Shen Peng 沈鹏

Shen Peng, born in 1931 and a native of Jiang Yin of Jiangsu province, is a famous calligrapher, painting commenter, poet and copy editor. He started learning Chinese painting and calligraphy at very young age. Later, he learned Chinese painting, calligraphy, poetry and classics from a number of Juren (scholars who passed the imperial provincial examinations) of the late Qin dynasty, such as Zhang Songguang.

In 1948, he entered the Zhong Zheng University (currently known as Jiangxi Normal University) to study literature in the Chinese Language department. Later, he switched to study journalism.

Before his retirement, he held a number of senior posts in the governmental units and organisations, such as the deputy president of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the president of the China Calligraphers Association, the advisor of the China Painting Press and the chief editor of “Chinese Painting and Calligraphy” magazine.

He is famous in cursive script, and his calligraphy in cursive script refects the sentiments of the comptemporary age and shows his personal style. He is equally skilful in other scripts such as the clerical and regular scripts, and they are evauluated highly in China and abroad. He has written more than 15000 pieces of calligraphic works, of which about 1000 pieces are written for magazines, newspaper, congratulatory messages for various exhibitions, and for inscribing on horizontal boards. His works can be found all over China at such places as the Great Hall of the People, the Zhongnanhai – the central headquarters for the Chinese government, Hotels. They are also collected widely outside China, inscribed on stones and wooden boards at various natural scenaries and places of interest in Hang Zhou, Zheng Jiang, Shanghai, Nanjing, Jinan, Mount Ermei, the Three Gorges, Lao Shan, Helan Shan, Hainan, and Beijing etc.

Zhao Puchu praised Shen Peng for his calligraphy, saying ‘his works is comparable to if not better than that of the ancient masters, and I admire them a great deal.’ Qi Gong commented: ‘I have known him for more than 30 years, and notice that he always has something unique to offer when comes to critics on arts.’ ‘None of his calligraphy of cursive script follows a set pattern. We say that it is important to be creative in arts. We have found this his art works.’

He has received numerous awards at home and abroad for his contributions to the development and promotion of arts and culture.

.

沈鹏于1931年出生于江苏江阴，是当今中国著名书法家、美术评论家、诗人、编辑出版家。斋名介居。幼年始习字画。少年从章松厂（清末举人）等人学习古文、诗词、中国画、书法。1948年，沈老进入江西师范大学前身中正大学中文系攻读文学，后来转学新闻专业。

他在政府单位与机构担任不少要职，包括中国文联副主席、中国书法家协会代主席、中国美术出版总社顾问以及《中国书画》主编。

书法长行草，有强烈的时代风貌与个人风格，书体兼及隶、楷多种面貌，受到国内外高度评价。历年创作书法作品15000件以上，其中为图书报刊、展览题耑题贺以及题写匾额1000件以上。为人民大会堂、中南海、亚运会五洲大酒店等重要场所书写巨幅。其书法作品遍及亚、欧、美各大洲，刻于名胜古迹者有杭州、苏州、镇江、上海、南京、济南、郑州、峨嵋山、三峡、千山、崂山、贺兰山、海南、北京等地。

赵朴初赞扬沈鹏书法‘大作不让明贤，至所欣佩’。启功说：‘仆私交沈鹏先生逾30载，观其美术评论之作，每有独到之处。’‘所作行草，无一旧时窠臼，艺贵创新，先生得之。’

他对艺术与文化的发展与推动，获得了不少荣誉与奖状。

.

Zhang Xuguang 张旭光

Zhang Xuguang, born in 1955, is a native of Anxing County, HeBei Province of China. He learned Chinese calligraphy since he was young under the guidance of his father. He wrote New Year couplets for the fellow villages when he was 10 years old and at 16, his calligraphic works were already in demand. Since 1988, at age 33, he has held a number of solo exhibitions, conducted talks organized by the Chinese Central Television, visited Japan for exchange programs. His participates in a number of important exhibitions, such as the National Calligraphy Exhibition, the Middle-Aged and Young Artists Exhibition, Exhibition of the Selected Works by Calligraphy Masters, etc. His works are carved in stones and displayed at a number of places such as Qu Fu, Yueyang Lou, and are collected by and displayed at places such as Zhongnanhai – the central headquarters for the Chinese government, the Great Hall of the People, the National Art Museum of China, the China Military Museum, and countries such as Japan, Korea, European countries and the USA.

He held and is still holding a number of senior positions in the governmental units and art organisations. In 2008, he became the Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Artists Association.

His calligraphic style follows closely that of two-wangs (the great calligraphy master Wang Xizhi and his son Xianzhi) in Jin dynasty, advocating the artistic rhymes and resonance with charm. He has spent much time copying and enjoying the works of two-wangs and calligraphers of Qing and Ming dynasties. The works of two-wangs are characterized by their casual and elegant bearing, and that of Qing and Ming calligraphers reflect the brush strokes that move about freely and quickly, sweep through the length and breadth of the whole piece of calligraphic work. Later, he made adjustments to his style by learning the styles of calligraphers of Song and Ming dynasties, practising on the calligraphic works of Mifu, Yang Ningshi, Wang Duo, Dong Qichang, Sun Guoting, etc. In the process, he developed his own creative ideas with ease and unconsciously, trying to achieve a natural state of peace and simplicity in his works. In writing running scripts, his brush strokes are steady, word structures strict but not harsh. With a touch of beauty, classic elegance and tranquillity of the Southern rubbing style, he is trying to inject the graceful spirit of the old charm into modern orientation. His calligraphic works therefore reflect the richness and meticulousness of brushstrokes, composure and smoothness of brush movements, as well as the vigorous and magnificent classical artistic style.

Zhang advocates ‘re-visiting classics’, and proposes ‘using modern aesthetic sense to discover the trend of the traditional Chinese calligraphy, so that the creative works is originated from the traditional sources and yet riding on the contemporary wave. With fantastic fusion of old and modern, we can march to the future.’ He also proposes a number of ideas, such as ‘be in place and with flavor’, ‘developing new theory on calligraphic rubbings’, and ‘re-vitalizing regular script of Tang dynasty’. His calligraphic works has already had a deep influence in China, forming a main stream calligraphic trend. He is said to be a leading figure in Chinese calligraphic community.

.

.

张旭光，1955年出生，河北安新县人。自幼受庭训研习书法，10岁为乡村书写春联，16岁为人书写轴卷。自1988（33岁）年先后在中国美术馆举办个人作品展，在中央电视台举办讲座，赴日交流讲学。作品多次入选国展、中青展、名家精品展等重大展览；在曲阜、岳阳楼等多处勒石刻碑；被中南海、人民大会堂、中国美术馆、军事博物馆和日本、韩国以及欧美国家收藏。出版有关书法及书法教学专著几十部。

他在不少政府与艺术团体中担任要职。2008年 8月调任到中国美术家协会任副秘书长。

他的行书师法二王一脉，在书法风格上崇尚晋韵。二王的倜傥风流、明清诸家的汪洋恣肆，都曾使他驻足其间、流连忘返。其后他又以宋代和明代书风来调剂，先后广泛涉猎米芾、杨凝式、王铎、董其昌、孙过庭等人法帖，自求新意，随机生发，努力营造着一种平和简静的自然境界。其行书用笔沉着稳健，结体严谨不苟，且兼具南帖秀丽典雅、妙美冲和之长，更着意在气息韵致上古调新纳，绰约其神。这在作品中表现为丰富细致的用笔技巧、沉着畅快的行笔方式和典雅遒丽的艺术格调。

张旭光倡导‘重读经典’，提出‘以现代审美意识开掘书法传统的现代潮流，使创作既从传统长河的源头而来，又站在时代潮头之上，即古即新，走向未来。’他提出的‘到位与味道’、‘发展新帖学’、‘激活唐楷’等思想，以及他的创作，已经广泛影响了中国书坛，形成了主流书风，被称为当代书坛的领军人物。

.

.

Sun Xiaoyun 孙晓云

Sun Xiaoyun, born in 1955, is a famous female artist from the Jiangsu Province, China. She receives more than 10 awards at the national Chinese calligraphy competitions and thus is a leading Chinese calligrapher. She is currently the vice director of the Nanjing Art Academy, vice-chair of the Calligraphy Association of Jiangsu Province, judge of the National Seal Carving and Calligraphy Exhibition for the Middle-aged and Youth. She is also professor at the Calligraphy Research Institute of China and the Calligraphy Training Centre of China. As a national Class-A artist, she receives Specialist Allowance from the State Council of China.

Born into a family with a strong tradition of calligraphy, she started practising Chinese calligraphy daily at three years old. She completed her post-secondary education in 1973. Despite of her status as an educated youth who lived in the city, she was sent to work in a village in Jiangpu County for five years. In 1978, she joined the Air Force of the Nanjing Military Area Command to work as a librarian. During her stint in the military unit, she started to exhibit and to publish her calligraphic and painting works, and studied in the Jiangsu Provincial Chinese Painting Institute for two years. In 1985, she started working at the Nanjing Art Academy and was promoted to become its vice-director in 1999. In 2006, she was appointed as the vice-director of the Jiangsu Provincial Art Museum.

She has been sticking to studying by herself for a long time, and has practiced widely based on the ancient model calligraphic works of both rubbing and stele. She studies the model calligraphic works carefully in details and is good at drawing conclusions from practical experiences. Since the end of 1970s, she started working on the rubbing theory. Using the calligraphic style of two-wangs (Wang Xizhi and Wong Xianzi) as a starting point, she ventures into the writing styles of many other famous calligraphers. She pays special attention to the brushwork techniques and is able to thoroughly master them after a countless number of brushes were used. At the same time, she is able to subtlely combine the ancient calligraphic tradition with the modern sense of aesthetic appreciation and thus created a now path of neo-classicism, which has caused a stir in China. She has gradually and finally established a natural and unaffected, tranquil and quietly elegant, refreshing artistic style of calligraphy.

Shown here are some of her calligraphic works.
.

.

孙晓云生于1955年，是江苏省著名女书画艺术家，10余次在中国全国书法展赛中获得大奖，成为当今书坛的领军人物之一。现为南京书画院副院长，江苏省书法家协会副主席，全国中青年书法篆刻展览评审委员，中国书法进修学院、中国书法培训中心特聘书法教授。国家一级美术师, 享受国务院特殊津贴。

受家学渊源影响，三岁伊始习书画，每日不缀。1973年高中毕业，在江浦县农村插队五年；1978年在南京军区空军任图书管理员，其间开始发表书画作品并在江苏省国画院进修学习两年；1985年到南京书画院工作；1999年任南京书画院副院长，2006年任江苏省美术馆副馆长。

她长期坚持自学，广涉古代碑帖，精工细研，善于在实践中不断总结经验。七十年代末，开始着力于帖学的研究，以二王书风为根基，兼攻诸家，尤其在笔法技巧上苦心钻研，融会贯通，颓笔成冢，颇有所悟。与此同时，将古代书法形式与现代审美观念巧妙地结合，走出一条新古典主义之路，在全国产生较大的反响。最后逐渐形成潇洒自然、恬静淡雅、秀敏灵动的艺术风格。

这里所展示的是她的一些作品。
.

.

Cai Yong Created ‘Flying-White’ Calligraphy 蔡邕创飞白体

Cai Yong (132-192), also named Bojie, was a famous scholar and calligrapher in East Han dynasty. His highest post was Left Zhonglang-General, a military position which commanded imperial guard troops. So he is also called Cai Zhong Lang by people afterwards. He was also a theorist of calligraphy. Click here to learn more.

His clerical script was famous, and the comment was that ‘Cai Yong’s script is vigorous and with mysterious expressive power.

In 175, the fourth year of Xiping period under the Han Emperor Ling’s reign, Cai Yong and others made effort in revising the six Confucian classics which at that time contained too many wrongly used words and strained interpretations. They did this with the approval of the emperor so that the learners would not be misled. He also obtained the permission of the emperor to inscribe all the six classics on stone tablets and erect them in front of the imperial library. There were all together 46 tablets known as Stone Classics of Xiping Reign, also known as the Classics of the Imperial Library. They had great influence on later classic study and collation. It is said that when the tablets were elected, thousands of people instead came to study the calligraphy every day. They came in carriages that blocked the place and caused massive traffic jam. This was indeed a rare scene in the ancient China.

One day, he was summoned to see the emperor at Hongdu, the imperial library. The gate of Hongdu was in repair. While waiting for the call of the emperor outside of the gate of Hongdu, he saw the trails of the brush of workers brushing calcareousness on the wall. He was impressed by the trails and thought that was novel. He was inspired by the trails. After some research and study, he created the flying-white style of calligraphy, whereby the writing brush was used in a quick and elegant way to give the impression of being carefree and energetic.

Empress Wu Zetian (624 - 705), the only empress in Chinese history, probably was the only person in the history admired the flying-white techniques. She managed to develop her own style of flying white decorated with bird drawings. Her calligraphy was like her character, strong, expressive and bold.

Today, flying white is not an often used technique.

.

.

蔡邕（132-192），又名伯喈，东汉著名学者与书法家。官至左中郎将，所以后人也称他蔡中郎。他也是一名书法理论家。请点击这里。

他的隶书很有名，有“蔡邕书骨气洞达，爽爽有神力”的评价。

175年，汉灵帝熹平四年，蔡邕等正定儒家经本六经文字。当时这些经籍中，含有甚多误谬文字与芽凿附会的注释。正定六经由皇帝诏允，以不贻误后学。又得皇帝批准将六经书丹于碑，命工镌刻，立于鸿都门外。碑凡46块，这些碑称《熹平石经》，亦称《鸿都石经》。对后来经书的学习与整理，影响很大。据说石经立后，每天反而又1000多人来摹写其书法。这些人所乘坐的车把整个地方阻塞了，这在古代的中国确实是少见的景象。

有一天，他被皇帝在鸿都门召见。当时鸿都门正在被修建。他在鸿都门等待皇帝召见时，看到工人把石灰粉刷上墙壁的痕迹。他被这些痕迹所迷住了，认为很有新意。他被粉刷痕迹所鼓舞。几经研究与学习后，他发明了书法飞白体，运笔矫捷飘逸，给人以潇洒不拘、精神焕发的感觉。

在历史上，中国唯一的女皇帝武则天（624-705）可能是唯一迷于飞白体的人。她总算是发展了她自己的飞白体，以飞鸟来装饰。她的书法犹如她的个性，刚强、表情十足、有胆气。

现在，飞白体已不常用。

Wang Sengqian: Ode to Meaningful Brushwork 王僧虔•笔意赞

段金生写王僧虔论书句

Wang Sengqian (426—485) was the fourth generation descendent of the sage of calligraphy Wang Xizhi's family, and one of the best calligraphers of his time. He was also famous for his writing on theory of calligraphy. His famous article ‘Ode to Meaningful Brushwork’ with only 135 words is the first example of analyzing Chinese calligraphy in terms of structural form and spiritual expression. It has a short preface of 63 words and the actual text itself contains only 72 words.

Below is the complete text of ‘Ode to Meaningful Brushwork’.

In the subtle calligraphic way, spiritual expression is valued higher than structural form. However, only when both these two qualities are found in a calligraphic work, it can then be said to have followed the finest works of our forefathers. If this is the case, does it mean that it is actually quite easy to follow such a standard? In doing so, the mind must forget that there is a brush and the hand must forget that there is a writing text. Only with harmony between mind and hand, the profundity of calligraphy can be reached. The qualities cannot be achieved through the concerted efforts, but they are obviously there when the work is investigated. With this in mind, I have written the ‘Ode to Meaningful Brushwork’.

Choose paper made in Shaoxing, ink made in Yishui, and brush of a cone-shaped tip and a straight handle. The ink that is thick with fresh colour and the brush with hairs that can be applied evenly to the paper are all the necessities of virtuous practice. Start with practising Oath, then move on to practice on Huangting Sutra* - the model calligraphic works of extraordinary skill and romantic charm. Write vertical strokes in the shape of long lance, and write horizontal strokes in the shape of cross nail. In the meantime give them the spirit of graceful iris and hovering bird. Write thick strokes without undue stress, and write thin strokes without undue lightness. The slightest curvature of a stroke indicates its inclination, and a hair-breadth deviation leads to faulty expression. Only after you have practiced sufficiently then you are able to achieve high standard and enjoy good reputation and status.

* Oath and Huangting Sutra are two calligraphic works by Wang Xizhi.

.

王僧虔（426-485）是书圣王羲之的第四代族孙，也是当时著名书法家之一。他的书论也有名。他的《笔意赞》只有135个字，却是以神采与形质来分析书法的第一人。以63写序，本文才72个字。

以下是《笔意赞》全文。

书之妙道，神采为上，形质次之，兼之者方可绍于古人。以斯言之，岂易多得？必使心忘于笔，手忘于书，心手达情，书不忘想，是谓求之不得，考之即彰。乃为《笔意赞》曰：

剡纸易墨，心圆管直。浆深色浓，万毫齐力。先临《告誓》，次写《黄庭》。骨丰肉润，人妙通灵。努如植槊，勒若横钉。开张风翼，耸擢芝英。粗不为重，细不为轻。纤微向背，毫发死生。工之尽矣，可擅时名。