Selected Calligraphic Works of Past Generations Qing Dynasty, Fu Shan, "Five-Character Ancient Poem in Running Script Scroll"

Author: Jiang Yin
Publisher: Xiling Press
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: Fu Shan (1607–1684), originally named Ding Chen, originally styled Qingzhu, later styled Qingzhu, also styled Renzhong, and also known as Gongzhai, Stone, and Stone Taoist. From Yangqu County, Shanxi Province (now Taiyuan City), at the age of 38, he witnessed the fall of the Ming Dynasty and lived as an exile for the rest of his life, wearing red robes, dwelling in a cave, and calling himself the Red Robe Taoist and Zhuoweng. He refused to take the Qing imperial examinations to death, with an indomitable personality. He was knowledgeable in classics, history, the Hundred Schools of Thought, and Buddhist and Taoist studies, particularly skilled in medicine, calligraphy and painting, and also in seal carving. Quanzuwang said in "Brief Account of Master Fu of Yangqu" that he "was excellent in calligraphy, from small and large seal scripts to clerical script, and was also skilled in painting." Indeed, Fu Shan's aesthetic philosophy of calligraphy may have more practical significance today. His calligraphy theories are quite rich, with the most representative ones being: "First, become a person before writing characters; extraordinary people write extraordinary characters," and "I know the realm of calligraphy well, but I cannot achieve it because the interaction between the heart, hands, paper, and brush interferes. To achieve it as expected is skill. To achieve it unexpectedly is fate. Every line and every character has its own fate. When the spirit reaches the brush, it is fate. When the brush does not reach the spirit, it is fate. Whether it reaches or not is fate. What else can I say? It is hard to say." These are widely known and also controversial. Combined with the following ones for analysis, his "clumsiness," "ugliness," "fragmentation," and "simplicity" are linked to character, seeking integrity, resilience, and detesting vulgarity and servility; secondly, it emphasizes the process, "strangeness" must arise from the extreme of "correctness," and "clumsiness" is the image of great skill; thirdly, it advocates naturalness, achieving skill without striving for it, and unintentional excellence, reflecting his understanding of Laozi and Zhuangzi thought in calligraphy. "Ink of Five-Character Ancient Poem in Running and Cursive Script," ink rubbing, 25.4 cm in height, 336.8 cm in width. This scroll is written in running and cursive script, with most character structures following the rules of running script and most brushstrokes connected and intertwined, vigorous and unrestrained, executed with skillful composition. The layout is full of ups and downs, insertions, and interactions in an effortless manner. There is a long postscript after the poem, sealed with "Fu Shan Seal."