What are the characteristics of Liu Gongquan, a great calligrapher in Tang Dynasty?

Liu Gongquan, a native of Jingyuan (now Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province), was an outstanding calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. He loved calligraphy since he was a child and was diligent in practice. It is said that he doesn't care if his hands are ground with thick cocoons and his elbows are patched layer by layer. After hard training, Liu Gongquan finally became a famous calligrapher. At the age of 29, he was admitted as a scholar and served as a junior official in the local area. Later, Tang Muzong came across his handwriting and thought it was a masterpiece of calligraphy, so he called Liu Gongquan to Chang 'an. At that time, Liu Gongquan was over 40 years old. He is a man with both backbone and meticulousness; Similarly, his handwriting also reveals his characteristics. In Chang 'an, his reputation and status have been improved, and ordinary princes and nobles are willing to pay huge sums of money to ask him to write books.

Liu Gongquan well summarized the changes and development of regular script from Jin to Tang. He started with Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, and later specialized in Europe and Yan. His calligraphy inherited the magnificent characteristics of the swallow style, avoiding the plump vertical painting of the swallow style, and making the horizontal and vertical paintings generally uniform and thin. It also absorbs the strong and angular features of China's calligraphy in Beibei, making stippling as smooth and profound as a knife. He also inherited the charming style of calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty and created Liu Ti with his own unique artistic style. Kang Youwei said in "Two Ships in Guangyi" that "Liu Gongquan got the disease of correcting hypertrophy, and he devoted himself to purity and energy". His regular script is particularly famous. Its regular script is vigorous and charming, forming its own family. Like Yan Zhenqing, it is called "Yan Liu".

Liu Gongquan is known as "Liu" from the official to the prince. Because of his title, many people, even foreign envoys, bought his words with treasures. At that time, almost all the epitaphs of Chen Temple were written by Liu Gongquan. His words were always valued in Tang Muzong, Jing Zong and Wenzong. He lived in the official residence, served books, grew up in the Forbidden City and had a successful career. Literati called his ci "Zhong Wang's resurrection is hard to see". But he is straightforward and often satirizes the emperor with calligraphy. It is said that Tang Muzong once asked him how to use the pen best. He said: "With a pen in your heart, your heart is always there." This famous saying was passed down by later generations as a story of "pen admonition"

Liu Gongquan's calligraphy can be divided into two styles: one is represented by the engraving of the Diamond Sutra and the Su Feng Monument, which is rigorous and steady in structure, smart and vigorous in brushwork, and has the charm and interest of regular script since the Jin and Tang Dynasties; One kind, taking the tablet of Shence Army and the tablet of Xuanta as the table, changes the charming style of regular script in Jin and Tang Dynasties, is open, generous, fascinating and self-contained. In a word, his calligraphy is firm, clean, vigorous, straight, rigorous and vigorous. Although he studied Yan, he made some innovations, so he was called "Yan Gu" with Yan.

Liu Gongquan has many works handed down from generation to generation. The inscriptions handed down from ancient times include the Diamond Sutra, the Mysterious Tower Monument and the Su Feng Monument. Among them, the engraved version of Diamond Sutra, the mysterious pagoda monument and the Shence Army monument can best represent its regular script style. Liu Gongquan's cursive scripts include Shen Fu, Sixteenth and Insulting Xiang Tie. Their style is still inherited from the royal style, rigorous and natural. In addition, there are ink marks such as "Zhao Meng Post" and "Pear Post and Postscript from Wang Xianzhi". Among them, the most representative is the mysterious tower monument. The mysterious pagoda monument is a regular script work. In February of the first year of Huichang, Tang Wuzong (84 1), the original monument is now Xi 'an Forest of Steles in Shaanxi. This monument is the most famous among Liu Gongquan's handed down books, and it is one of the most influential models of regular script.

Liu Gongquan is a famous calligrapher who has made great contributions to the development of calligraphy. Because of its profound calligraphy attainments and high reputation, it is valued by future generations. The critic said, "Books are expensive, thin and hard, and they can understand God." Liu Gongquan's calligraphy won by this and became a model for future generations to learn. In the Song Dynasty, Zhu Zai said: "The official script of public power is the best, but the grass can't make people. Its law is based on beauty, but it is rich and rich, and it is a famous family. "