Page 172 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

debasing the hallowed heritage ofYan Zhenqing. It
is, rather, to reveal some of the complexities
attending the practice of calligraphy in the later
dynasties. The weight of the tradition had become
so massive that the creative artist found himself
constantly negotiating with the landscape of the 2. Stories of individuals active in Peiwenzhai shuhuapu,juau i,
past in an attempt to explore new territories of the in the Eastern Han whose
present. Wang Duo's appropriation and handling of
writing was preserved by those
the Yan style so that this most familiar of images
who read qualities of
became recast into something peculiarly
personality into the calligraphy quanshu ed.,juan 29, p. I9a-b.
appropriate to the circumstances of a late Ming
are recounted by Lothar
whohigh official cultivated a distinctive voice is, I Ledderose, Mi Fu and the
Classical Tradition of Chinese
believe, the mark of an exceptional artist. Similarly, Calligraphy (Princeton:
Princeton University Press,
ZhuYunming's delicate balancing act between 1979)- PP- 30-3I.
propriety and wildness in his kuangcao, a balance 3. "For presenting the desires
of the inner heart and
achieved through the creative utilization of earlier communicating that which
others do not comprehend,
styles, demonstrates how a great calligrapher could nothing can compare with
words (yan). For spreading and
explicating the affairs of the
world, recording them for
rise to the challenge posed by an ancient debate longevity and illuminating
them far, making manifest that
and achieve a creative resolution. which cannot be seen of
antiquity and transmitting for a
thousand miles that which is
not understood, nothing can
compare with writing (shu).
Thus, words are the sounds of
Innovation in calligraphy is defined by creative the heart. Writing is pictures of to their mutual interest in
engagement with tradition. Mastery of rules and
methods is prerequisite, but must be conjoined with the heart. By the forms of the
the confidence and ability to express one's own sounds and pictures, superior
vision. Ultimately, what allows ZhuYunming's and and lesser people are
Wang Duo's calligraphy to succeed is not a distinguished. Sounds and
reprising of what others had done before, but the —pictures by these, superior
palpable sense of two artists molding the past to suit
the needs of the present. In their works, and lesser people move ones
calligraphy 's immediacy is once more confirmed. feelmgs."Yang Xiong, Fa yan,
juan 4, pp. 2b—3 a, in Han Wei
congshu, vol. 24 (Taipei:Yiwen
yinshuguan, 1967). It would
appear that by "wnting,"Yang
Xiong is referring primarily to
the content of the written
word. In later times, however,
Yang Xiong's comment was
clearly associated with the art
of calligraphy.
4. Mi Fu,"Ba mige fatie," in
Huang Bosi, Dongguan ynlim
(reprint, Taipei: Guoli
zhongyang tushuguan, 1974),
juan 1 , p. 46a—b.
5. The two scrolls are "Poems
Playtully Written and Presented
SOURCES FOR FIGURES
Myto Friends, About to
Fig. 1 . After Smcai tuhui
Embark forTiao Stream," in
(Taipei, 1970). the collection of the Palace
Museum, Beijing, and "Poems
Fig. 3. After Gugong bowuyuan on Sichuan Silk," in the
collection of the National
cang lidai fashu xuanji. vol. 3 Palace Museum, Taipei. See
Peter Sturman, Mi Fu: Style
(Beijing, 1982).
and the Art of Calligraphy in
Fig. 6. After Gugong bowuyuan
Northern Song China (New
cang lidai fashu xuanji, vol. 3
Haven: Yale University Press,
(Beijing, 1982). 1997), chap. 2.
Fig. 8. After Shodo zenshu, 6. Dong Qichang, Rongtai ji
(reprint, Taipei: Zhongyang
vol. 2, pi. 118 (Tokyo, 1954— 1961).
tushuguan, 1968), juan 4, p. 23b. on Zhang Xu include Zhu
Fig. a. After Tang Zhang Xu
7. Suojing, "Caoshu zhuang,"
caoshu gushi sitic (Beijing,
1962).
Fig. 10. After Gugong
bowuyuan cang lidai fashu
xuanji, vol. 1 (Beijing, 1982).
Fig. li.Aftct Yan Zhenqing,
vol. 5, pi. 241 (Beijing, 1985).
NOTES
1. Huainanzi zhuyi (reprint,
Taibei: Hualian chubanshe,
1968), p. 116.
CALLIGRAPHY
pp. nb-i2a, Siku quanshu ed.
(reprint, Shanghai: Shanghai
guji chubanshe, 19S7).
8. Huang Tingjian,"Ba Wang
Jinqing shu," in Shangu ji, Siku
9. Chiang Yee, Chinese
Calligraphy (reprint,
Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1973), pp. 11-12.
10. When Zhang Zhao was
found delinquent in his task of
helping to pacify the Miao
tribe of the southwest in 1735
and consequently ordered to
be executed, he was pardoned
by Qianlong, owing, it is said,
calligraphy. Zhang Zhao was
also an eminent painter at the
Qing court and a prominent
figure in the compilation of
QmgShiqu baoji, the imperial
catalogue ot paintings and
calligraphy. Arthur Hummel,
ed., Eminent Chinese of the
Ch'ing Period (Washington,
D.C.: Library ot Congress,
1943), pp. 24-25.
11. Zhang Zhao's models for
standard script were Dong
Qichang (1555-1636) andYan
Zhenqing (709-7S5). I am
referring here to the
meticulous manner in which
Zhang Zhao writes, which
recalls that of the early Tang
writers.
12. Shen C.Y. Fu, Traces of the
Brush (New HavemYale
University Art Gallery, 1977),
p. 211, citing a colophon by
Zhu Yunming in which he
discusses copying a range of
Jin, Tang, Song, and Yuan
calligraphers.
13. Zhang Xu was celebrated as
one of the Eight Immortals of
Wine in Du Fus poem
"Yinzhong baxian ge," in Du
shi xiangzhu (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju, 1979), juan 2,
pp. 80-85. Other early sources
Changwen, Xu shu duan, juan
1, in Chugoku shown taikei
(Tokyo: Nigensha shuppansha,
1977-92), vol. 4, pp. 403-4, and
Xuanhe shupu,juan 18, in
Chugoku shown taikei, vol. 6,
p. 47.
14. This scroll ot four
transcribed poems, two by Yu
Xin {513-581) and two by Xie
Lmgyun (385-433), is
erroneously recorded under
Xie Lingyun's name in
Huizong's Xuanhe shupu (juan
16) of circa 1120. In recent
years both Xu Bangda and Qi
Gong have both pointed out
that a changed character in one
ot the verses may reflect the
avoidance of a character that
was taboo in the early
Northern Song period. By this
reasoning, the calligraphy
would date from after 1012
(but somewhat before
XuHuizong's reign). See
Bangda, Gu shuhua weie kaobian
(Nanjing: J langsu guji
chubanshe, 1984), pp. 94-98;
and Qi Gong, "Jiu ti Zhang
Xu caoshu gushi tie bian," in
Qi Gong conggao (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju, 1981),
pp. 90-100.
15. The stele is titled "Record
ot the Langguan Stone." See Su
Shi, "Shu Tang shi liujia shu
hou," in Su Shi wenji (reprint,
Beijing: Zhonghua shuju,
1986), juan 69, p. 2206.
16. Huang Tingjian,"Ti
Jiangben fatie," in Shanggu ji,
juan 28, pp. iob-na.
17. Fu, Traces oj the Brush,
pp. 214-15.
18. Dong Shi, Shu hi, Siku
quanshu ed.,juan 2, p. 6b.
19. "Tang Yan Lugong shu Cao
bei," in Ouyang Xiu, Ouyang
Kin quanji (reprint, Hong
Kong: Guanzhi shuju, n.d.),
juan 6, p. 31. See also Ronald
Egan,"Ou-yang Hsiu and Su
Shih on Calligraphy," Harvard
foumal ofAsiatic Studies 49,
no. 2 {December 1989), p. 372.
20. See Mingshui Hung's entry
on Wang Duo in L. Carnngton
Goodrich, ed.. Dictionary of
Ming Biography (New York and
London: Columbia University
Press, 1976), vol. 2, pp. 1434—36.