Why did calligraphy pay attention to inscriptions in the early Qing Dynasty?
A striking phenomenon of calligraphy in the early Qing Dynasty is that epigraphy began to appear at this time. On the one hand, Han intellectuals with strong national consciousness devote themselves to studying in order to maintain the orthodox position of Chinese culture under the general trend of failure of armed anti-Qing and regaining sight; On the other hand, during the periods of Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong, the literary inquisition continued, especially the harsh dictatorship of Yong Zhengdi, which oppressed the Han intellectuals and banned books to promote literary inquisition, forcing the academic direction of Han scholars to turn to textual research. The rise of textual research promoted the development of philology and epigraphy. In the early Qing Dynasty, under the influence of scholars such as Gu, Yan Ruoqu, Zhu Yizun and Huang Zongxi, epigraphy research and visiting monuments also spread to the calligraphy circle. Stimulated by the search and excavation of epigraphy, people paid more and more attention to inscriptions, which aroused many calligraphers' strong interest in the study and research of official seals, and the epigraphy movement began. The origin of the calligraphy of steles began with the official script writer represented by Zheng Zhang, and gradually developed from official script to seal script.