同道渺渺 君子堂堂

一一跋《尹同君人生三铭》

作者：陈羲明

中译英：斧子的二当家

审校、英文朗读：Michael

A gentleman with a sense of integrity and a like-minded group of friends

—— Epilogue to Yin Tongjun's Three Inscriptions of Life

同君三铭，文起衡岳。

Mr.Tongjun's "Three Inscriptions of Life" is an innovative work developed in the regional culture of Southern Mount Nanyue.

“云开衡岳积阴止，天马凤凰春树里，年少峥嵘屈贾才，山川奇气曾钟此”，借毛公当年《送纵宇一郎东行》之句状同君其地其人其文其书，颇为贴切。

"Clouds break Southern Mount Nanyue and the deep gloom is dispelled；Peaks among vernal trees look like phoenix and horses. While young, like Qu and Jia(1), in talent you excelled. Mountains and Streams inspire you with a tremendous force." The above is from Mao Zedong's poetry "Sending Luo Zhanglong off to Japan." It's entirely appropriate to borrow this sentence to describe Tongjun, the place he was born in, his literature and calligraphy.

“吾道南来，原是濂溪一脉；大江东去，无非湘水余波”。湖湘乃中国之丹田，华夏精气神之聚地。“西南云气来衡岳，日夜江声下洞庭”（清黄道让撰岳麓山云麓宫联）。八百 里衡岳（韶峰为南岳七十二峰 之一）上顶湖南之天(灵)，八百里洞庭深接湖南之地(气)。衡阳回雁峰为南岳衡山七十二峰之首峰， 八百里南岳之龙头一—虽海拔仅九十八米，然真可谓“山不在高，有仙则名”。此峰秋冬可留北往南飞之雁，足见灵气如何了得！南梁天监十二年，回雁峰始建云禅寺，隋改称 雁峰寺沿袭至今，寺内有寿佛殿，(寿佛为隋唐时主持此寺高僧，明清之际，转世驻锡，寺门楹联“五百年化身归来，十方福地斯为美；七二峰从头数去，千古名山不在高”。) 寿佛殿出后门，即达回雁峰顶及回雁阁。殿后墙及阁上书法名家荟萃，沈鹏、欧阳中石、李铎、王遐举、刘供彪，张继、周祥林、何满宗、虞逸夫、史穆、张锡良、 曾玉衡、邓磐石、欧伯达和(陈羲明)等皆有作品刊刻于此。出寿佛殿后门右侧，巨幅行楷《健康铭》《平安铭》即同君撰书。

勒石于南岳第一峰一一迥雁峰顶湘君撰书的《健康铭》

Xiangjun’s "Inscriptions of Health" carved as stone inscription at the top of the first peak of Nanyue---Wild Goose Peak

"My knowledge comes from Mr. Lian Xi 濂溪, the founder of China's Neo-Confucianism, Zhou Dunyi 周敦颐, whose achievements are like a river endlessly flowing to the east, but still means nothing more than the Xiangjiang River aftereffects." Hunan Province is the dan tian 丹田 (lower belly，here refers to the best land) of China and the gathering place of Chinese spirits. "The clouds from the southwest come to Mount Nanyue and the river sounds down to Dongting Lake day and night" (A couplet written for Yunlu Palace in Yuelu Mountain by Mr. Huang Daorang 黄道让 from the Qing Dynasty). Mount Nanyue stretches for thousands of miles (Shao Peak is one of the seventy-two peaks of Nanyue) and reaches up to the heavens (spirits) of Hunan. Dongting Lake covers thousands of miles and gets deep into the Hunan land and its Qi 气(the cosmic energy force). Among the seventy-two peaks of Mount Nanyue, the Returning Goose Peak in Hengyang is considered to be the No.1 peak and the head of the thousands miles' Dragon. Although it is only ninety-eight meters above the sea level, it can be truly said that "Mountains are famous for living immortals, but not for their heights." In autumn and winter, the wild geese flying from north to south nest at this peak and don't fly any further, what a spiritual place it is! In 513, on the 12th year of Tianjian in the Southern Liang Dynasty, Yunchan Temple was built on the Returning Goose Peak. In the Sui Dynasty, its name was changed to Wild Goose Peak Temple, and such remained till today. Inside the temple, there is the Longevity Buddha Hall (There once was an eminent monk named Shoufo 寿佛——the Longevity Buddha. He has was in charge of the temple during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. By that time of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, he was granted an incarnation there and the couplets at the temple gate said, "After 500 years of incarnation I came back here, among tens of miles blessed places around and beautiful scenery standing out. After checking all of the seventy-two peaks from the beginning, we can see that since old times mountains were not famous for their height"). As you go out from the Longevity Buddha Hall's back door, you arrive to the top of the Returning Goose Peak and the Wild Goose Pavilion. The Hall back wall and the pavilion are full of works written by famous calligraphers, including Shen Peng 沈鹏, Ouyang Zhongshi 欧阳中石, Li duo 李铎, Wang Xiaju 王遐举, Liu Gongbiao 刘供彪, Zhang Ji 张继, Zhou Xianglin 周祥林, He Manzong 何满宗, Yu Yifu 虞逸夫, Shi Mu 史穆, Zhang Xiliang 张锡良, Zeng Yuheng 曾玉衡, Deng Panshi 邓磐石, Ou Boda 欧伯达，Chen Ximing 陈羲明 and many others. On the right side of the Longevity Buddha Hall's back door you can see a huge size Inscription of Health and Inscription of Safety in the running - regular script – they were written by Tongjun. 

勒石于南岳第一峰一一迥雁峰顶湘君撰书的《平安铭》

Xiangjun's "Inscriptions of Safety" carved as stone inscription at the top of the first peak of Nanyue---Wild Goose Peak

同君另有一铭《成功铭》，初为岣缕峰撰，现亦(类禹碑)勒石于石鼓书院。石鼓书院列宋兴之初四大书院首，比岳麓书院早建百年，为千年湘学之渊薮，朱熹、王船山、曾熙(大书家) 等大儒曾主讲于斯，亦当年曾国藩演练湘军水师之将台和湘军练成之出发地。同君于此二处能勒石铭文， 非衡阳一地之意味、品位，乃湖南甚至中国之意味、品位也。

勒石于石鼓书院的湘君撰书巜成功铭》，己被拓印得沧桑斑驳。

Xiangjun's "Inscriptions of Success" carved as stone inscription at the Shigu 石鼓 Academy. It has been worn away by the rubbings and can no longer been read.

Tongjun has also written the Inscription of Success for Goulou Peak. That inscription can be compared to the Yu Stele Inscription (Yu bei 禹碑) and it’s also carved in the stone in Shigu 石鼓 Academy. Shigu 石鼓 Academy was ranked first of the four academies in the early Song Dynasty. It was built a hundred years before the Yuelu Academy and was the gathering place of Hunan's scholars for thousand years. Zhu Xi 朱熹, Wang Chuanshan 王船山, Zengxi 曾熙 (a great calligrapher) and many other great scholars have all lectured here. It was also the general command station for Zeng Guofan's 曾国藩 Hunan naval training. The army has even begun its journey from here. Tongjun's inscriptions carved in these two famous places represent not only the great significance of Hengyang but also a great significance of Hunan and even China.

诺贝尔文学奖得主莫言收藏湘君撰书《成功铭》

Xiangjun's "Inscriptions of Success" collected by the Literature Nobel Prize winner Mo Yan 莫言

同君三铭，字字珠玑，琢文十二载，阅改数百通，具古铭之精妙，蕴经典之正大；山野得兹蕙质兰馨， 庙堂珍其松柏仪范；高人阅过更求天真，凡夫诵来能得从容。同君书法，碑帖兼镕，散盘石鼓，秦昭汉刻，龙门金刚，晋帖鹤铭，王欧褚颜，黄傅(山)何(绍基）曾(熙）， 心追手摹，长锋沉着，日积月累，连(四十余）年不辍，直入堂奥，渐臻佳境，神清韵雅，气郁格高。其点画笔墨可见“唯有南岳独如飞”之风光， 亦有“楚虽三户，亡秦必楚”之风骨，还具“惟楚有才，于斯为盛”之风采。

国徽、团徽，二、三、四版人民币设计者及天安门城楼毛主席像画家、百岁仙翁周令钊收藏湘君撰书《平安铭》

Xiangjun's “Inscription of Safety” was collected by the elder Zhou Lingzhao 周令钊, who's now at an advanced age of 99, and has been the overall designer of the national emblem, league badge and the second, third and fourth sets of RMB, also the painter of the Chairman Mao portrait on Tian An Men.

Every character in the Three Inscriptions of Life can be said to be like a pearl. It took Xiangjun 湘君 12 years to write it and the article was revised over and over for a hundred times. It did get not only a subtle beauty of the ancient inscriptions but also expressed spiritual righteousness of the classic works. People from outside of the calligraphy world would be rejuvenated by its temperament like cymbidium and orchids, whereas calligraphy insiders would cherish its spiritual style like pine-cypress. After reading the Three Inscriptions, talented people would be more naive and ordinary people would be calmer. Xiangjun's calligraphy works contain the essence of both tablet inscriptions and handwriting models. They have the characteristics of the inscription in “Sanshi pan”《散氏盘》 (it's the Bronze of the late Western Zhou Dynasty and it got the name from the Sanshi 散氏 inscription on it) and Shigu wen 石鼓文 (stone-drum script). They inherit the calligraphy tradition of Qin and Han Dynasty and have the style of Mount Tai's “Diamond Sutra”《金刚经》( Stone carvings calligraphy on the cliff surfaces of Mount Tai's Stone Valley), Longmen Grottos' "Epigraph on Buddha Statue"《造像记》, “Yihe Ming” 《瘗鹤铭》 (An Inscription on Burying the Crane) and the model calligraphy(书帖) from the Jin Dynasty(266-420). He persistently followed the traditional calligraphy masters like Wang Xizhi 王羲之, Ouyang Xun 欧阳询, Zhu Suiliang 褚遂良, Yan Zhenqing 颜真卿, Huang Tingjian黄庭坚, Fushan傅山, He Shaoji 何绍基, and Zeng Xi 曾熙. After more than 40 years of deep thinking and tireless brush writing, he finally made great progress and reached a very high level, forming his own, unique style, which is elegant, materially detached and very spiritual. His strokes and ink show the air scenery of the Southern Mount Nanyue. A spiritual style like "Although there are only three households in the Chu, Qin must also be defeated by Chu" (this allusion represents an emotional conviction), and a graceful manner of "The elite were bred in Chu (Hunan) and the best were gathered here."

北京孔庙国子监展出收藏的湘君撰书《健康铭》丈二行草

Xiangjun's “Inscription of Health” in semi-cursive script. It has been collected and  exhibited by Beijing Confucius Temple and Imperial College Museum 

同君同君，同道渺渺，君子堂堂。

Tongjun, Tongjun，a gentleman with a sense of integrity and a like-minded group of friends.

同君三铭，斯文斯书，金声玉振，铁画银钩；勒石名胜，观摩誉众，流播后世，必长传承。 

In Tongjun's Three Inscriptions, no matter if it's the article or the calligraphy, we can see a charm as brilliant as gold, quality as precious as jade, strength as powerful as iron and romantic elegance like a silver hook. Carved on the scenic spot and watched by the public, it has won lots of praises and will be spread out and cherished by the next generations.

壬辰荷季之初于古城长沙太平老街三缘堂

Written at the beginning of the Lotus Season(2), in 2012, at the Sanyuan Hall, Taiping Old Street, ancient city of Changsha.

作者为中国书法家协会理事、评委，清华大学书法导师，湖南省书法家协会驻会副主席。
The author is Director and Judge of Chinese Calligraphers' Association, calligraphy tutor of Tsinghua University, Vice-President of Hunan Calligrapher's Association.

Reference :

(1) Qu and Jia refer to Qu Yuan and Jia Yi, both are brilliant talents.

(2) Lotus Season is another name for Summer.