Yan style was created by Yan Zhenqing, a calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty. Together with Liu Gongquan, it is called "Yan Liu", and there is a saying of "Yan Jin Liu Gu". "Yan style" refers to Yan Zhenqing's regular script, which has a square and dense structure, light horizontal strokes and heavy vertical strokes, powerful and round thick strokes, and a solemn and vigorous momentum.
Yan Zhenqing (709-785) was a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. The courtesy name is Qingchen, a native of Jingzhao Wannian (now Xi'an, Shaanxi), and his ancestral home is Langya Linyi (now Linyi, Shandong). In the history of books, he is also called Yan Lugong. He is an upright person. An innovator of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty, he set a banner for calligraphy in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. Yan Zhenqing studied calligraphy since he was a child, and was taught by Zhang Xu himself. He also learned from Cai Yong, Wang Xizhi, Wang Xianzhi, Chu Suiliang and others, integrated them and developed them to form a unique style. His cursive handwriting is full of conciseness and simplicity.
Yan Zhenqing opened up a new and magnificent realm of calligraphy: in terms of characteristics, the appearance and body shape are completely new, the laws are severe, and the momentum is unprecedented. From an aesthetic point of view, dignified beauty, masculine beauty, and artificial beauty all go hand in hand in the face and body, and You set the standard for future generations. From the perspective of the era, the early Tang Dynasty inherited the remnants of the Jin and Song Dynasties and failed to stand on its own. As soon as the Yan style emerged, the new style cast by the Tang Dou Tan became one of the distinctive features of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
His regular script is contrary to the calligraphy style of the early Tang Dynasty. He uses seal script to transform thin and hard into plump and powerful. The structure is broad and magnificent, and the bones are strong and majestic. This style also embodies the great style. The prosperous demeanor of the Tang Dynasty is consistent with his noble personality. It is an example of the perfect combination of the beauty of calligraphy and the beauty of personality. His calligraphy style is called "Yan style", and together with Liu Gongquan, he is called "Yan Liu", and he is known as "Yan Jin Liu Gu".
Among the middle-aged works, "Guo Xuji Stele" and "Duobao Pagoda Stele" are his representative works. His personal style has not yet been formed, and the structure is rigorous, elegant and handsome. Among the older works, "Yan Qinli Stele" is the first representative work. At this time, he began to expand outside, and his strong and powerful personal style had already been formed. In his later years, his works are represented by "The Story of the Immortal Altar of Magu Mountain", etc., and his writing style has a lot of ancient and clumsy interest.
Yan Zhenqing created a unique realm of calligraphy with "Yan style" in the history of calligraphy. Yan Lugong's calligraphy is not only tied to his outstanding spirituality, the realm is naturally magnificent; not only is it cast with a strong soul, the realm is naturally vigorous; and it is born from the richness of people, so the realm is naturally broad. In his youthful days, Yan Zhenqing asked Zhang Xu for advice on "how to be equal to the ancients". This is Yan's calligraphy aspirations and his high aspirations. This Miao descendant of the Yan family, who used a loess broom to sweep walls and learn calligraphy since childhood, stood at a high starting point for calligraphy almost from the beginning. As for Kunpeng's calligraphy, it took almost thirty or forty years of experience before he finally developed his own look and style. Subsequently, decades of hard work have been used to refine and enrich it, making the "face and body" both physical and spiritual. In his later years, he still wanted to achieve perfection and reach a state of perfection. "Yan Ti" finally stood firm in the world of calligraphy.
Yan Zhenqing opened up a new and magnificent realm of calligraphy: in terms of characteristics, the newness of Yan's body shape, the severity of the law, and the majestic momentum are unprecedented. Aesthetically speaking, the beauty of the face and body is dignified, masculine, and artificial, all of which are equally beautiful and set the standard for future generations. From the perspective of the era, the early Tang Dynasty inherited the remnants of the Jin and Song Dynasties and failed to stand on its own. As soon as the Yan style emerged, the new style cast by the Tang Zhongtan became one of the distinctive Yang styles in the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
The times have created the realm of Yan’s calligraphy, just like the times have created the realm of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, an era of long-term social turmoil, cultural history became an era of brilliance. The art of calligraphy in this era has become an art and skill in the hands of scholar-bureaucrats who consciously express their lofty ideas. They deeply discovered the external beauty of nature and the inner beauty of spirit. Wang Xizhi is the "Sage of Calligraphy" created in this era. However, the Tang Dynasty entered the most glorious era in ancient Chinese history. The politics, economy, and military of the Tang Empire surpassed the past and reached their peak. Culture and art were in bloom; people faced the great progress of society with a new vision and values. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty was very fond of Wang Youjun's calligraphy. He personally praised the original biography of "Book of Jin" and spent a lot of money to copy it.
Although Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji had their own achievements in the early Tang Dynasty, they failed to truly create a new calligraphy style for the Tang Dynasty.
Yan Zhenqing was the first to create a new generation of calligraphy. He was a minister of the Tang Dynasty and a descendant of a family of calligraphers. He paid close attention to the evolution of calligraphy. Han Yu once ridiculed those who said "Xi's vulgar books tend to be charming", which was one-sided because he failed to correctly evaluate Wang's books, but his original intention was to establish a new value and aesthetics based on his own era. Therefore, Du Shi, Han Wen, and Yan Shu all have their own style based on the background of the new era. "Catch Yan Lugong out, incorporate the ancient methods into the new ideas, create new methods out of the ancient ideas, mold everything, hide all the advantages, and Shaoling's poems and Changli's essays are all the same ones that can cause the decline of the Eight Dynasties , so it became a book of the Tang Dynasty" ("Shu Lin Zao Jian"). Yan Shu's emphasis on bones, fatness, and law, advocating dignity, broadness, and boldness, and emphasizing momentum, courage, and majesty can all be found in the refracted projection of the times from the society of the Tang Dynasty. Yan Zhenqing created the sound of the prosperous Tang Dynasty in calligraphy. This is the magnificent realm of Yan Shu.
The realm of Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy can be seen from the broad scope of his pottery and casting education.