Yu Shinan 虞世南

China's calligraphy had its heyday during the Wei Kingdom (220-265), Jin (265-420) and Tang (618-907) dynasties when all scripts of Chinese characters - zhuan-shu, li-shu, kai-shu, xing-shu and cao-shu - had appeared and got continuously perfected.

Owing to the government's promotion, calligraphy was all the rage during the Tang Dynasty. Well-known calligraphers in the early years of the Tang Dynasty included Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji. They are collectively known as ‘Four Masters of Early Tang Dynasty’.

Yu Shinan was born in Yuezhou (now Yuyao in Zhejiang). He was one year younger than Ouyang Xun, and passed away at age 81, being one of those calligraphers who lived a long life. He came from a noble family and was taught by Gu Yewang and Xuling, both were men of letters. According to historical records, Yu Shinan was by nature a quiet person who kept a pure heart and few desires, studied very hard and single-mindedly devoted to his studies. He was also always in a deep thought. He had rich knowledge in literature.

It was his good fortune that he met Li Shimin, the second emperor of the Tang dynasty. Appeared to be gentle by nature, Yu was actually a pretty strong character who always spoke his mind when giving advice to the emperor. According to historical records, the emperor once wrote a courtly love poem and asked Yu to respond with another poem. Yu Shinan told the emperor, ‘What your honour has written is indeed excellent in form, but its content is not proper. It is naturally that your servants will do and follow what your honour likes to do. But I am concerned that once the poem is published, writing this type of poetry will become a trendy thing among the people. Therefore, I dare not fulfil the wish of your honour.’ The emperor replied, ‘Well said. I actually just want to know what is in your mind.’ He then rewarded Yu with 50 rolls of cloths. Once, the emperor asked Yu to write the ‘Stories of Exemplary Women’ in calligraphic form on folding partitions. As the text was not available at that time, Yu wrote the calligraphy based on his memory, and it was proven to be a perfectly written work without a single mistake. The emperor had commented that ‘Yu Shinan is a man of five absolute merits, namely, good virtue, faithfulness and righteousness, rich in knowledge, good at writing and calligraphy’. When Yu passed away, the emperor was so sad that he cried and said that Yu was like part of his body, and every time he committed a mistake, Yu would fearlessly point it out to him. Where to find someone to replace Yu, now that he had gone?

Another reason that Li Shimin respected Yu was due to his calligraphy. Yu can be said to be Li Shimin’s calligraphy teacher. So when Yu passed away, the emperor lamented that he would not be able to find another person to discuss calligraphy with him. In the history of calligraphy, there is no other person received such special honour from an emperor.

Yu Shinan had learned calligraphy from Zhi Yong and followed Zhi Yong to taken in the essence of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi’s calligraphic style. Steady and with strength, upright and elegant, some of Yu’s works were really free and rakish. One of the most famous works of Yu is the ‘Confucius Temple Stele’. The character in Confucius Temple Stele tends toward the slender look. The spatial composition follows the rule of ‘compact upper part and looser lower part', creating a neat, forceful look.

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中国书法在魏（220-265）、晋（265-420）与唐（618-907）可说是最辉煌时期，所有字体，篆书、隶书、楷书、行书、及草书都已出现并继续发展得更完美。

由于政府的推广，唐朝的书法风行一时。初唐著名书法家有虞世南、欧阳询、褚遂良与薛稷。他们被合称为‘初唐四大家’。

虞世南，越州（今浙江余姚）人，比欧阳询小一岁，享年81岁，是个高寿书法家。出生于门阀高贵的官宦之家，受学于当时的大文学家顾野王、徐陵。史书上称虞世南‘性沈静寡欲，笃志勤学’，又‘精思不倦’，文学上造诣很深。

改变虞世南人生的机遇是遇上了李世民。虞世南虽然容貌儒雅，但志性抗烈，常常加以规谏。史书记载，帝尝作宫体诗，使虞和。世南曰：‘圣作诚工，然体非雅正。上之所好，下必有甚者，臣恐此诗一传，天下风靡。不敢奉诏。’帝曰：‘朕试卿耳！’赐帛五十匹。尝命写《列女传》于屏风，于时无本，世南暗疏之，无一字谬。帝每称其五绝：一曰德行，二曰忠直，三曰博学，四曰文词，五曰书翰。虞世南逝世时，李世民悲伤痛哭，说虞世南与他犹如一体，我每次有过失，他都会犯颜规谏，以后再也没有像他这样的人了。

所以李世民看重虞世南的另一个原因就是书法，可说是李世民的书法老师。虞世南去世后，李世民又感慨无人可以与他论书法了。在中国书法史上，没有哪一位书法家得到过如此殊荣。

虞世南的老师是智永，跟随智永继承了二王传统。其字外柔内刚，笔致圆融冲和而有遒丽之气。《孔子庙堂碑》是他著名的书法作品。全篇字体秀丽细长，结体‘上密下疏’，体现出灵巧而有力的外观。

Wang Xizhi: Postscript of Battle Formation of Brushstroke 王羲之《题笔阵图后》

The Chinese calligraphy is said to be an art of movement, concentrating and timing are of paramount importance. In one of the earliest texts on calligraphy, Wang Xizhi’s postscript to ‘Battle Formation of the Brushstroke’ by his teacher, Lady Wei, Wang illustrated an important point: just like in war or a fight, where every move may result in winning or losing, living or dying, in calligraphy also, every stroke counts.

The following is the text which is said to be written by Wang:

Paper is the battlefield; brush is the sword; ink is the helmet and armour; ink stone is the castle; conception is the commander; skill is his assistant; structure is the strategy. To move a brush is to take a risk; to start a stroke is to issue an order; to draw a turning stroke is to kill.

Before start writing, one must first get ready the ink, be in a calm mood, and then visualize the character size, stroke warp, direction, rhythm and coherence between characters, this would lead to a well-thought-out plan and you are now ready to write. Don't write different strokes the same way, nor trim a character square as an abacus. This is not writing calligraphy, rather, it is only writing strokes. Song Yi used to do so, for which he was once severely criticized by his teacher Zhong You (a calligrapher in Three Kingdoms period). Dare not to see Zhong in next three years, he practiced hard to mend his way.

One must write a waving stroke with three moves, start a stroke with the tip of the brush hidden. Write a horizontal stroke in the shape of cirrus cloud, a curved stroke in the shape of crossbow, a dot stroke in the shape of a falling rock, a turning-stroke in the shape of a steel hook, a vertical stroke in the shape of a ten thousand years old rattan, and a right-falling stroke as a hiker quickens his steps.

Song Yi at first could not master the art of calligraphy. During the Taikang (280-290) period of Jin, someone stole famous essay from Zhong Yao’s grave which was obtained by Song Yi. He studied and followed the methods to practice his calligraphy. He became very famous. The methods could be used for learning regular (kai) and walking (xing) scripts.

Cursive script is governed by other rules. Start a character slow and finish it fast with strokes flowing continuously and twisting in the shape of dragon. In this way, the stroke will be cursive and have uneven thickness. If the character has a dot stroke, do other strokes first, and then place it with a single throw. The way of executing the dot is as though the brush is coming from the sky. This style should consult other styles such as seal and clerical script for techniques. Besides, except occasions like draft-cursive script and urgent official use, do not write too fast, otherwise paper will not suck up enough ink, resulting in a shallow taste.

As a child I was tutored by Lady Wei. When I grew up I travelled famous mountains in the north, where I saw calligraphies by Li Si, Cao Xi, Zhong You, Liang Gu, Cai Yong and Zhang Chang. Realizing that I had frittered away my time in vain by sticking to one teacher, I changed my example to stone inscriptions. Considering that I am already fifty-three like a candle guttering in the wind, it is a relief to me to put these words down to my children.

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书法可以说是运动的艺术，书写时能专注与笔画到位至为关键。在古代书法理论中，王羲之为他的老师卫夫人《笔阵图》所写的后书就说明了一点：就好像作战一样，每一点都会导致输赢、生死的关键。所以，对书法而言，每一笔画都很重要。

以下就是据传是王羲之所写的书论:

夫纸者阵也，笔者刀鞘也，墨者鍪甲也，水砚者城池也，心意者将军也，本领者副将也，结构者谋略也，飏笔者吉凶也，出入者号令也，屈折者杀戮也。

夫欲书者，先乾研黑，凝神静思，预想字形，大小偃仰，平直振动，令筋脉相连，意在笔前，然后作字。若平直相似，状如算子，上不方整，前后齐平，此不是书，但得其点画耳。昔宋翼常作此书，其师钟繇叱之，翼三年不敢见繇，即潜心改迹。

每作一波，常三过折笔，每作一点，常隐锋而为之，每作一横画，如列阵之排云，每作一弋，如百钧之弩发，每作一点，如高峰坠石，每作一勾，屈折如钢钩，每作一牵，如万岁枯藤，每作一放纵，如足行之趣骤。

翼先来书恶，晋太康中，有人于许下破钟繇墓，遂得笔势论，翼读之，依此法学书，名遂大振。欲真书及行书，皆依此法。

若欲学草书，又有别法。须缓前急后，字体形势状如龙蛇，相钩连不断，仍须秷侧起复。用笔亦不得使齐平大小一等。每作一字，须有点处，且作余字总竞，然后安点，其点须空中遥掷笔作之。其草书亦复须篆势八分古隶相杂。亦不得急令墨不入纸。若急作意思浅薄，而笔即直过。

惟有章草及章程行押等不用此势，但用击石波而已，其击石波者缺波也。又八分更有一波谓之隼尾波，即钟公泰山铭及魏文帝受禅碑中已有此体。夫书先须引八分章草入隶字中，发人意气，若直取俗字，则不能先发。

予少学卫夫人书，将谓大能，及渡江北游名山，见李斯、曹喜等书，又之许下见钟繇、梁鹄书，又之洛下，见蔡邕石经，三体书，又于从兄洽处见张昶华岳碑，始知学卫夫人书徒费年月耳。遂改本师，仍于众碑学习焉。

Chinese Calligraphy in Singapore 书法在新加坡

Some people say that there is no history of development of Chinese calligraphy in Singapore; this is because it has never been developed here. What we have here are some activities on learning and promotion of Chinese calligraphy. So we shall talk about the Chinese calligraphy in Singapore.

Generally speaking, Chinese calligraphy in Singapore can be divided into two periods, before and after the independence of Singapore.

The Chinese started to immigrate to Singapore in large number since 1820s. In China, due to the failure of the political reform proposed by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, a number of famous artists came to Singapore to work and stay. These artists mostly worked in arts/calligraphy related organisations and education sector as teaching staff or administrators. With the influence of these artists, famous schools such as Chung Cheng, Tuan Meng and Dunman became the breeding grounds for learners of Chinese calligraphy.

The setting up of the Nanyang Fine Arts College (the predecessor of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, NAFA) provided the first opportunity for the development of Chinese calligraphy in Singapore. However, up to today, NAFA is not able to set up a professional Department of Chinese Calligraphy. During this period, while Singapore was famous for evolving the Nanyang Style of Painting, it had not been able to develop a Nanyang Style of Chinese Calligraphy. Singapore missed its first chance of developing Chinese calligraphy.

The decline of the Chinese education after the independence of Singapore in 1965 is an undeniable fact. The registration of ‘The Singapore Chinese Calligraphy and Art Research Society’ by a group of students from Chung Cheng High School as a civil organisation, provided another chance of developing Chinese calligraphy in Singapore. As its name implied, the Society was to be research based. However, as a civil organisation, its activities and method of organising activities follow the same ways of the other arts societies. The fact that it changed its name to ‘The Chinese Calligraphy Society of Singapore’ in 1979 confirmed that it is not to be research and development oriented. This is a second time that Singapore missed the opportunity of developing Chinese calligraphy.

In 1990s, there was a number of calligraphy societies registered in Singapore, a situation that can be described as letting a hundred flowers blossom. However, none of these new organisations is research and development based. This is the third time that Singapore missed the opportunity of developing Chinese calligraphy.

There are no statistical figures to show whether the number of learners of Chinese calligraphy has increased or maintained over the last hundred years. However, with the rise of China and a number of Chinese calligraphers follow their immigrant family coming to Singapore, one should expect the number of learners will maintain or even increase. The standard of learning Chinese calligraphy will also be improved. However, there is no proper system of Chinese calligraphy education here, and there is also no suitable platform for systematic study and research on calligraphy education, theories, aesthetic and philosophy. Therefore, it is not optimistic that Chinese calligraphy will be developed in foreseeable future, let alone the chance of developing a Nanyang Style of Chinese calligraphy.

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有人说新加坡没有书法发展史，只有‘书法在新加坡’，因为书法来就没有在这里发展过，有的是书法学习的活动与推广。那我们就谈一谈书法在新加坡的概况吧。

一般上，书法在新加坡可以分为独立前与独立后两个时期。

华人大规模移居新加坡，始于十九世纪廿年代。由于康梁变法失败，许多艺术界人士纷纷到南洋谋生、定居，这些人多数在新加坡从事艺术书法组织与教育界工作。当时的著名学府如中正中学、端蒙中学、德明中学，在南来艺术与书法家的影响下，成为培养书法爱好者的温床。

1938年在新加坡创立的南洋美术专科学校（南洋美术学院的前身），本来应该是书法在新加坡发展的一个契机，可惜该学院直到今天还没有成立一个专业的书法系。在这个时期，新加坡能够以发展‘南洋画派’闻名，却没法发展‘南洋书风’。这是新加坡书法界失去的第一个契机。

新加坡在1965年独立后，华文教育式微，那是个不争的现实。1968年由一群中正中学的学生成立的‘新加坡中华书画研究会’，以研究为名字，本来是新加坡书法发展的另一个契机。但是该会作为一个注册的民间艺术团体，所走的显然是一般民间团体活动的路线与方式，后来该会的中文会名一再改变，最后定为‘新加坡书法家协会’，就更加确定了该会要走的是民间团体路线，而不是书法发展路线。这是新加坡失去发展书法的第二个契机。

20世纪的90年代，新加坡出现好几个书法民间团体，呈现了百花齐放的局面; 可惜的是，没有一个团体走书法发展与研究的路线。这是新加坡失去书法发展的第三个契机。

百年多的书法在新加坡，学习书法的人数有没有增减，并没有正式的统计。但是，由于中国的崛起，加上最近有一些中国书法家随着家人来新加坡定居，相信学习书法的人会维持或增加，书法学习的素质也会提高。可是，由于新加坡本身没有一套完整的书法教育系统，也没有一个平台来对书法教育、理论、美学与哲学有系统的研究，所以要发展新加坡书法，以目前情况来看，前景的确是不容乐观，更不用说‘南洋书风’了。

Large Seal Script: Chinese Writing before Qin 大篆：先秦文字

The development of Chinese calligraphy in the Pre-Qin period can be divided into four phases, namely the Shang dynasty, the Western Zhou dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States period.

There were few historical materials about Chinese writing until oracle-bone inscriptions of the Shang dynasty appeared. It is said that there was a book of rubbings from the Yu period of the Xia dynasty (2070 BC), but its authenticity cannot be confirmed. Therefore, it is more reliable to say that the history of Chinese calligraphy stated from the Shang dynasty.

The Chinese writing characters in the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties had already involved the three basic elements in calligraphy art, namely the line strokes, word structure and composition. The earliest forms of calligraphy were mainly represented by oracle-bone inscription of the Shang dynasty and bronze inscription of the Western Zhou dynasty.

The representative writing in the Spring and Autumn Period is probably the Meng Shu (Alliance Pledge). They were found written on cloth, wood and jade. The writing was normally light and swift. The picture shown below is the famous Houma Mengshu written on jade. It is mainly a record of how the aristocrat Zhao Meng of the Jin State made use of the alliance pledge to bring the defeated adherents under control so as to consolidate his own ruling position after conquering his political opponents. The characteristic of each stroke is that the starting (head) is heavy and the ending (tail) is light, resembling a tadpole. This writing gave some hint of the creation and development of clerical (li) and cursive (cao) styles in the Han Dynasty.

It is believed that the stone drum inscription first appeared in the Warring States period, probably in the Qin state. It is considered to be a transitional form from bronze inscription in the Zhou dynasty to later small seal script in the Qin dynasty.

Large Seal script or Great Seal script is a traditional reference to all types of Chinese writing systems used before the Qin dynasty. The term is in contrast to the name of the official script of the Qin dynasty, which is often called Small or Lesser Seal Script (Xiaozhuan, also termed simply seal script). However, due to the lack of precision in the term, scholars often avoid it and instead refer more specifically to the provenance of particular examples of writing.

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先秦的书法文字发展可以分为四个阶段：商朝，西周，春秋与战国。

在甲骨文出现以前，有关中国文字的历史资料很少。据说禹的夏朝（公元前二世纪）有一本书的拓本，但无法考证其真实。所以，比较可信的说法是，中国书法的历史始于商朝。

商朝与西周的书写文字都已经具备了书法艺术的三个基本元素：线条、结字与章法。最早的书法形式以商朝的甲骨文与西周的金文为代表。

盟书可能是春秋时期的书写代表。盟书书写于帛、木与玉。文字一般轻飘。这里所显示的是著名的‘候马盟书’。它记录了晋国的贵族赵孟（赵简子）以盟书来控制被他击败的对手，并在战胜他的政治对手后加强他的政治地位。每字的线条头重尾轻，犹如蝌蚪。这种写法显然对汉朝的隶属与草书有启示作用。

一般认为石鼓文可能出现于战国时期的秦国。它被认为是由金文到秦朝篆书的过渡文字。

传统上，所有秦朝以前的文字都叫做‘大篆’。这是与秦朝官方文字‘小篆’相对照。但是，为了避免混乱，学者一般避免用‘大篆’而引用个别字体名称。