Page 168 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts
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seventeenth century, Dong Qichang suggests both character compositions; but innovation here is
revealed only by the most subtle of indications and
the aesthetic and historical parameters within
which later calligraphers worked at their art. After only to those who recognize hints of the brush
Dong Qichang's time another epochal movement modes and compositions of past masters under this
would take place in Chinese calligraphy, known as
highly polished formal veneer.
jinshixue ("metal-and-stone study"), referring to the
Zhang Zhao wrote under the most restrictive of
careful examination of earlier calligraphy incised on circumstances. In contrast, both Deng Shiru (cat.
old steles (many of them newly excavated) (fig. 8) 183) and Zhang Ruitu (cat. 180) worked within
as well as cast on ancient ritual bronzes. Perhaps if
considerably broader spaces of the tradition.
Dong Qichang had lived in the twentieth century
he would have coined a fourth category for Qing Writing at a time when the rediscovery of ancient
dynasty (1644-1911) calligraphy: gu, or "antique." steles acted to liberate calhgraphers from the torpid
Again, this was not a quality lacking in the earlier
repetition of learned habits, Deng Shiru found
—periods in fact, the pursuit of antiquity was almost
plenty to play with in archaic styles of writing that
always a concern of Chinese calhgraphers, and the appeared fresh and unusual to a largely jaded
systematic study of steles and bronzes began as early audience of scholars and merchants eager for
something different and sophisticated. Here the
—as the Northern Song but the dominant trend in solemnity of the clerical script is subtly tweaked
with whimsical touches in composition and
Qing calligraphy sought inspiration in antiquity to brushwork so that the end result is a buoyancy
an unprecedented degree. Written in the clerical within the weighty forms. The earlier Zhang Ruitu
script (lishu), "Couplet in seven-character lines" (1570-1641), on the other hand, sought an
innovative image by deliberately tapping into that
(cat. 183) by Deng Shiru (1743-1805) provides an portion of the tradition which was already
excellent example. inextricably associated with individualism. In the
Each of the works in the exhibition reveals the late 1620s, Zhang Ruitu retired from important
positions at the Ming court and pursued personal
calligraphers attempt to create something new interests in Chan (Zen) Buddhism. Chan had its
own tradition of calligraphy, one that had been
within the parameters of the tradition. This was no strongly influenced by the Song dynasty emphasis
on "ideas" and personality. In the context of the late
simple matter, considering the longevity and weight Ming and such influential thinkers as Li Zhi
(1527-1602) and Yuan Hongdao (1568-1610), Chan-
of that tradition by the sixteenth century, when the inflected calligraphy discarded rules, methods, and
earliest of the included works was written. standards in favor of recapturing the "child's heart,"
Moreover, the parameters differed, depending on or original nature, of the writer. Zhang Ruitu's
cursive script in his transcription of Wang Wei's
the specific circumstances of the calligrapher and "Song of the Aged General" (cat. 180) is highly
spirited, yet by emphasizing an even tempo down
which particular aspect of the tradition was being his columns he manages to suggest an overall
uniformity, almost a placidity, that is most fitting for
tapped. Consider, for example, Zhang Zhao's the Chan devotee in search of personal enlightenment.
(1691-1745) transcription of "Seventh Month" from These general observations about the calligraphy of
the Odes of Bin (cat. 182). Zhang Zhao was an Zhang Zhao, Deng Shiru, and Zhang Ruitu suggest
how later writers established their art in the
Qmgimportant minister and cultural figure at the
context of their immediate surroundings largely by
dynasty court, rising to such high positions as positioning it in a working relationship to some
president of the Censorate and of the Board of aspect of the past tradition. The same can be said of
two major works by ZhuYunming (1461-1527) and
Punishments under theYongzheng (r. 1723—1735) Wang Duo (1592— 1652), to which we turn now in
and Qianlong (r. 1736— 1795) emperors. Zhang's skill
order to explore this act of positioning in finer
as a calligrapher was much admired by Qianlong in
particular, who employed him as a ghostwriter early detail (cats. 179, 181). The goal is not to clarify Zhu
in his reign. 10 In keeping with Zhang Zhao's high Yunming's and Wang Duo's contributions to the
profile at the court and the pressures of conservatism —history of Chinese calligraphy a task that would
that accompanied such prominence, both the demand much more time and space than is granted
content and style of Zhang's transcription of —here but rather to elucidate the practice of the
"Seventh Month" are unfailingly orthodox, even calhgraphers art by considering specific concerns
predictable. The poem is from the ancient reflected in the writers' choices of script, style,
and technique.
compilation Shijing ("Classic of Poetry") , long a
favorite source for lessons of good government, and
the calligraphy is written in a precise standard script
that instantly recalls the fa ("methods") of such
early Tang dynasty exemplars of standard script as
Yu Shi'nan (558-638), Ouyang Xun (557-641), and
Chu Suiliang (596-658). " The writing is a
definitive statement of orthodoxy and, as such,
allows only the most tightly controlled expression
Weof individual creativity. admire Zhang Zhao's
ability to carry off such a lengthy, if constrained,
performance, and politely applaud his handsome
CALLIGRAPHY 166
