Dong Qichang's Masterpiece of Calligraphy

Most of Dong Qichang's existing works were created after his forties and fifties, and there were few early works. The existing regular script "Guanhou Temple Monument" is his early work "Writing for Peace" when he was about 35 years old. At first glance, calligraphy is not like the common Dong character, but mainly imitates the calligraphy of Tang Dynasty Umbrella, and has the calligraphy styles of Yan Zhenqing and Wang Xizhi.

In his later years, his works gradually changed, such as Yan Zhenqing Zanbei, Sacrificing a Bell to the King, Xu Hao Sanzang Monk Tablet, Regular Script Yuefu, Running Script Yueyang Tower and so on. Judging from these works, the ancient calligraphy created by Wang Xizhi, Zhong You, Yan Zhenqing, Yu Shinan, Mi Fei and Xu Hao are all within his scope, so his works have various styles.

For example, Yu Shinan, the regular script Yuefu, has a slender font and beautiful brushwork, which won Yu Shu's gentle meaning. Xu Hao and Yan Zhenqing's regular script "Sanzang Monk's Monument" and "Painting Praise Monument" devoted themselves to the convergence and simplicity of calligraphy, but hardly learned Yu Shu's natural and natural brushwork.

Yang Yue Lou Ji, written by Mishu, is full of words and dangers. The pen is cool and energetic in many ways. Compared with the peaceful and interesting feeling in Zhong Wang's post, it is completely different.

Dong Qichang's artistic creation of calligraphy entered a free stage after he was 60 years old. In his later years, his representative works include Preface to Liu Gongquan's Lanting Collection, Imperial edict of III, Friends of Stone Stage, Yan Zhenqing Seating, etc. During this period, his calligraphy became more and more proficient, not only writing from the heart, but also combining the artistic characteristics of various schools, making him more clear. He wants to finally get rid of the traditional old methods.

Create your own style. His works in this period, on the one hand, show the simplicity of calligraphy with seemingly casual and relaxed brushwork, on the other hand, reflect Gu Zhuo with poor brushwork.