Yu Youren: Master of Cursive Calligraphy 于右任: 当代草圣

Yu Youren (1879-1964) was a politician and calligrapher. He was born in the town of Hedaogang in Sanyuan County, Shanxi Province north of Xian, China. He was known for his efforts in helping to overthrow the Qing dynasty and to found the Republic of China. Following the loss of Mainland China to Communist forces, Yu follows the Chinese Nationalist government to Taiwan in 1949 at the age of 71.

Devoting his life to serving the people in government office, Yu Youren’s fervent study of calligraphy is immediately apparent, for his works continue to be admired for their simple yet direct beauty. He was well known for his cursive script calligraphy and for his achievement, he was known as Comtempory Sage of Cursive Script. He left behind many works, most of which are in the form of scrolls. Of increasing attention are other works of his that were carved into stone, mostly found at Pamir Culture Park on Five Finger Mountain (Wuzhishan) in the suburbs of Taipei. In addition, Yu Youren did title plaques for a number of organizations, ranging public and private organizations to temples, clinics, and even shops.

Yu Youren also was well known for his effort in creating and promoting the Standardised Cursive Script. In 1932, he set up the Society of Standardised Cursive Script in Shanghai. In his study and research on Standardised Cursive Script, he followed strictly the principles that it must be easy to read and easy to write, the writing must be accurate and that its form must be bueatiful. The finalized result of his research was published in a book entiled ‘The Thousand Characters Essay in Standardised Cursive Script’ (first published by the Shanghai Wenzheng Publishing House in 1936), whose influence on comtemporary calligraphy is far-fetched. This book is still in print today.
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于右任（1879 -1964）是当代政治家与书法家。他出生于陕西省三元县的河道巷。他一生努力于推翻满清政府与建立中华民国。国民党在中国大陆败给共产党后，他随着国民政府到台湾，当时已经 71 岁。

在国民政府中为人民服务的同时，于右任热心于书法的学习是相当明显的，而他的书法以简朴与优美而为人所仰慕。他精于草书，而在这方面的成就使他被称为‘当代草圣’。于右任一生留下的书法创作非常丰富，其中主要以墨迹卷轴居多。此外，石刻的作品近年来亦颇受瞩目，它主要集中在台北近郊位于五指山西侧的帕米尔文化公园内。同时，于右任也曾为许多公私单位、庙宇、诊所、商店等题字。

于右任亦以创造与推广‘标准草书’而闻名于世。于右任1932年在上海创办标准草书社，以易识、易写、准确、美丽为原则，整理、研究与推广草书，整理成系统的草书代表符号，集字编成《标准草书千字文》（1936年由上海文正楷印书局初版），影响深远，至今仍在重印。