What are the characteristics of Dong Qichang's calligraphy style?

Dong Qichang began to study calligraphy in Yan Zhenqing, and then moved to Shinan, abandoning the Tang Dynasty. When he saw the original works of Mi Fei, Yang Ningshi and Huai Su in Xiangzijingjia, a great collector, he immediately realized the practice of writing with a pen from Mi Fei's attitude and Huai Su's fluency, and realized the mystery of composition from the dense layout of Yang Ningshi's Jiuhua Post, which, coupled with the influence of Zen, made his calligraphy full of ancient light and loose volume. Dong Qichang can skillfully control the long front, with a relaxed pen, slender lines, euphemism and fluency. However, due to the lack of smooth, urgent and slow changes, although it has been dissipated, vain and mature, it is inevitable that the pattern is single and the pen is slippery. The characteristic of softness is so prominent in Dong Qichang's calligraphy, which is very consistent with his personal character and aesthetic pursuit.

Dong Qichang's gentle calligraphy style can sweep the world on the eve of the demise of the Ming Dynasty, which objectively reflects the helplessness and avoidance of the literati class to the real crisis. From this point of view, Dong Qichang's calligraphy style is contemporary, which embodies the so-called "end-of-century mentality". Therefore, Kang Youwei, a political innovator in the late Qing Dynasty, criticized Dong Qichang's calligraphy a lot, saying that he was "as timid as a bride in three days".

In the heyday of Dong Qichang, a trend of calligraphy innovation was rising, and its representatives were Huang Daozhou, Ni, Wang Duo and Fu Shan. They expressed their rebellion against Dong Qichang's soft book style with the contrast of strokes, the rapid circulation of lines, the close spacing of words, the disorder of structure and layout, which had a far-reaching influence on later generations and could not become the mainstream of the times at that time.

Dong Qichang's calligraphy style has a wide range of social psychological needs, that is, seeking peace of mind in peace. In this way, it is not difficult for us to understand why the Manchu nobles, who replaced the new rulers of the Ming regime, were nomadic and used to fighting, and also appreciated this soft art popular in the previous dynasty. Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty was an admirer of Dong Qichang's calligraphy. Because of his advocacy, the powerful influence of Dong Qichang's calligraphy lasted for decades, and it ended with Emperor Qianlong's admiration for Zhao Mengfu. The influence of Dong Qichang's painting and art theory will last for 200 years.