First of all, it is "Yan Zhenqing" rather than "Yan Zhenqing"
The Yan body is broad and majestic, majestic and simple; the European style is strict, integrating movement with stillness and danger with peace; the willow body is thin and hard Strong and strong bones; Zhao body is elegant, handsome and graceful. Each of the four has its own strengths, but there are also many difficulties as a beginner template. The face and body are sinewy, the needles are hidden in the cotton, and the softness contains strength. The European calligraphy style is subtle and rigorous. Ou and Yan are more difficult to learn, and it is not easy to grasp the essentials at the entry level. Willow style has an obvious tendency to be programmed, making it easy to enter posts but difficult to post. Zhao Ti's strength is its smoothness and beauty, but it also has the disadvantage of lack of slowness and weight. If it is not learned well, it will easily become vulgar and slippery. Although it is beneficial to application, from the perspective of developing into art, it is better to learn later.
Liu Gongquan
Tang Dynasty Emperor Dali thirteen years (778 AD) - Tang Yizong Xiantong six years (865 AD, aged 88 years. Jingzhao Huayuan (today's Shaanxi Province) Yao County), Gongzhi Prince Shaoshi, later known as "Liu Shaoshi". He first studied Wang Xizhi and studied the calligraphy of Ouyang Xun and Yan Zhenqing, and then became his own regular script writer. , Liu character is slightly thinner, so it is called "Yan Jin Liu Gu". Mu Zong asked Liu Gongquan how to use the pen, and Gongquan replied: "Use the pen with the heart, and the heart will be straight, and the pen will be straight." It is also an admonishment for writing. Zhu Changwen of the Song Dynasty said in "Mo Chi Bian": "Gongquan's official script and regular script are the most exquisite, and they are beyond the imagination. The method comes from the appearance, but adds strength and richness, and comes from the famous master." After Wang Xizhi's brushwork, he read all over modern calligraphy, so he tried his best to change his military style, learned from Yan Zhenqing, and incorporated his own new ideas, so that his calligraphy avoided the situation of being thin horizontally and thick vertically. He was sharp and tall, with strong bones and a tight body. Many scholars in later generations took Liu Zi as a model.
He passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-nine and served as a low-level official in the local area. Later, he was accidentally recruited by Emperor Muzong of the Tang Dynasty. After seeing his handwriting, he was summoned to Chang'an by the imperial court as soon as he became a calligrapher. At that time, Liu Gongquan was already in his forties. His character was strong and meticulous, and his handwriting also revealed this part of him. Because of this, his reputation and status in Chang'an were improved, and the princes and nobles spent huge sums of money to hire him.
After the prosperity of the mid-Tang Dynasty, calligraphy in the late Tang Dynasty declined. Although Liu Gongquan's calligraphy was revived for a while, compared with Yan's calligraphy, it was still slightly inferior. Calligraphy flourished in the Tang Dynasty, but it has since declined. Liu Gongquan's regular script often interspersed some strokes closely to make it more popular. The broad areas are particularly broad, the strokes are thin and vigorous, and the edges and corners are sharp. Although the brushwork was written by Yan Zhenqing, it is different from Yan Zhenqing's broad and generous style, which makes him particularly heroic.
Liu Gongquan died at the age of eighty. *Served seven emperors, and finally died in office as the prince's young master.
He has many handed down writings, among which the most influential ones include "Mysterious Tower", "Shence Military Monument" and "Shen Ce Jun Stele". "Diamond Sutra", etc.
1. "Shence Jun Stele": regular script, established in the third year of Huichang in Tang Dynasty (AD 843). It is one of Liu Gongquan's masterpieces and is better known to later generations as "Xuanmi Pagoda". The calligraphy style is more distinctive, with a smooth and even structure, tight on the left and comfortable on the right. It is also a good example for writing.
2. "Liu Shu Diamond Sutra": regular script, Tang Changqinggang year (AD 824). ), carved in April. The original stone was destroyed in the Song Dynasty. There is an only copy of the Tang inscription from the Dunhuang Stone Chamber in Gansu Province, which is now in the Paris Museum in France. Critics believe that the regular script of the Diamond Sutra has the characteristics of Zhong (Yao) and Wang (Xizhi). , Ou (Yangxun), Yu (Shinan), Chu (Suiliang), and Lu (Dongzhi) have high artistic value.
3. "Mysterious Tower Stele": Regular script. It was erected in the first February of the first year of Huichang in the Tang Dynasty (AD 841). The original stele is now in the Stele Forest in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. This stele is the most famous among the handed down calligraphy works. It is one of the most influential regular script models in history.
Ouyang Xiu
His courtesy name is Yongshu, his nickname is Drunkard, and he is also known as Liuyi layman. Luling (now a native of Shaxi, Yongfeng County). An outstanding writer and historian in the Northern Song Dynasty. His father died when he was four years old and his family was poor. His mother painted the ground with grass and taught him to write. Recite many ancient passages and turn them into poems, "the writing is unexpected." In the eighth year of Tiansheng's reign (1030), he became a Jinshi and served as a left-behind official in Xijing.
The grass path is strong and straight, full of ancient charm, and the first one is the memorial to my nephew.
Occupying a special position in the history of Chinese calligraphy, the only one who can compete with the great calligrapher Wang Xizhi and shine successively is Yan Zhenqing. His calligraphy is mostly regular script and also includes cursive script. The stele written in regular script is upright, beautiful and powerful. He was born when regular script was popular and, opposite to Wang Xizhi's example, he ushered in a new trend in calligraphy.
Yan Zhenqing was born as a Jinshi. He first became famous when he was serving as the prefect of Pingyuan. When An Lushan raised troops in Fan Yang, all the counties in Hebei surrendered. Only Yan Zhenqing stayed in Pingyuan City, serving as the leader of the rebel army and doing his best for the Tang Dynasty. Finally, on Dezong's order, he went to the rebel general Li Xilie to persuade him to surrender, but unfortunately he was killed. And his life-long loyal and heroic deeds further enhanced his status in the calligraphy world. Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy is just like his character, with positive fronts from beginning to end. Therefore, the so-called stereotyped brushwork of Yanfa has less artistic value, but this brushwork can give full play to the composure and perseverance of men.
After the mid-Tang Dynasty, due to the separation of vassal towns and wars, the old system was on the verge of collapse. Yan Zhenqing's rise to establish a new model of regular script is a reflection of the principles of the Heart Sutra in rebuilding a new order. However, there was a distance between the strict regular script and the social background of the time. Therefore, after the end of the Tang Dynasty, the development of calligraphy art was concentrated in cursive script, and the classical model finally gave way to the individualistic lyrical style.
Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy, known as Yan style, has his unique style and brushwork. He left many inscriptions, and later calligraphers believe that traces of the "round brush" can be found in some of his inscriptions, which are different from the "square brush" of other calligraphers.
Yan Zhenqing is regarded as the pioneer of calligraphy using round pens. Both he and Wang Xizhi, who used the square brush, had a profound and far-reaching influence on later generations.
Yan Zhenqing’s existing calligraphy works include: Duobao Pagoda Stele, Yan’s Family Temple Stele, Yan Qin’s Ceremony Stele, Magu Immortal Altar Story, Uncle Sacrifice Manuscripts, etc. He and Liu Gongquan, another calligrapher famous for his regular script in Tang poetry, were collectively called "Yan Liu".
His calligraphy works are numerous, and it is said that more than 130 kinds have been handed down. The regular scripts that are valued by future generations include the regular script "Duobao Pagoda", "Oriental Painting Praise Stele", "Magu Immortal Altar", "Guojia Temple Stele", "Yan Qin Li Stele", etc. These regular scripts on the stele have individuality and characteristics. It has an informal front, solemn but not dangerous momentum, but the strokes are thin horizontally and thick vertically and the feet are too fast. When learning, you should pursue its charm and not simply pursue the similarity. His running script "Manuscript of Memorial to Nephew Jiming" is a masterpiece created with grief and indignation, and is known as the second running script in the world. There are also running scripts such as "Tie for the Seat" and "General Pei's Tie".
"Duobao Pagoda Stele", the full name is "Inscription on Duobao Pagoda in Qianfu Temple, Xijing, Tang Dynasty": regular script, written by Cen Xun, inscribed by Xu Hao. The font is well-proportioned and plump. It was established in April of the eleventh year of Tianbao, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (725 AD). The stele is stored in the Stele Forest in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.