Chu Suiliang 褚遂良

Chu Suiliang (597–658) was one of the greatest calligraphers in early Tang Dynasty. Chu Suiliang was born in 597, during the reign of Emperor Wen of Sui. His father Chu Liang had been a mid-level official during both Chen Dynasty and Sui Dynasty, and was known for his literary abilities. Chu Liang was in charge of court protocol matters in the Sui Dynasty together with Ouyang Xun, a famous calligrapher. He provided a good condition for his son to learn calligraphy.

Chu Suiliang 褚遂良

By 636, when Li Shimin had been emperor for 10 years as Emperor Taizong, Chu Suiliang was serving as a low-level official in the imperial archival bureau, when he was put in charge of recording Emperor Taizong's acts for historical records. In 644, when Emperor Taizong, at an imperial gathering, stated to his key officials their strengths and weaknesses, he spoke, with regard to Chu:

‘Chu Suiliang is knowledgeable and firm. He often submitted faithful advice and is close to my heart, just as a delicate bird that deserves tender treatment.’

Chu Suilang became one of Taizong’s trusted officers and was promoted to be Head of the Legislative Bureau. After Taizong’s death, Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang worked well together and were effective in assisting Emperor Gaozong in governance, and that therefore, early in Emperor Gaozong's reign, the government was as effective as during the reign of Emperor Taizong. Later due to his strong objection to Gaozong’s decision to make Wu Zetian his new empress, Chu was not entrusted with heavy responsibility. He passed away shortly in 658.

In calligraphy, Chu Suiliang was able to learn from difficult styles and took the advantage to create his own style. According to the history, he had learned from Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan successively and later was influenced by Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi’s calligraphy. His calligraphy is known as ‘Chu Style Calligraphy’.

Some of the famous calligraphic works by Chu Suiliang are Notes for Yinque Buddhist Niche, Stele Inscriptions for Master Meng and Preface for Sacred Instruction in Tower of Wild Goose.

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褚遂良（597-658）为初唐大书法家之一。褚遂良出生于597年，隋文帝当政时期。他的父亲褚亮在陈、隋朝当个中级官员，以文才出名。褚亮在隋朝宫中与欧阳询公掌管礼仪制度。他为褚遂良学习书法提供了良好条件。

公元636年，李世民已经做了十年的唐太宗，褚遂良还是个起居郎的小官，负责记录皇帝日常行动与国家大事。公元644年，太宗在宫廷集会，评论各官员的优缺点时，这么说褚遂良：

‘褚遂良学问稍长，性亦坚正，既写忠诚，甚亲附于朕，譬如飞鸟依人，自加怜爱。’

褚遂良成为太宗所信任的臣子之一，官至中书郎。太宗死后，长孙无忌与褚遂良共同有效地辅助高宗皇帝治理国家，以致政府与太宗时期一样有效率。后来因为反对高宗立武则天为后而不被重用，不久,褚遂良逝世于658年。

在书法上，褚遂良能学习难度高的书体，并以此来创造自己的风格。据史书所载，他先后向欧阳询与虞世南学习书法，后来受王羲之与王献之书法的影响。他的书法被称为褚体。

褚遂良的名法帖包括：《伊阙佛龛碑》、《孟法师碑》、《雁塔圣教序》。