The four great calligraphers in the early Tang Dynasty: Xue Ji, Chu Suiliang, Ouyang Xun, and Yu Shinan collectively known as Xue Ji Xue Ji ( AD 649-713) was a calligrapher and painter in the early Tang Dynasty. His courtesy name was Sitong, a native of Fenyin, Puzhou (now Wanrong, Shanxi). He was Wei Zheng's nephew, Jing Longzhong. He was appointed as a bachelor of Zhaowen Hall and Ruizongli. He was worshiped as the Minister of Zhongshu, participated in military affairs, succeeded Prince Shaobao, and was named the Duke of Jin for his meritorious service. He was known as "Xue Shaobao" in the world. Later, he was ordered to die in prison because he foresaw Dou Huaizhen's plot to murder Xuanzong. Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang studied calligraphy and were Chu Suiliang's favorite disciples. People at the time said: "Buy Chu to get Xue without losing his integrity", which shows that he was "sharp and refined in imitating". "Guangchuan Book Postscript" says that he "has the same bloodline as his master, so he is close to Chu. As for his thin brushwork and smooth knotting of characters, he is in a class of his own." The thinness of the brush is what Song Huizong followed in his "Thin Gold Book". Xue Ji could paint figures, Buddha statues, trees, rocks, flowers and birds, and was especially famous for painting cranes. At that time, he left many paintings in Chang'an, Luoyang, Sichuan and other places. The six-fan crane screen he created was also copied and imitated by others. Until the appearance of Huang Quan in the Five Dynasties, Xue Ji's crane paintings were always recognized as unsurpassed and exquisite. Skill, but unfortunately the work has not been handed down. The calligraphy includes the "Stele of Zen Master Xinxing". ------------------Chu Suiliang Chu Suiliang (596-658 AD) was a calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty. The courtesy name was Dengshan, a native of Qiantang (now Hangzhou, Zhejiang). In the last years of Zhenguan, he and Changsun Wuji were ordered by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to assist in government affairs. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, they were granted the title of Duke of Henan, and they were known as "Chu Henan" in the world. He served as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and Youpushe of the Minister of Civil Affairs. Later, because he opposed Gaozong Li Zhi's establishment of Wu Zetian as queen, he was demoted to Yuanzhou (now Thanh Hoa, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam) as the governor. He died a year later. The calligraphers Ouyang Xun, Zhiyong, and Erwang were familiar with the Han Dynasty official script, and they studied the Ritual Vessel Stele the most deeply. The calligraphy on this stele is exquisite and elegant, and is praised for its thinness and thickness. Chu changed the official script into regular script, so that the calligraphy is both square and round. , graceful and gorgeous, known in the world as "Qingsuo Chanjuan, incomparable to Luo Qi". He was also good at identifying the authentic works of the two kings and was the authority at that time. The popular calligraphy works include "Yique Buddhist Niche Stele", "Master Meng Stele", "Yanta Sacred Preface", "Da Zi Yin Fu Jing", "Thousand Character Essay", "Fang Xuanling Stele" and "Withered Tree Fu" , "Taizong's Mourning Book", "Ni Kuan's Praise", "Qing Yu's Epitaph", etc. Liang Gong's "Pingshu" of the Qing Dynasty said of him: "Chu's writing is empty, his writing is agile, he is thin, hard and straight, which is of course a masterpiece. However, he is frivolous and less calm, so the ancients had the idea of ??being frivolous and later learning." "Old Book of Tang" There are biographies in Volume 80 and Volume 15 of "New Book of Tang". ------------------Ouyang Xun Ouyang Xun (557-641 AD) was a calligrapher in the early Tang Dynasty. Zi Xinben, a native of Linxiang, Tanzhou (now Changsha, Hunan), entered the Tang Dynasty from the Chen and Sui Dynasties, and was deeply appreciated and valued by Li Shimin. He successively served as a bachelor of Hongwen Hall, a male of Bohai County, and an official to the crown prince, and he was known as "Ouyang Shuigeng" in the world. He has extensive knowledge of classics and history, and compiled 100 volumes of "Yi Wen Lei Ju". I first studied calligraphy from Erwang, and later studied Qin, Han, seal script, and Wei stele. The regular script is strong and sharp, the laws are strict, and it is dangerous in the middle of the ordinary. It is known as "European style" and "Shuigeng style" in the world. Weng Fanggang of the Qing Dynasty commented in "Fuchuzhai Collected Works": "Thousands of households have perfect rules and regulations. This covers all families and has procedures for hundreds of generations." Among the calligraphy works passed down, the regular script stele includes "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Inscription" ", "Inscription on Zen Master Yong's Pagoda in Huadu Temple", "Stele of Yu Gonggong Wen Yanbo", "Stele of Huangfu's Birthday", "Epitaph of Yao Bian", "Stele of Wen Yanbo", etc. The official script steles include "Stele of Fang Yanqian", "Stele of Huangfu". "Tang Zong Sheng Guan Ji" and so on. In cursive script, there are "Zhang Han Si Yu Tie", "Meng Dian Tie", "Bu Shang Tie", "Thousand Character Wen", etc., and in cursive script there is a fragment of "Thousand Character Wen". Calligraphy theories include "On the Use of Brushwork", "Thirty-Six Methods", "Eight Secrets", etc. There are biographies in Volume 189 of "Old Book of Tang" and Volume 198 of "New Book of Tang". The calligraphy of the four masters of the early Tang Dynasty has a unique feature, that is, the style of regular script is "delicate, thin and vigorous". Among them, Ouyang Xun's regular script is more prominent and has made the greatest contribution. It is merged with the later Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Zhao Mengfu. Known as one of the "Four Masters of Regular Script", his "Jiucheng Palace" has always been regarded as a model for learning regular script. ------------------Yu Shinan Yu Shinan, named Bo Shi, was born in Yuyao, Yuezhou. He and his brother Yu Shiji were both well-known talents in the Chen Dynasty.
After the Sui Dynasty defeated Chen Dynasty, he and his brother were conscripted into Chang'an. People at the time called him "Er Lu" (Lu Ji and Lu Yun). Yu Shinan's elder brother, Yu Shiji, the minister of internal history of the Sui Dynasty, was a famous treacherous minister in the late period of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty. He supported and invited favors all day long and concealed news of the uprising from outside. At that time, Yu Shiji's family was extremely pampered, and they were like kings, but Yu Shinan was the only one who was cautious and hardworking, and only knew how to read and write poems. After Yu Wenhuaji killed Emperor Yang, a group of imperial guards broke in to kill Yu Shiji. Yu Shinan cried out and begged the sergeant for mercy, asking him to be stabbed on behalf of his brother. Of course, he was not allowed, and everyone killed Yu Shiji and his family like they were chopping melons and vegetables. He was completely naked. It is estimated that the soldiers usually had a good impression of this gentle and gentle young man and left him. After Dou Jiande defeated Yu Wenhuaji, Yu Shinan became the Huangmen Minister under him. After Li Shimin captured Dou Jiande, he was introduced to the Qin government to join the army, and he and Fang Xuanling were in charge of Wenhan. In the seventh year of Zhenguan, he was given the title of Prince of Yongxing County. Yu Shinan was a pure scholar and a great calligrapher. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty valued his extensive knowledge and often discussed classics and history with him. Yu Shinan often took advantage of the history lectures to give advice and state the gains and losses of the past emperors. Moreover, he had a strong will to resist violence and went to admonish Taizong many times for building mausoleums, hunting and other matters. Li Shimin was a wise king for generations, so he was even more respectful to him. Taizong said that Yu Shinan had five special qualities: one was virtue, two was loyalty and uprightness, three was erudition, four was diction, and five was calligraphy. In the twelfth year of Zhenguan, Shinan died of illness at the age of eighty-one. Taizong "wept very much" and gave it to the Minister of Rites as a gift, giving him the posthumous title Wen Yi. Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji "The Four Great Masters of the Early Tang Dynasty" refer to the four calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty: Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji.