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Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy was a beginner of Chu Suiliang, then he learned to write in Zhang Xu and discussed calligraphy with Huai Su. He deeply studied the calligraphy of Erwang and Chu Suiliang, absorbed their strengths, completely got rid of the style of the early Tang Dynasty and created a new era of calligraphy style. Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy style is called "Yan Ti", and it is also called "Yan Liu" with Liu Gongquan, and has the reputation of "Yan Liu Jin Gu".
Yan Zhenqing's original calligraphy is magnificent and dignified, and its handwriting has changed from slender in the early Tang Dynasty to square and has a centripetal force. The pen is vigorous and powerful, and the central brushwork is good. Full of bones and muscles, but also sharp. Generally, horizontal painting is slightly thinner, vertical painting, point, skimming and pressing are slightly thicker. This book is magnificent in style and momentum, and has the spirit of flourishing Tang Dynasty.
His cursive script is vigorous, expressive, calm and vigorous, which opens up a complete life for the cursive script after Wang School. Yan Zhenqing's running script is vigorous and vigorous. This style also embodies the prosperous style of the Tang Dynasty empire and conforms to his noble personality. It is a typical example of the perfect combination of calligraphy beauty and personality beauty, so it is praised as "the second running script in the world" by later generations.
It is more dignified and vigorous, and Yan's tablet is also his work, but the fine strokes are different from other tablets. Yan's Temple Monument is rich in calligraphy, which is also his masterpiece in his later years. Compared with his early works, it is more vigorous and atmospheric, which is his masterpiece in his later years.
In the history of calligraphy, Yan Zhenqing created a unique realm of calligraphy with "Yan Ti". His calligraphy has outstanding spirituality, strong soul and rich life experience, so the realm is magnificent, vigorous and broad. In his youth, Yan Zhenqing asked Zhang Xu "how to be equal to the ancients".
It took him thirty or forty years of experience to become his own face and climate. Secondly, long-term tempering makes "Yan Ti" both in form and spirit. In his later years, he was still striving for perfection, and Yan Ti finally stood tall in the book world.
Fan Wenlan added in "A Brief History of China": "Ou, Yu, Chu and Xue in the early Tang Dynasty were only the inheritors of the calligraphy style of the two kings, and Yan Zhenqing in the prosperous Tang Dynasty was the creator of the calligraphy style of the Tang Dynasty." Yan Zhenqing's regular script, especially after the year of India, has formed a paradigm, and there are many learners in later generations, and there is even a saying that "learning books should be beautiful".
About 300 years after Yan Zhenqing's death, Huang Tingjian, a great calligrapher in the Song Dynasty, went to the place where he was killed. When he saw Yan's inscription on the wall, he was still filled with emotion. He wrote the following heartfelt words: "When Guan Yu Yan Shangshu died in Li Xilie, the inscription on the wall shed tears. Lu Gongwen is brave and can win glory with the sun and the moon. "