Tang Yan Zhenqing's Calligraphy of Eastern Painting Zan Stele

Author: Editorial Group of "Selected Calligraphies from Ancient Inscriptions"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-08-01
Features: The "Painting Praise of Dongfang Shuo Stele" was written by Yan when he was forty-six years old and is one of his representative works. The calligraphy style is sharp, vigorous, and full of vitality. Song Dynasty Su Shi praised in "Dongpo Collection": [Yan Wugu's life-long inscriptions were only the "Painting Praise of Dongfang Shuo" that were clear and heroic. The characters are neatly arranged without losing their elegance. Later, seeing the original of Wang Xizhi, I realized that Yan Wugu's every character was modeled after this calligraphy. Although the sizes differ, the artistic spirit is excellent. It is not easy to achieve such mastery in calligraphy.] Song Dynasty Huang Tingjian praised in "Shanshui Notes": [The brushwork is round yet strong, with a balanced thickness. However, the characters are slightly long. This is because Cui Ziyu's characters were like this, and the predecessors may have used one person's brushwork at different times.] There are not many rubbings of the "Painting Praise of Dongfang Shuo Stele," and good rubbings are even rarer. The photocopied rubbings have more ink stains, but the characters on both the front and back of the stele are complete.