Chu Suiliang: Preface for Sacred Instruction in Tower of Wild Goose 褚遂良：雁塔圣教序

Chu Suiliang’s calligraphic style was thin and rigid, yet with free and classic elegance. The unique characteristic was blending some traits of clerical script into regular script. He was one of the few calligraphers during his period to defy the dominant Northern School of Stele Calligraphy and to use a relaxed, detached brushwork to express the beauty and rhythm of brushstrokes and lines.

Someone commented: ‘Chu mastered the charming and attractive calligraphic style of Wang Xizhi, which is like a beautiful lady unable to bear the weight of her own garments, the attractiveness is beyond description.’

The ‘Preface for Sacred Instruction in Tower of Wild Goose’ is representative of his calligraphy. The brushwork in Preface is typical of his smooth and lively style. The regular script style is interspersed with running script, its lines graceful and full of vigour. It employs the ‘one wave three reversals’ technique to make horizontal strokes; when starting and ending a stroke, it meticulously observes the rules for lifting, pressing, pausing and reversing. The steady, forceful brushwork and contrast between lines of varying thickness result in an omate visual effect.

In character structure, Chu Suiliang made a shape departure from the elongated shape of character of early Tang and broadened the structure to make them square and squat, paving way for the future evolution of calligraphic styles. In was on this basis that Yan Zhenqing further increased the width of the strokes and abandoned the contractive for the expansive structure, thereby achieving a radical change in calligraphic style.

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Preface for Sacred Instruction in Tower of Wild Goose 雁塔圣教序

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褚遂良的书法风格细瘦而健硬，洒脱而古雅。特点是它的楷书参入了隶书笔法。初唐书法家中，他是少数不跟随当时北魏书法主流，采取从容、超尘的笔法来表现笔画与线条的美丽与节奏感。

有人评说：‘褚书学王，得其媚趣，若婵娟不胜罗衣，别有妙处。’

《雁塔圣教序》是他的代表作。《雁塔圣教序》里的就是他典型的那种流畅生动的笔画线条，以行书笔法点缀了楷书写法，线条高雅，充满活力。他采取了‘一波三折’的笔法来书写横画；起笔与收笔细致地跟随提、按、顿、回收的法则。稳健有力的笔法、线条间粗细对比，达到了奇特视觉效果。

在结字方面，褚遂良不用初唐所流行的长方形字体，而向左右延伸为方形偏扁，这就给予以后新书体的发展提供了方向。颜真卿就是据此而加长横画，放弃向内收缩而转向向外扩张的结构，因而达成了书体彻底转变。