Throughout Chen Hongshou's life, although he was not successful in official career, he was very successful in art. He was an all-rounder and was good at calligraphy, especially calligraphy, seal script, official script and calligraphy and painting. The historical documents and many paintings and calligraphy works collected by the Shanghai Museum also fully illustrate this point. He also knows the inscription. The Preface to the Collection of Lanting in the Museum of Cultural Relics of the Chinese University of Hong Kong contains the postscript written by Chen Hongshou: "This inscription is relatively fixed, fat and thin, and the structure of calligraphy and painting is quite similar ... On the fourth day after Jiaqing Yihaiwang, Qian Tangchen Hongshou wrote it at Chengen Temple in Jiangning." From this article, it can be seen that his research on inscriptions is also very well-established, which is in line with his summary that "the cliff tablet is pleasant, the writing style is elegant, the seal cutting knowledge is rich, and Gu Zhuo is rigorous, and no one can match it". However, it is not his calligraphy, painting or even inscriptions that can impress future generations, but his seal cutting. I dare not comment on the academic issues of calligraphy, painting, inscriptions and seal cutting, but from the perspective of the proportion of his achievements, seal cutting is his outstanding part, because he is known as one of the "Eight Schools of Xiling", which means that he has made very important achievements in the field of seal cutting, as evidenced by many seals collected by Chen Hongshou in Shanghai Museum and other institutions.
achievements of art
His seal cutting went in and out of Qin and Han Dynasties. After Ding Jing, Jiang Ren, Huang Yi and Xi Gang, he is good at painting landscapes, flowers and orchids. In the Ming Dynasty, flowers originated from Chen Daofu and Shan Li, but they were not limited to the patriarchal clan system, but they were natural and unrestrained, and they were the pioneers of Zhao. Calligraphy is most famous for official script. His calligraphy is most famous for official script and running script. His official script is vigorous and natural, and his body is free. At that time, it was an innovative style to be interspersed with diversity and set each other off. He studied the Han steles extensively, and was especially good at drawing nutrition from the stone carvings of the Han Cliff, thus forming a unique personal appearance in his works. The brush strokes are round and delicate, such as silver hooks, the artistic conception is sparse, and the porcelain is magnificent and strange. Compared with the previous official script, Chen Hongshou's official script is "crazy", which shows that he has the courage and talent to innovate. But in terms of writing and composition, the pen still belongs to the ancient method, with the pen as the center and the force penetrating the back of the paper. His seal script is slightly cursive and he likes to use a knife. The knife is as bright as thunder, boundless and vigorous, refreshing and unrestrained, which makes the Zhejiang school look brand-new. People in Zhejiang learn from him, which has a profound influence on later generations. It is as famous as Chen Yuzhong and is known as the Chen Er of the world. Running script is elegant and good. Chiang Kai-shek's Biography of Moline said: Man's voice is refreshing and he likes the inscriptions on cliffs, and his calligraphy is quaint and he has a lot of knowledge.