Calligraphy characteristics of Liu Gongquan, a calligrapher in Tang Dynasty

Liu Gongquan's calligraphy is characterized by strong structure and meticulous words. Steady but not vulgar, risky but not surprising, old but not withered, moist but not fat, harmonious behavior and incomparable charm. The brush strokes are even, hard and thin, with exposed edges and corners, rich and diverse, so as to avoid monotonous repetition.

The following is Liu Gongquan's personal introduction:

Liu Gongquan (778-865), the word is sincere. Jingzhao Garden (now Yaozhou District, Tongchuan City, Shaanxi Province) was born. In the mid-Tang Dynasty, he was an official, calligrapher and poet, and he was the younger brother of Liu Gongzhuo, a senior minister of the Ministry of War.

When Liu Gongquan was twenty-nine, he won the first prize, again? In his early years, he served as a secretary, a provincial school book lang, and went to Xiazhou to listen to the shogunate. In Mu Zong, Jing Zong and Wenzong Dynasty, he served in the official residence and grew up in North Korea. * * * During the Seven Dynasties, the official was the Prince, and he was named the Duke of Hedong County, and the official was the Prince Taibao, so it was called "Liu". In the sixth year of Xian Tong (865), Liu Gongquan died at the age of 88. Got a prince's last name.

Liu Gongquan's calligraphy is famous for regular script. He learned from Wang Xizhi at first, and later visited the famous calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty. He absorbed Yan Zhenqing's strengths and new ideas, and created his own unique "Liu Ti", which was famous for its infinite strength and was later known as "Yan Gu". It is also called "Yan Liu" with Yan Zhenqing, and "four masters of regular script" with Ou Yangxun, Yan Zhenqing and Zhao Mengfu.

Inscriptions handed down from ancient times include diamond sutra, mysterious pagoda monument, Su Feng monument, etc. Cursive scripts include Fu, Sixteen Days Post and Insult Post. In addition, the ink "Zhao Meng Post" and "Wang Xianzhi Send Pear Post Postscript" have also been passed down from generation to generation. Liu Gongquan also works in poetry, and his poems are preserved in The Whole Tang Poetry and The Whole Tang Poetry.