This morning (13th), the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology released the first epitaph of Yan Zhenqing’s Mo Shu Shu Dan unearthed from archaeological excavations. This is of great significance to the study of Yan Zhenqing himself and the art of calligraphy in my country’s medieval era.
In the excavated tombs of the Yuan family in the Tang Dynasty, the person who wrote the epitaph of Luo Wanshun, the wife of Yuan Daqian, was Yan Zhenqing, who claimed to be the captain of Chang'an County in the text. Luo Wanshun died in April of the fifth year of Tianbao (AD 746) and was buried with her husband in March of the sixth year of Tianbao (AD 747). According to Yan Zhenqing's chronology, Yan Zhenqing was promoted from Liquan County Lieutenant to Chang'an County Lieutenant in the fifth year of Tianbao, which is consistent with historical records.
In the summer of 2020, the archaeological team of Xianyang City, Qindu, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology, conducted archaeological excavations on more than a hundred Han and Tang tombs discovered in the government reserve land of Qinhan New City, Shaanxi Province. During the excavation of the tombs of the Yuan family in the Tang Dynasty, an epitaph written by Yan Zhenqing was unearthed. The text in the epitaph was written by Yan Zhenqing in his early years when he was 38 years old.
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Introduction to Yan Zhenqing
Yan Zhenqing was a famous politician and calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. During the Kaiyuan period, he became a Jinshi and served successively as the supervisory censor and the imperial censor. Because of Yang Guozhong's exclusion, he was sent to Pingyuan as the prefect. During the Anshi Rebellion, he organized rebels from various counties in Hebei to fight against the rebels. Later he went to Fengxiang and was awarded the title of Minister of Xianbu. During the Tang Dynasty, he became the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the Crown Prince and the Grand Master, and was granted the title of Duke of Lu County, and was known as "Gong Yan Lu". In the first year of Xingyuan (AD 784) of Tang Dezong, Li Xilie, the rebel general of Huaixi Jiedu, was hanged and killed. Tang Dezong stayed out of court for five days.
Yan Zhenqing was good at Xing and regular script. He first studied Chu Suiliang and later created "Yan Ti" regular script. His calligraphy is rich and honest, subtle and full of power. It is the spiritual state most respected by Confucianism. "It can be seen from the font style on the epitaph that Yan Zhenqing's handwriting was not as thick as it was in his later years. Combined with the later handed down inscriptions, we can see the change process.
CCTV News - Yan Zhenqing's authentic handwriting! Shaanxi archaeological discovery of Mo Shu Shu Dan epitaph