Ouyang Xun 欧阳询

Ouyang Xun (557-641), also named Ouyang Xinben, was a Confucian scholar and calligrapher of the early Tang Dynasty. He used to be an official in the Sui dynasty and was a close friend of Li Yuan, founder of the Tang dynasty. Ouyang Xun was intelligent since young and performed well academically. He served under the Tang Dynasty as scholar at the Hongwen Academy where he also taught calligraphy. He was one of the principal contributors to the Categorised Collections of Literature and Articles.

During the Tang period, the predominant script was the regular or standard script, with a stylistic emphasis on brush methods or structure. The regular script was believed to have reached its maturity during the early Tang, representing a culmination of previous developments.

As early as in the Sui Dynasty, Ouyang's calligraphy was widely known, and by the time of Tang Dynasty, as the man got older and his calligraphy got better, both the person and calligraphy had attained a high degree of perfection. His calligraphy was first influenced by the style of stele inscriptions in the Northern Dynasties and the Sui dynasty. Later he followed Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi’s style and was the representative of their style in the Tang dynasty. He had also learned from Suo Jing’s calligraphy.

Ouyang Xun's calligraphy, largely kaishu (regular script), was known for its rigorous and grand strokes as well as its unique order and structure, and was called ‘Ou Style’ by later generations. His famous works of regular script include ‘Commemorative Stone Tablet for the Sweet Spring at the Jiucheng Palace’ (Jiucheng Gong) which is said to be the Best Regular Script in history and has become one of the best model calligraphy for learners of kaishu calligraphy. His well known works on walking or running script (xingshu) are Mengdian Tie and Zhanghan Tie. Besides being an expert in kaishu and xingshu, Ouyang also wrote excellent lishu (official script).

In Chinese calligraphy history, Ouyang Xun is one of the Four Masters of Early Tang Dynasty. His is also as one of the four best calligraphers of regular script in history. The other three are Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Zhao Mengfu.

.

.

欧阳询（557-641），亦名欧阳信本，是初唐儒士与书法家。他曾在隋朝庭中当官，又是唐朝开国君主李渊。欧阳询自小聪敏，读书颇有成就。为唐朝弘文馆学士，并在那里教书法。他也是《艺文类聚》的主要编纂者。

在唐代，楷书是主要的书写字体，其所强调的是笔法与结字。一般相信，楷书到了初唐已经成熟，代表楷书发展达到的一个高峰。

早在隋朝，欧阳询的书法就已经声名远播；到了唐代，则已进入了人书俱老的完美境界。他的书法最初受到北朝与隋朝碑文的影响，后来跟随二王书体，他的楷书在唐代代表二王的书体。他也学习索靖的书法。

欧阳询的书法，主要是楷书，以刚健雄伟著名，尤其是其独特的结字与章法，被后代称为‘欧体’。他有名的楷书有《九成宫醴泉铭碑》（简称《九成宫》）。《九成宫》被誉为楷书中的绝品，成为书法学习者学习楷书的最好法书之一。他的有名的行书有《仲尼梦奠帖》、《季鹰帖》。他除了精于楷书与行书，隶书也写得很好。

在书法史上，欧阳询是初唐四大家之一。他也是历史上楷书四大家之一。其他三位楷书大家是颜真卿、柳公权与赵孟頫。

Brush Techniques: Slanted-tip for Writing Beautifully 笔法：侧锋取妍

One of the most important aspects of brush techniques is the emphasis on the proper use of the tip of the brush. The most preferred technique is known as zhongfeng, which literally means ‘centred tip’. (See diagram above.) While writing the character the brush is held vertically so that the tip of the brush always moves within the middle of the stroke. A character written this way is said to be vigorous, smooth and natural.

Opposite of zhongfeng is the use of the side of the brush, when the tip of the brush moves along one side of the stroke so that its direction and the path of movement of the brush form a right angle. This way of moving the brush is known as pianfeng, or sided-tip. (See diagram above.) Since ancient time, pianfeng technique is never advocated by calligraphers and a stroke written this way is considered to be a failure.

When the tip of the brush moves in an angle which is between zhongfeng and pianfeng, it is known as cefeng, or slanted-tip. (See diagram below.)

Ancient calligraphers paid much attention to the zhongfeng technique; some even advocated that every stroke must be written using zhongfeng. But not everyone was convinced of this theory. In one essay written in Ming dynasty, the writer Ni Sumen expressed his doubt by saying, ‘Wang Xizhi and Xianzhi did not always use zhongfeng. This fact was not discovered or mentioned by the ancients… However, when calligraphers use the brush, it must be used in a lively and flexible way, and that the brush must be approached from various angles. This is to reflect the spirit of brush writing. How can we take zhongfeng as the only acceptable method and thereby limit ourselves?’

Another scholar Wang Shizhen of Ming dynasty wrote, ‘Since the ancient time, zhongfeng and cefeng had never been an issue. As I am currently focusing on studying Zhu Jingzhao’s calligraphy, I may take the opportunity to talk about it. Sushi and Wang Tingjian used cefeng for all their strokes, and Zhang Xu and Huai Su used it occasionally. Even Wang Xizhi could not avoid using it when writing the walking and cursive scripts. This is because zhongfeng is used for writing vigorously and steadily, while cefeng for writing dynamically beautiful lines and, one could not control which way to go. Wen Zhenming regularly used cefeng when writing small size characters. So cefeng is not only used by Zhu Jingzhao, and how could the use of it stop the works from being model works?’

Huang Tingjian pointed out that ‘to write calligraphy properly and steadily (by using zhongfeng), one is constrained by its rules. On the other hand, to write beautifully by using cefeng, one always ends up in gaining some desired results and losing some.’

Zhu Hegeng of Qing dynasty concluded, ‘zhengfeng is for writing vigorous and steady strokes and cefeng for dynamically beautiful strokes.’

Therefore, it is necessary to apply both zhongfeng and cefeng so as to achieve the effects of both vigorous and beautiful strokes.

.

笔法中强调的重要的一点是笔毫笔尖的适当运用。中锋是其中最为推崇的笔法。书写时，笔干垂直，令笔心在笔画中央运行。以中锋书写的线条会强烈、顺畅与自然。

与中锋相反的笔法是以笔心在线条的边缘行走，并与书写轨道成90度角。这就是偏锋。自古以来，书家从不提倡偏锋，以偏锋写出的笔画向来被当作败笔。

笔尖与笔运行方向形成的角度在中锋与偏锋之间的笔法，就叫做侧锋。

古人对‘中锋’很重视，甚至有‘笔笔中锋’之说。但是，也有不同的见解。古代书论中就曾有如下的质问："羲、献作字，皆非中锋，古人从未窥破，从未说破。……然书家溺笔极活极圆，四面八方，笔意俱到，岂拘拘中锋为一定成法乎？"（明末倪苏门《书法论》）

另一位明朝学者王世贞写道：‘正锋、侧锋之说，古本无之，近来专欲攻京兆，故借此为谈耳。苏、黄全是偏锋，旭、素时有一二笔，即右军行草中亦不能尽废。盖正以立骨，偏以取态，自不容已也。文待诏小楷，时时出偏锋，固不特京兆，何损法书?！’

黄庭坚指出：‘学书端正，则窘于法度，侧锋取妍，往往工左而病右。’

清代朱和羹《临池心解》总结：‘正锋取劲，侧笔取妍。’

可以说，我们用笔应该是中侧锋并用，才能稳劲妍丽兼得。

Su Demao at Calligraphy Exchange Gathering 苏德茂：书画交流雅集现场挥毫

Calligrapher Su Demao gave a talk at the 77th monthly Calligraphy & Painting Exchange Gathering organised by the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan on 26 June 2010. The talk is on the importance of practising Chinese calligraphy by copying the model calligraphic works of the ancient calligraphers. In fact, he advocated that this is the only way to master the calligraphic skills.

He then touched on how to study and analyse accurately the model calligraphic works so that one can copy accurately the spirit and skills of the works. This website will publish the transcription from his talk once it is ready.

After the talk, calligrapher Su demonstrated on the spot the writing of calligraphy in front of about 70 attendees of the talk.

The gathering was also attended by Indian artist Rajib Bhattacharjee who was in Singapore from 23 to 29 June to conduct a study known as Project Singapore. His interest is in how the community as a whole and the urban space are affected by aggressive urbanisation. He is doing a project on Singapore as it is the most urbanised country in this part of the world. He is fascinated by the Chinese calligraphy as a unique art of lines and hopes to get some inspirations from it in his reflections of the character of the changing urban space.

Here are some photos taken during the exchange gathering.

.

书法家苏德茂老师于6月26日在潮州八邑会馆主办的第77次书画交流雅集讲座会中谈临摹古代法帖对学习书法的重要性。其实，苏老师认为临帖时获得技巧的唯一方法。

苏老师也谈到如何准确地学习与分析古人优秀作品，这样我们临帖时才能学到其精神与技巧。本网站会把苏老师的讲稿整理后发表，敬请留意。

座谈后，苏老师也为大约70名座谈会的出席者当场挥毫。

来自印度的艺术家拉吉也出席了这次的交流雅集。拉吉于6月23日至29日访问新加坡，进行有关‘新加坡项目’的研究。拉吉的兴趣在于强力城市化对整个社区与城市空间所带来的影响。他有兴趣对新加坡进行研究时因为新加坡是本地区最城市化的国家。他被华人书法这门独特的线条艺术所吸引，希望从中可以获得一些灵感来反映他对不断变化城市空间的感想。

这里是交流雅集当日的一些图片。

.

Su Demao 苏德茂

Su Demao is a calligrapher who is living in Singapore now.

Su Demao, a native of Liaoyang City, Liaoning Province of China, is a retired senior teacher. He is currently a member of the Theoretical Research Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Calligraphers’ Association. As a member of the Tang Poetry Studies Society of Liaoning Province, he presents essays regularly at the Society’s annual conference. He authored a number of books, including ‘Couplets Made by Pasting Together Calligraphic Words from Ancient Steles and Rubbings’, ‘Couplets Composed from the Ancient Poems’. His articles that are published in the ‘Nanyang Arts’ magazine include ‘Comments on 20th Century World Exhibition on Oracle-bone Inscriptions’, ‘Gui Linping and Finger Paintings’.

Su Damao is good at calligraphy of cursive scripts. His works have been selected for display many times at exhibitions held in Liaoning Province, Liaoyang City.

In Singapore, he is active in the Singapore Shicheng Calligraphy and Seal-Carving Society, Lion City Calligraphy Exhibitions, the Calligraphy & Painting Society of the Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan, Chinese Calligraphy Group of the Bishan Community Club.

You are welcome to give your comments on his calligraphic works.

Su Demao’s calligraphy activities can be found in this blog: http://icalligraphy.blogspot.com/search/label/Su%20Demao

Click on the image to enlarge. 请点击图片以放大。

中国旅新书法家。

辽宁省辽阳市人。为退休中学高级教师。为辽宁省书法家协会理论研究会会员。辽宁省唐诗研究会会员，都有论文在该会年会上发表。著有《中国古代碑帖集字联选》、《中国古代诗文集联选》多种。在《新加坡南洋艺术》上有“二十世纪世界甲骨文大展”评述，“桂林平与指画”等等多篇论文发表。

擅长草书。作品曾参加辽宁省、辽阳市的多次展出。

在新加坡参加狮城书法篆刻会、狮城墨韵展，潮州八邑会馆书画会及碧山书艺学会活动。

欢迎对他的书法作品进行指教。

关于苏德茂先生的书法活动，见本网站 http://icalligraphy.blogspot.com/search/label/Su%20Demao 。

Calligraphy Writing Medium Before the Qin Dynasty 先秦书写载体

Paper existed in China since the 2nd century BC, before the Qin dynasty. Before the use of paper, Chinese texts were carved on tortoise shells, animal bones, bronze wares, jade or stones. Silk was also used by the small class of aristocrats, while bamboo and wood slips by the general public.

The oracle-bone inscriptions were found on tortoise shells and animal bones. They were used in the Shang Dynasty 1600 BC by the priests of the court to communicate with the spirits of the dead, mainly the ancestors of the rulers. Whenever there was a question to be asked, the priests would inscribe it on a shell or animal bone and then have it heated by fire. The shell or bone would become cracked after being heated. The priest would read the signs showing on these cracks. The prediction was then inscribed on the same shell or bone for record and future reference. The word ‘predict’ in Chinese is bu (卜), which looks like a crack.

The inscriptions on bronze were mainly records in commemoration of certain ceremonies in the court or glories of the battle. The inscriptions on stone-drum were records of hunting activities of the Qin kings.

The books made of bamboo and wood slips varied in size, and the longer in length the more important events were recorded. There were said to have appeared in the Shang Dynasty.

The longer bamboo slips were used to record state laws or important historical events. The shorter bamboo slips were used for text books, while the shortest bamboo slips were used to record biographies.

The wood slips were used only for events of minor importance such as official documents, notices, accounts or inventories, correspondence, etc. The most common sizes in wide used were one Chinese foot slips and the five inch slips. One foot slips were used for writing letters and five inch slips were used as certificates or identities issued by the army authorities or local governments to their soldiers or citizens for passing through the city wall gates and other check-points.

From the times of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, silk had also been used as a writing material. Dating from the Han Dynasty, there were known texts found on silk cover military strategy, mathematics, cartography and the six classical arts of ritual, music, archery, horsemanship, writing and arithmetic.
.

.

在公元前二世纪，秦朝之前，纸就已经出现了。在纸还没有发明之前，中国文字是刻在龟壳、兽骨、铜器、玉器或石头上面。缣帛为少数的贵族所用，而一般百姓则用竹与木简。

甲骨文用的是龟壳与兽骨。在公元前1600年商朝，巫师用甲骨文来与死去的灵魂沟通，这些死者多数为统治者的先人。每当有问题要问时，巫师就把问题刻在壳或骨上，然后以火来在壳或骨上加热。壳或骨被加热后，就会出现裂痕。巫师根据裂痕来占卜。占卜的结果也可在同一个壳或骨上以为记录，或以供后来参考。中文‘卜’看来就像裂痕。

铸在铜器的金文主要是记录朝廷重要仪式或战争的胜利。石鼓文则记录战国秦王游猎之类事情。

以竹简或木简所书写的书经的长度不一，长度越长，所记录的事件越重要。这些竹简或木简据说商朝就已出现。

最长的竹简用来纪录国家律法或重要历史事件。较短的用来书写经典，最短的书写子书。

木简则用来记录次要的国家文件、通告、帐簿、存货、来往书信，等等。木简最常见的有一尺或五寸。一尺木简所用来写书信，就是所谓的‘尺牍’。五寸木简多数有军队或地方政府用来当证书或通行证，给予士兵或百姓通关或检查站之用。

在春秋战国时期，缣帛就已经被用来当作书写用品了。今日所知，汉朝就有不少军事策略、数学、地图、六艺（礼、乐、射、御、书、数）之类是写在缣帛的。

The Common Mistakes on Writing the Dot 点画通病

Here are four common mistakes on writing the dot.

1. When two dots appear in a word, their directions and sizes must be symmetrical and appropriate.

2. When four dots appear in a word, the dots must be arranged linearly, with the left dot lower than the right dot. The first two dots should be inclined to the right and the last two dots to the left. All dots must be pointed to the centre of the word. Generally speaking, the first and forth dots must be bigger that second and third dots.

3. When three dots arranged vertically appear in a word, they must be arranged in such a way that they form a leftward arc. The distance between the first and second dots should be shorter than that of the second and third dots.

4. When the word ‘心’ (heart) is contained in a word, the size of the first and third dots should normally be bigger than that of the middle dot and the left dot should be lower than the right dot. The left dot should not be placed too high up.

.

这里举出写点时的四个通病：

1． 一个字如出现两点，如‘塔’、‘僧’、‘集’等字，它们的方向、大小要对称。

2． 一个字如出现四点，它们应该排列成为一条线，左点低于有点。第一与第二点方向向左，第三与第四点方向向右，全部的点都指向字的中心。一般来说，第一与第四点较大，第二与第三点较小。

3． 一个字如有‘三点水’，三点的连线应形成外拓的弧形。第一与第二点较靠近，第二与第三点稍远。

4． 一个字如有‘心’字在内，点的大小也是两头大，中间小，左点低于有点。第一点(左点) 不可太高。

Wong Kok Liang 黄国良

Wong Kok Liang (Wang Guoliang 1920 – 2004) was famous for his calligraphy written in clerical (lishu) script.

Wong Kok Liang was also called Wong Long, or Shigong. He was born in 1920 in the Wanning County, Hainan Province of China. He entered the Jian Yi Teachers’ College in 1935 for a 4-year course. After completed his study in 1939, the Japanese invaded China and he moved to Singapore to seek his fortune. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he worked briefly in Singapore before he was employed as teacher in a school in Riau of Indonesia for one year. On 1 July, 1947, he joined Nanyang Siang Pau and worked for 32 years until his retirement in 1979.

After his retirement, he became a calligrapher teacher for a number of organisations, and had many students who are good at writing calligraphy in clerical script. In order to provide a platform for the learners of calligraphy to interact with each other and thus exchange experiences in learning calligraphy, he worked on setting up a calligraphy society. In 1992, the Hanshi Calligraphy Society was registered and he became its advisor and calligraphy teacher.

He passed away on 24 March, 2004.

He talked about his calligraphy learning journey during an interview. As he was a young boy in village, his father encouraged and guided him in learning calligraphy, and he had developed a special love of calligraphy. He father started him with the script of Wei stele. A few years later, as he learned more about the subject, he decided that the clerical style of Weng Fanggang would benefit him more, so he switched to focus on learning Weng’s calligraphy.

He once said, ‘after I have mastered the basics of the clerical script, I came across the Caoqian Stele, which I found it to be especially bony, and the writing style is leisure and strong. I had therefore decided to move from Weng’s calligraphy to Caoqian stele.’ He later also practiced the scripts from the Han steles. In fact, he had never stopped learning the clerical script.

Wong Kok Liang had achieved much in writing the clerical script (lishu). He paid much attention to the execution of the strokes and organising the structure, and wrote them conscientiously. His learning attitude was indeed a good model for us to follow. In the last years of his life, he worked hard on learning the walking script (xingshu). However, perhaps because he had not spent much time in writing this calligraphic style, we have not seen much of his good works in xingshu.

.

在新加坡书法界，黄国良 (1920-2004) 以专写隶书而闻名。

黄国良，也称黄龙，或石公。1920年在中国海南省万宁县出生。1935年进入万宁县立简易师范，并于1939年毕业。毕业后，因日本入侵中国而移居新加坡。1945年日本投降后，曾到印尼廖内的端本学校当过一年的教师。1947年7月1日加入‘南洋商报’，在那里工作了32年，直至1979年退休为止。

退休后，他在不少社团教导书法，培育出了不少书写隶书的好手。为了加强学员们的联系，促进书法交流，他提出创办一个独立的书法学会，于是，‘汉石书艺学会’就于1992年正式成立，并担任其顾问与导师。

他于2004年3月24日逝世。

黄国良曾在接受访问时谈到学习书法的经过。幼时在家乡，受到父亲的鼓励与开导，因此特别喜欢书法。他父亲引导他从魏碑入手，几年后他涉猎日广，发现翁方刚的隶书更有学习价值，于是，便集中精神在翁方纲的隶书上。

他说：‘学隶书有了基础后，有一次接触到曹全碑，觉得曹全碑特别有骨气，字体风情飘逸而又坚强，于是，我又从翁方刚的隶书转移到曹全碑上面。’后又临写汉碑。一生学习隶书，从未中断。

黄老在隶书上的造诣，堪称大家。尤其是他笔划结构，一丝不苟，可谓后学之典范。于晚年又孜孜不倦地学习行书。可能是学习行书的时间不长吧，所能看到他好的行书作品不多。

Empress Wu Zetian 武则天

Empress Wu Zetian (623-705) is the only female Emperor in the history of China. Just as other emperors of the Tang dynasty, the Empress was a patron of arts, a great admirer of calligraphy and, one may say, an accomplished calligrapher herself. She lived to be 82, and held power for 50 years.

She entered the palace at the age of 14 and was initially conferred the title of ‘Cairen’ (concubine of medium rank), but was unable to win much favour with Emperor Taizong. Emperor Taizong's son, Li Zhi, however, was deeply infatuated with her. After the death of Taizong in 649, Li Zhi was enthroned as Gaozong and Wu Zetian became empress in 655. Since Li Zhi had poor health, Wu Zetian was the actual ruler of the country. When Li Zhi died, Wu Zetian managed to stabilize the political situation based on her abundant experience of political intrigue. In 690, Wu Zetian ascended the throne and changed the name of the dynasty to Zhou.

Emperor Wu was influenced by Taizong on his love of calligraphy. The court official Wang Fangqing, who was the 10th generation descendent of Wang Xizhi’s family, kept a large collection of calligraphic works at his mansion. Wu Zetian requested that his ancestors' calligraphy be passed to her. Empress Wu treasured the calligraphy very much and was so attached to them that she would look at them every day. She also displayed the calligraphy to the officials for them to view. In addition to using the calligraphy as model books to practice her calligraphic skill, she also ordered that the calligraphy be carved and the rubbings made into a collection known as ‘Wansui Tongtian Calligraphy’ (Wangsui means emperor, long life and Tongtian means as high as sky. Wansui Tongtian was one of the era names of Empress Wu). The rubbings of the collection were distributed to officials and the original calligraphy returned to Wang Fangqing. The rubbing method of producing ‘Wansui Tongtian Calligraphy’ started a new way of producing and preserving calligraphic works. This had contributed much to the development of calligraphy.

She is said to be good in Xing Shu and the Flying White style, a type of scripts that incorporated the images of birds and flowers into the characters. However, there are few materials on Empress Wu’s calligraphy available today. The texts and calligraphy of the ‘Ascension of a Prince to the Immortal Realm’ stele is said to be written by her.

The stele was carved in the sixth lunar month in the year 699 and is currently kept in the Deity Temple at the Gou Mountain in Yanshi City, Henan Province. It comprises 34 lines with 66 words per line. The stele’s title, which comprises 6 bigger words, was written in Flying White (feibai) style. The Flying White style is said to be created by Zhong Yao (151-230). However, there was no calligraphy of Flying White survived today. These six words in Flying White style were the only survived work today.

.

武则天（623-705）是中国历史上唯一的女皇。和唐朝的其他皇帝一样，武则天是艺术的热心支持者，她喜爱书法，本身也可以说是个相当有成就的书法家。她活到82岁，共执政了50年。

她14岁进宫，被封为‘才人’，但是唐太宗并不十分注意她，倒是太宗的儿子李治深深的迷恋她。公元649年太宗逝世后，李治登基为高宗，武则天于公元655年成为他的皇后。由于李治身体不好，武则天就成为真正的统治者。李治去世后，武则天凭着她丰富的政治经验，把政治局势平稳下来。公元60年，武则天登基为王，并把国号改为‘周’。

由于唐太宗喜爱书法，这影响了武则天。当时朝廷官员王方庆是王羲之家族的第十代后人，家藏书法墨迹很多。武则天向王方庆访求其世祖的法书。武则天对这些墨迹视若珍宝，早晚观赏，爱不释手，还遍示群臣。不但自己常临习，而且命人全部刻成《万岁通天帖》（‘万岁通天’为武则天年号之一），颁赐群臣，并把原迹还给王方庆。《万岁通天帖》开了书法史上刻帖的先河，影响深远。

据说她精于行书与飞白体，一种把鸟与花加入字内的书体。但是，武则天留下来的书法资料不多，只有《升仙太子碑》是武则天亲自撰文并书丹镌刻的碑刻。

这块碑刻于699年六月，现存于河南省偃师县缑山仙君庙。共有行草书三十四行，每行六十六字。有飞白书碑额书‘升仙太子之碑’六大字。飞白书据说为钟繇 (151－230) 所创，但并无墨迹传世，这六个字是目前所知仅有的飞白体墨迹。

Bian Cai Sadly Lost the Authentic Lanting Xu 辩才痛失《兰亭序》

The calligraphy sage Wang Xizhi’s representative works include the ‘Inscription of Calmness’, the ‘Inscription of Crescent Moon’, the ‘Inscription of Clearing-Up After Snowing’, etc. Among them the most famous one is the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion written in walking style (xing-shu). The preface of a collection of poems written by some friends when gathering at the Orchid Pavilion (or Lanting) near Shaoxing of Zhejiang Province for the Spring Purification Festival, it comprises 28 lines and 324 characters, with each character in different shapes. The original is lost, but there are a number of fine tracing copies and rubbings.

The original copy of Lanting Xu was given to Wang Xizhi’s son Wang Xianzhi. After Wang Xianzhi, the calligraphy was lost for nearly 300 years until in the year 636, the emperor of Tang dynasty Taizong obtained it through cunning means from the monk Bian Cai, who was a disciple of Zhi Yong, an seventh-generation descendent of Wang Xizhi.

A story recorded by He Yanzhi and collected in the Taiping Guangji (Tai Ping Anthologies) tells how Emperor Taizong obtained the original copy from Bian Cai.

Half-way through his reign, Emperor Taizong of Tang decided that he would learn the calligraphy of two Wangs, i.e. Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. He had collected all their calligraphic works, except the Lanting Xu, which is known to be the best calligraphy of walking style. It was later learned that the authentic work was in the hands of Monk Bian Cai. Tang Taizong sent emissaries on three occasions to retrieve the text, but each time, Biancai responded that it had been lost during troubled times and he had no idea what it was now.

Prime Minister Fang Xuanling recommended that imperial historian Xiao Yi be despatched to retrieve it from Bian Cai by all means. Xiao Yi disguised as a wandering scholar, and he quickly became a good friend of Bian Cai, as they shared common interests in playing chess, citing poetry, talking about painting and calligraphy. One day, Bain Cai can’t help showing off the authentic Lanting Xu that was hidden behind the roof beam. Xiao Yi later stole the copy and brought it back to the capital for Emperor Taizong.

After he got it, Emperor Taizong cherished Lanting Xu as if he had found a most rare treasure. He ordered that copies to be made for giving away to members of royal families and his court officials. He said to his son on his death bed, ‘I know you are a son of filial piety. I would like to request a favour from you and I am sure you will not disappoint me. Will you?’

With that, the authentic Lanting Xu was buried with the emperor in his mausoleum.

.

书圣王羲之的代表作品有《平安帖》，《初月帖》，《快雪时晴帖》，等。其中最出名的是以行书为兰亭聚会诗集而写的序文。这篇春天在浙江绍兴的兰亭修禊时，友人创作诗文集的序文共有28行，324子，字字情态不同。原本已失，但是有不少很好的摹本、拓本流传于世。

王羲之把原本传给儿子王献之。王献之以后的大约300年原本不知所终，直到公元636年唐太宗从辩才和尚那里以狡猾的方法获得。辩才是王羲之第七代后人智永的徒弟。

《太平广记》收何延之《兰亭记》记载唐太宗任何从辩才手中获得《兰亭序》：

至贞观中，太宗锐意学二王书，仿摹真迹备尽，唯被世人称为‘天下第一行书’的《兰亭序》未获。后访知在辩才和尚（王家的七世孙智永的弟子）处，三次召见，辩才诡称经乱散失不知所在。

房玄龄荐监察御史萧翼以智取之。萧翼隐匿身份，乔装潦倒书生，投其所好，弈棋吟咏，论书作画成忘年交，后辩才夸耀所藏，出示其悬于屋梁之《兰亭序》真迹，《兰亭序》遂为萧翼乘隙私取此帖长安复命。

据说，唐太宗李世民得到《兰亭序》真迹后爱不释手，太宗命令拓数本赐太子诸王近臣。

临终，语李治：“吾欲从汝求一物，汝诚孝也，岂能违吾心也？汝意如何？”

于是，《兰亭序》真迹葬入昭陵。

Pingfu Tie: The Earliest Authentic Chinese Calligraphy 平复帖: 最早的传世书法墨迹

The Pingfu Tie (A Consoling Letter) has a special position in the history of Chinese calligraphy as it is recognised as the earliest surviving Chinese calligraphic work written on paper and is often referred to as the ‘father of all calligraphic examplers’. It was originally a letter written by a great literature master Lu Ji (261-303) to one of his friends who was very ill.

Lu Ji’s grandfather and father were famous generals of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. After Eastern Wu was subjugated by the Western Jin in 280, Lu Ji moved to the imperial capital, Luoyang, where he became prominent in both literature and politics. However, he was too scintillating for the comfort of his jealous contemporaries; in 303 he, along with his two brothers and two sons, was put to death on a false charge of high treason.

Lu Ji wrote much lyric poetry but is better known for writing fu, a mixture of prose and poetry. He is best remembered for the Wenfu (‘On Literature’), a piece of literary criticism that discourses on the principles of composition.

Lu Ji also became famous because of his calligraphic work ‘Pingfu Tie’. The script is a transitional form between early cursive script Zhang Cao and current cursive script. Some scholars believe it was a cursive form of official script.

Its brushwork, done with a ‘dry’ brush and characterised by a simple and vivid style, exhibits a stocky roundness that brims with latent energy. Because it was written on paper, nature has left its mark on the piece, blurring and fading caused by repeated folding, handling and moisture stains have added to the feel of antiquity. Age-induced coarseness of the paper support also makes the lines appear grave and remote.

This piece has, as it were, re-created by the hand of nature. It was donated by Zhang Boju to the Chinese government in July 1956.

.

‘平复帖’在中国书法史上有一个特别的地位，因为它被认为是书写于纸的最早传世书法墨迹，常被称为‘法书之祖’。这幅帖原来是大文学家陆机（261-303）写给一位生病友人的信件。

陆机的祖父陆逊与父亲陆抗都是三国东吴的名将。280年，东吴被西晋灭亡后，陆机移居首府洛阳，成为文学与政治界有名人士。但是，为奸臣所嫉妒，于303年被诬叛国莫须有罪名，他与两个哥哥及两个儿子都因此而被判死刑。

陆机虽然写诗，但以赋闻名。他名留千古的文学创作评论作品是‘文赋’。

陆机也因为他的书法作品‘平复帖’而闻名于世。这幅帖的文字是章草到草书的过渡。有学者认为它是篆书的草写。

这幅用‘秃笔’书写，具有简朴与活泼风格特色，显示浑圆之无穷内涵力量。因为书写于纸张，岁月已经在它的身上留下了痕迹。重复的折叠、触摸与湿气痕迹已使书法显得朦胧与褪色，增加了古拙的感觉。岁月造成纸张粗野，字与行间看来沉重与遥远。

这幅作品可说是被自然之手从新再创造过。1956年七月，一个名叫张伯驹的人把它捐给了中国政府。