What are the characteristics of Ming Dynasty figures?

There were many calligraphers in Ming Dynasty, among which Dong Qichang was the most successful. Dong Qichang's calligraphy achievement is seal script. Let me introduce you. Calligraphy in the early Ming Dynasty only followed the tradition of the Yuan Dynasty and did not form its own characteristics. At that time, the famous calligraphers were Song Ke, Song Yu, Song Guang and Zhan Xiyuan. Among them, Song and Zhan Xiyuan were more proficient in calligraphy, which opened the way for regular script.

In the middle period, the literati's calligraphy looked up again and their interest gradually turned to ancient calligraphy. For example, Li Dongyang studied under Yan Zhenqing, Li and Zhang Bi, and Zhang Jun studied under Zhang Xu and Huai Su, and then on this basis, he talked about formal beauty and expressed his personal feelings. Until the appearance of Suzhou Wumen calligraphy, some representatives finally had Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhiming and Wang Chong.

Finally, many calligraphers with outstanding styles and achievements appeared in the late Ming Dynasty. Such as Xu Wei, Xing Dong, Zhang Ruitu and Dong Qichang. Among them, Xu Wei used cursive script to express the qi in his chest, followed by Xing Dong, Dong Qichang and Mi. Xing Dong extensively studied the calligraphy of famous artists in Jin, Tang and Song Dynasties, and left many works that copied ancient posts. His calligraphy is vigorous, steady and mellow. Zhang Ruiyong's pen has many faces, giving people a strange feeling. Mi specializes in studying rice characters, and his brushwork is calm and vigorous, as well as Zhao Huanguang, who created grass seals, and Song Jue, who specializes in official scripts, and so on.

Then came the "literary inquisition", which was a means for the ruling class to persecute intellectuals for their dominance. Every dynasty's literary inquisition is different. In the early Ming Dynasty, Ming Taizu attached great importance to scholars, but when he became emperor, the original concept of attaching importance to scholars no longer existed. It has also enacted cruel and bloody legal provisions. Later, taking the Ming Dynasty literary inquisition as an example, we can see that the literary inquisition is characterized by the rulers misinterpreting the meaning of words at will and always blindly safeguarding their ruling rights and status. In addition, Zhu Yuanzhang also took cruel measures to restrict scholars' reading in order to imprison their hearts. It also stipulates that eunuchs are not allowed to study, and those who learn to study are killed. In the long history, the degree of cultural autocracy in Ming Dynasty is second only to that in Qin Dynasty. These are the characteristics of Ming dynasty figures.