Ouyang Xun Jiucheng Gong Liquan Ming

Author: Jiang Liping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Beginners in calligraphy must start by copying ancient stele inscriptions, striving for strokes, structures, and styles to be as similar as possible. Once copying is mastered, one must move on to creation, yet this creative passion often ends in failure. The transition from copying to creation is not an easy step to cross—some may spend their entire lives unable to make the leap or fail to do so properly, leading them astray. Selecting characters from the copied steles to compile into works is an excellent method. However, the characters in the work may not all be found in the copied steles. Even if they are found and pieced together, they cannot achieve coherence in aspects such as size, weight, inclination, and mutual correspondence. For this reason, the author decided to invite experienced calligraphers to edit and publish a set of couplets and poetic inscriptions composed of characters from famous steles throughout history, leveraging computer image processing technology to deliver the most perfect results to readers.
This volume is based on the representative stele Nine Dragons Spring Inscription by Ou Yangxun, written at the age of 75. Ou Yangxun, styled Xinyuan, was a native of Linxiang, Tanzhou. He held the position of Taizisi Ligeng (Director of the Palace Attendants) and was a scholar at the Hongwen Academy. He was enfeoffed as Bohai County Male and was one of the four great calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty. This stele is renowned for its strict adherence to rules, vigorous brushwork, and dynamic yet balanced structure. It is hailed as the pinnacle of all-generation regular script and is an excellent model for beginners in calligraphy. The compilers devoted months of effort to selecting characters for each couplet, avoiding rigid adherence and appropriately using computer technology for coordination, ultimately recreating the original stele's charm.