Wèi, Jìn, Táng small regular script nine types common practice

Author: Liu Xiaoqing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: After the publication of the "Historical Stele Copying Series," it was well-received by a broad audience of calligraphy enthusiasts. Following the editorial stance of this series, we continue to select stele copies suitable for calligraphy foundation learning, inviting contemporary prominent calligraphers to create comprehensive copies of each piece, launching the second volume of the "Historical Stele Copying Series" with eight titles. Faced with these stele copies that are familiar and highly chosen by learners at the beginning stage, especially those renowned for their "strict adherence to rules" and "dignified and meticulous" styles from the Sui and Tang dynasties, the calligraphers' seemingly simple comprehensive copying is not as effortless as one might imagine. They largely face three challenges. First, understanding, grasping, and reproducing the engraved calligraphy that has suffered from erosion, wind damage, or even loss, to ensure that the resulting inkwork aligns with the technical characteristics and overall temperament of the original stele copies. Second, handling the relationship between form and spirit, so that the copied works can reflect the "formal imitation" in subtle details of each calligraphic style, strokes, and structures, while also striving to convey the "spiritual resemblance" of a lively and harmonious composition. The third challenge is to coordinate the relationship between the calligrapher's personal style and the style of the stele copies being copied. Comprehensive copying seems to be a reluctantly self-sacrificing process in pursuit of another's style, but calligraphers with decades of practice and well-established writing habits and artistic orientations cannot simply copy like beginners. How to integrate their personalized understanding and practice into the technical features and artistic quality of the copied stele copies, making both complement each other, is a puzzle and challenge faced by almost every calligrapher. Based on this, the calligraphers combine decades of calligraphy expertise, repeatedly refining and practicing the original stele copies, accurately grasping the above requirements, and presenting to readers works that are both visually reference-worthy and artistically appreciable.