. So he carried a large quantity of brush-pens to the capital and began to promote his products to examinees. One provincial graduate bought a brush-pen from Wang. As it happened that the provincial graduate became a metropolitan graduate with highest honors in the imperial examination and then came out first as the principal graduate in the final palace examination. Some people concluded that the scholar’s success was essentially ascribed to the brush pen he had used. For this reason, those provincial graduates later called Wang’s pens as Yipin pens. And the owner himself renamed himself as Wang Yipin, hence the name of the shop. Wu Changshuo liked the shop’s sheep-hair brush-pens. He Tianjian and Fu Baoshi also liked the shop’s pens. Guo Moruo once wrote an inscription for the shop.
(Translated by David)