Wang Duo is a representative calligrapher who appeared in the ideological trend of personality liberation in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Together with Xu Wei, Huang Daozhou, Ni, Fu Shan and others, he broke through the limitations of traditional calligraphy represented by Zhao Mengfu and Dong Qichang in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, paid attention to the expression of individuality, originality and subjective feelings, and pushed calligraphy and cursive art to a new peak. Therefore, he became a "renaissance master" in calligraphy in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. For a long time behind him, although like Zhao Mengfu, he failed to get a fair evaluation because of his status as a "second minister", his status was re-affirmed and his influence was constantly improved from Kang Youwei and Wu Changshuo in the late Qing Dynasty, even reaching Japan, becoming one of the most influential China calligraphers in modern Japanese calligraphy.
Wang Duo's running script, first learn from Wang Xizhi, then learn from Mi Fei. As for cursive script, although he has repeatedly stressed that he belongs to the orthodox school of the "two kings", it is not difficult to find the influence of calligraphers such as Huang Tingjian from his works, so the rich changes of rolling with a pen are closer to Huang's cursive script. Although Wang Duo lived in the Ming Dynasty for most of his life, his calligraphy really reached its peak after his death. As a scholar-bureaucrat deeply influenced by Confucianism, it is conceivable that the demise of the Ming Dynasty hit his heart. Therefore, indulging in calligraphy and studying hard became the main way for him to solve his worries. Many of Du Fu's poems describe the scene of constant wars and the decline of the country, express the author's depressed mood that he is at the end of the road and his ambition is hard to pay, and also arouse Wang Duo's inner voice, so he often uses Du Fu's poems to express his infinite feelings and sadness.
This volume, like most of Wang Duo's later works, is also the product of the ideological trend of personality liberation at that time, which embodies a strong sense of subjectivity and is heretical and irrational. Traditional post-school calligraphers mainly pursue lasting appeal, while Wang Duo is different. He pays more attention to the expression of emotion and the expression of momentum, and the long axis and long scroll are undoubtedly more suitable for this requirement.
Just like this volume, although it is written by Shu Xuan and Su Mo, the extreme contrast between dry and wet still creates a strong sense of rhythm in composition, which is both wonderful in the changing clouds and like a waterfall, and Wang Yang is unrestrained, resulting in a sense of grandeur. He is also good at using jumping and twisting brushwork to create galloping and flying effects in his works, which produces a sense of turbulence, which can be described as the refraction of the sky falling down in that era. Qian, a close friend, put it well in "Wang Duo's Epitaph": "When the wind and rain rise between rows, ghosts and gods are pointed, stones swing on the wall, brooms, and everything in the world, if it moves in the middle, is written in the book." This is a proper evaluation of Wang Duo's calligraphy.
Source: China Culture News.