During the Ming Dynasty, individual fonts were basically finalized. For reliable writing, official script block letters were generally used, for packaging and printing, Song fonts were used to imitate the Song Dynasty, and for stamps, seal scripts were used. There were many calligraphers in the Ming Dynasty, and the most accomplished one was Dong Qichang in the middle and late period. Dong Qichang's calligraphy is very easy to find on the Internet because of its outstanding achievements.
Let me introduce to you the status of Chinese calligraphy and painting in the Ming Dynasty:
Early Ming Dynasty: Calligraphy only inherited the traditional style of the Yuan Dynasty and did not develop its own characteristics. At that time, there were well-known calligraphers in the Three Song Dynasty, namely the Song Dynasty. Ke, Song Can and Song Guang, as well as Zhan Xiyuan, Du Huan, etc. The calligraphy of the Three Song Dynasties and Zhan Xiyuan was fair and proficient, which pioneered the Taige style.
Mid and late Ming Dynasty: Calligraphy of literati and calligraphers once again looked up, and calligraphers turned their interest to ancient calligraphy. For example, Li Dongyang studied Yan Zhenqing, Li Yangbing, Wu Kuan studied Su Shi, Shen Zhou studied Huang Tingjian, Zhang Bi, Zhang Jun studied Zhang Xu, Huai Su, etc. Their calligraphy paid more attention to artistic beauty and expression of personal emotions on the basis of inheriting excellent traditions. Finally, Wu School calligraphy emerged in Suzhou, whose representatives are Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming, Wang Chong, etc.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty: many calligraphers with distinctive characteristics and outstanding achievements emerged. Such as Xu Wei, Xing Dong, Zhang Ruitu, Dong Qichang, Mi Wanzhong, Huang Daozhou, Ni Yuanlu, Wang Duo, Fu Shan, etc. Xu Wei expressed his anger in his cursive writing. Then came Xing Dong, Zhang Ruitu, Dong Qichang, Mi Wanzhong and other four people. Xing Dongguang studied calligraphy from famous people in Jin, Tang and Song Dynasties, and left many imitations of ancient calligraphy works. His calligraphy is vigorous and vigorous, calm and rounded. Zhang Rui's calligraphy style is unique and unique in Jin and Tang calligraphy. His writing style is multifaceted, giving people a strange and unique feeling. Mi Wanzhong has the same surname as Mi Fu of the Song Dynasty. He specializes in rice characters and has calm and vigorous techniques. He has been famous for his calligraphy in the northern region for 40 years. In addition, there are also Zhao Huanguang, who created cursive seal script, and Song Jue, who specialized in seal script. However, in the calligraphy and painting circles of the late Ming Dynasty, the harm was greater. The person who created a generation of calligraphy style should be Dong Qichang.
Dong Qichang also works in regular script, running script, and cursive script, creating a calligraphy style that is raw, clumsy, and elegant. In the theory of calligraphy, he emphasized that calligraphy should be poetic and calligraphic, and believed that calligraphy must be mastered before being able to grasp it. This is to use a clumsy attitude to cover up the proficiency of the technique, thereby expressing the "fighting spirit" of calligraphy. He attaches great importance to the humanistic and artistic cultivation of calligraphers. He believes that reading more will lead to more reading of ancient people's handwriting. He pays attention to reading a lot of books and starting with a single step to enhance cultural understanding. This is interoperable with the Northern and Southern Sect theory proposed by him in the theory of art painting. Dong Qichang created an elegant style that seems to live without fireworks. In addition, Huang Daozhou's stubbornness in the late Ming Dynasty, Ni Yuanlu's idiosyncratic new attitude, Wang Duo and Fu Shan's calmness and majesty all reflected the unprecedented changes in the world of calligraphy and painting in the 10 to 20 years before the demise of the Ming Dynasty. The transformation continued until the early Qing Dynasty.