Cursive script is a type of Chinese character font, characterized by its simple structure and continuous strokes. It was formed in the Han Dynasty and evolved on the basis of official script for the convenience of writing. There are Zhangcao, Jincao and Kuangcao. The aesthetic characteristic of cursive script is that it feels beautiful even in the madness. There were many cursive calligraphy masters in ancient times. The following are the ten most representative cursive calligraphy masters.
Zhang Zhi
Zhang Zhi, whose birth and death dates are unknown, was born in Jiuquan, Dunhuang (now part of Gansu). His courtesy name was Boying, Shanzhangcao, and he was later removed. In the old days, Zhang Cao, stipples, and Bo Jie were omitted, and became "Jin Cao". Zhang Huaiguan's "Shu Guan" said that he "learned the methods of Cui (Yuan) and Du (Cao), so he changed them to become Jin Cao, and turned into essence." Its wonderful. The style of the characters is made up of one stroke, with occasional discontinuities but continuous blood. For those that are connected, the energy flows through every other line. Wei Dan, a calligrapher of the Wei Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms, called him "Cao Sheng". It had a profound influence on later generations Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi's cursive calligraphy. There are very few original copies of Zhang Zhi's calligraphy handed down, and only the second volume of "Chunhua Pavilion Calligraphy" engraved in the Song Dynasty contains Zhang Zhi's five calligraphy works. There are different opinions on whether these are genuine or fake, and it is still difficult to determine.
Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi (303-361), Han nationality, courtesy name Yishao, alias Danzhai, originally from Langya Linyi (now Shandong), later moved to Shanyin (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) , was a great calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His representative works include: "Le Yi Lun" and "Huang Ting Jing" in regular script, "Seventeen Tie" in cursive script, "Auntie Tie" in running script, "Quick Snow Shiqing Tie" and "Sangluan Tie" in running script, and regular script "Lanting Preface". "wait. He studied the body movements carefully, imitated the calligraphy with his heart, picked up the strengths of many people, and cultivated them in one furnace, creating a running script that is "natural in nature and rich in spirit", and is praised as the "Sage of Calligraphy" by future generations.
Wang Xianzhi
Wang Xianzhi (344-386), a calligrapher and poet of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, was born in Linyi, Shandong Province. He was the seventh son of Wang Xizhi. Together with his father, he is called the "Second King". Wang Xianzhi followed his father to practice Chinese calligraphy since he was a child, and he had great ambitions. Later, he also took Zhang Zhi and became one. He is famous for his running script and cursive script. "Mid-Autumn Tie" in cursive script has twenty-two characters, with a new look and auspicious light, which is rare in the world. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty included it in "Sanxi Tie" and regarded it as a "national treasure". He also created "a stroke of calligraphy", changing his father's disconnected grass up and down into connected grass, often with consecutive numbers. Because of his bold and majestic calligraphy, he is valued by the world.
Sun Guoting
Sun Guoting (648-703), whose courtesy name was Qianli, has two theories about his birthplace: one is that he was from Chenliu (now Kaifeng, Henan); the other is that he was from Fuyang (now southwest of Hangzhou). Generally speaking, he is called a Fuyang person, but he calls himself a person from Wujun (now Suzhou, Jiangsu). He is good at calligraphy and calligraphy theory. He is erudite and good at writing, and he is especially good at cursive calligraphy. Cursive calligraphy master "Two Kings". He is good at naming names in cursive script, and he is especially good at using the pen, which is sharp and rigid, which is very curious. He is also good at copying ancient calligraphy, and it is often difficult to distinguish between genuine and fake ones. Sun Guoting was also a calligraphy theorist. He wrote "Calligraphy" and was deeply interested in the purpose of calligraphy. It has been passed down to this day and has become a model for learning cursive script. "Calligraphy" is an epoch-making treatise on calligraphy in the history of Chinese calligraphy, laying the foundation for the theory of calligraphy aesthetics. Sun Guoting's calligraphy is based on the calligraphy of the "two kings", and he picks up the chapters and cursives on the side, blending the two into one, and expressing his own ideas.
Zhang Xu
Zhang Xu, whose birth and death dates are unknown, was born in Wujun (Suzhou, Jiangsu). Zhang Xu is free and uninhibited, open-minded, outstanding, talented, and knowledgeable. He is a very unique cursive calligrapher. Because he often gets drunk, he screams and runs away, and then writes a book, and even writes with his hair dipped in ink. , so he is also known as Zhang Dian. Hou Huaisu inherited and developed his writing style, which was also named after cursive script, and was also called "Dian Zhang Zui Su". Zhang Xu's calligraphy was first developed by Zhang Zhi and Er Wang, and he achieved the highest level in cursive script. Historically known as the "Grass Saint". He himself is proud to inherit the tradition of "Er Wang", and his every word is legal. On the other hand, he imitates Zhang Zhi's cursive calligraphy skills and creates wild cursive calligraphy that is free and upright, unpredictable and shocking to the world.
Huai Su
Huai Su (737-799) was a calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. His common surname is Qian, his courtesy name is Zangzhen, and he is a native of Lingling County, Hunan. Because he became a monk, he was called "Lingling Monk" or "Shi Changsha" in the history of writing.
Huaisu is an outstanding calligrapher in Chinese history. His cursive calligraphy is called "Kuaicao". His pen is round and powerful, turning like a circle, unrestrained and smooth, and completed in one go. He is as famous as Zhang Xu. In later generations, he was known as "Zhang Diansu Maniac" or "Dian Zhang Zuisu". His cursive scripts include "Self-narrative Post", "Bitter Bamboo Shoot Post", "Eating Fish Post", "Notre Dame Post", "On Calligraphy Post", "Da Cao Qian Wen", "Xiao Cao Qian Wen", "Forty-Two Chapter Sutra" and "Thousand Character Essay". "Zhen Zhen Tie", "Qi Tie", "Beiting Cao Bi" and so on.
Huang Tingjian
Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), whose courtesy name was Lu Zhi, was known as Valley Taoist and later as Fu Weng. He was also known as Huang Yuzhang. He was a native of Fenning, Hongzhou (now Xiushui, Jiangxi). . He was a poet, lyricist, and calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was the founder of the Jiangxi Poetry School, which was very popular at that time. Good at articles and poetry, especially calligraphy. Huang Tingjian's calligraphy was originally taught by Zhou Yue of the Song Dynasty. Later, he was influenced by Yan Zhenqing, Huai Su, Yang Ningshi and others, and was inspired by the calligraphy style of Jiao Shan's "痗 Crane Inscription", and formed his own style of cursive writing. Huang Tingjian's large-character running script is concise and powerful, with a unique structure. Almost every character has some exaggerated long paintings, and he tried his best to send it out, forming a new knotting method of tightly closing the middle palace and diverging four edges, which had a great influence on later generations. The structure is obviously influenced by Huaisu, but the twists and turns of the writing are completely different from Huaisu's rhythm. Before him, roundness and smoothness were the keynotes of cursive script. However, Huang Tingjian's cursive script has a strange character structure and creative composition. He often uses displacement methods to break the boundaries between characters, allowing lines to form new combinations and strong rhythm changes. Therefore, he has special charm and became an outstanding representative of the calligraphy circle of the Northern Song Dynasty. He became a pioneer of calligraphy style with Su Shi.
Dong Qichang
Dong Qichang (1555-1636), also known as "Xuanzai" and "Yuanzai", also known as Sibai and Xiangguang layman, was known as "Dong Huating". A famous painter, calligrapher, calligraphy and painting theorist, and calligraphy and painting connoisseur in the late Ming Dynasty. The main representative of the Huating faction. Dong Qichang's calligraphy is most accomplished in cursive script. His calligraphy combines the calligraphy styles of Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan schools and is self-contained. His calligraphy style is elegant, ethereal and self-sufficient. The pen is used carefully and always maintains a straight edge, with few clumsy or clumsy strokes; in terms of composition, the layout of words, lines and lines is divided into lines, sparse and well-proportioned, and strives to follow the ancient method. The use of ink is also very particular, using dry, wet, thick and light to achieve its beauty. Calligraphy reached Dong Qichang, which can be said to be the culmination of ancient methods. His hands were masters of the "Six Types" and "Eight Methods". At that time, he was already well-known in foreign countries. His calligraphy was spread among the world, and people competed for it. ?
Wang Duo
Wang Duo (1592-1652), also known as Juesi or Juezhi. His name was Shiqiao, Songqiao, Chi'an, Chixian Taoist, and his official name was Yantan Yusou. A native of Mengjin (now Mengjin, Henan Province). Wang Duo has made great achievements in poetry, calligraphy and painting, especially his calligraphy, which is known as "Wang Duo the Magic Pen" in the world. His calligraphy is as famous as Dong Qichang. In the late Ming Dynasty, he was known as the "King of South, Dong and North". His calligraphy brushes were well-regulated and relaxed, but full of free and powerful power. Wang Duo was good at calligraphy, and his calligraphy was vigorous, free and easy, dripping with joy. His ink writings were handed down from generation to generation, and many of his calligraphy, rulers and inscriptions were engraved on stone. His calligraphy is very popular in Japan, South Korea, Singapore and other countries. The Japanese admired Wang Duo's calligraphy so much that they developed a sect called "Ming and Qing Diao". His "Mountain Garden Post" was introduced to Japan and caused a sensation. They ranked Wang Duo as the first-class calligrapher and put forward the view that "the queen king (Wang Duo) is better than the former king (Wang Xizhi)".
Fu Shan
Fu Shan (1607-1684), courtesy name Qingzhu and nickname Zhenshan, was born in Yangqu (now Taiyuan), Shanxi. He was a famous scholar, calligrapher, poet, and medical scientist in the late Ming Dynasty in my country. Fu Shan was born in a scholarly family. He was the second among three brothers. Both brothers are ordinary people, but Fu Shan is smart since he was a child, has a strong memory for blog posts, is studious, and is good at thinking. He inherited his family knowledge and carried it forward, writing forty volumes of "Shuang Hong Ni Ji Ji". There are many things of his own in the lines and language of Fu Shan's cursive script. The continuous breath is overwhelming and the emotion is more abundant than that of Wang Duo. He writes in cursive form, adding continuous lines and combinations, making it richer and more expressive.