张芝
张芝（?—192），字伯英，敦煌渊泉人，东汉著名的书法家，因其草书造诣极高，在中国书法史上被尊称为“草圣”。东汉时期，敦煌地区学习书法的风气浓厚。其父张奂为方便张芝、张昶兄弟练习书法，派人锻造石桌、石凳于水池边。从此，张芝兄弟以帛为纸，临池学书，先练写而后漂洗再用。日复一日，年复一年，水为之黑，后世称之为张芝墨池。
敦煌文献P.2005《沙州都督府图经》记载，张芝墨池位于敦煌县东北一里处。敦煌文献P.2748《敦煌廿咏》还写有一首《墨池咏》，表现出对张芝品行和书法的赞赏。
张芝学习前人书法的长处并加以创新，终于摆脱旧俗独创一体，其字之体势，一笔所成，偶有不连，而血脉不断，字迹气脉贯通，隔行不断。古人谓之“一笔飞白”，也被誉为“一笔书”，其书迹在《淳化阁帖》存有五帖。
Zhang Zhi
Zhang Zhi (?-192 AD), also known by his courtesy name Boying, was a native of Yuanquan, Dunhuang, and a renowned calligrapher during the Eastern Han Dynasty. He is highly regarded in Chinese calligraphy as the "Sage of Running Script" for his exceptional skills in this form.
During the Eastern Han period, calligraphy was popular throughout the Dunhuang region. At Zhang's young age, his father, in order to facilitate calligraphic practice for Zhang Zhi and his brother, commissioned the construction of stone tables and benches by a pond. The brothers used silk as paper and practiced calligraphy by the water, writing, rinsing, and reusing the silk day after day, year after year, until the water turned black with ink. This location later became known as Zhang Zhi's Ink Pool.
According to the Dunhuang manuscript P.2005, Patterned Guidelines of Shazhou, Zhang Zhi's Ink Pool is located about 500 meters northeast of Dunhuang County. Additionally, the manuscript P.2748, Twenty Poems About Dunhuang, contains a poem titled Ode to the Ink Pool, expressing admiration for Zhang Zhi's character and calligraphy.
Zhang Zhi learned from the strengths of earlier calligraphers while innovating, ultimately breaking from old traditions to create a unique style of his own. His calligraphy displays a fluid form, where each stroke is a continuous motion, even if occasionally not connected perfectly; nonetheless, the essence remains uninterrupted. His characters feature a seamless flow with energy and rhythm connected across lines. Ancient scholars referred to this as "one-stroke flying white", and it is also celebrated as "one-stroke writing". Five pieces of his calligraphy are held in Calligraphic Inscriptions in the Secret Chamber of the Chunhua Period.
