Tang Liu Liguan's "Stele of the Profound Secret Pagoda"

Author: Cui Wei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: This tutorial focuses on techniques, covering aspects such as strokes, radicals, structure, and composition in clerical script. It emphasizes making basic techniques comprehensive, microscopic, specific, and highly operational. The selected examples are highly targeted, and the accompanying explanations are concise yet to the point.
Clerical script is primarily a static script style, with its strokes, radicals, and structures following certain norms and relatively fixed patterns. Therefore, many calligraphy enthusiasts regard it as the entry-level script for learning calligraphy, and many teachers also choose it as the first script for students to learn. Many calligraphers throughout history have practiced clerical script, leaving behind numerous clerical script relics with diverse styles. This provides ample choices for later learners. However, the famous clerical script works that have had a profound impact on calligraphy history remain excellent models for study. Based on this consideration, this tutorial, Clerical Script Practice by Famous Calligraphers Through the Ages, selects eight works: the Zhang Menglong Stele and Zhang He’nu’s Tomb Inscription from the Northern Wei period, the Liquan Temple Stele by Ouyang Xun from the Tang Dynasty, the Yanta Holy Teaching Order by Chu Suiliang, the Dabao Pagoda Stele and Yanlin Temple Stele by Yan Zhenqing, the Xuanmi Pagoda Stele by Liu Gongquan, and the Moyan Temple Record by Zhao Yu from the Yuan Dynasty.
This tutorial focuses on techniques, covering aspects such as strokes, radicals, structure, and composition in clerical script. Its key features are:
First, enhancing editorial involvement. From the development and justification of the topic, the outline writing, the selection of authors and calligraphy book versions, to the design of the cover and layout, the editorial team participates in every step, actively seeking expert advice to strive for high-quality content for readers.
Second, improving writing quality. This tutorial emphasizes making basic techniques comprehensive, microscopic, specific, and highly operational. The selected examples are highly targeted, and the accompanying explanations are concise yet to the point.
The Xuanmi Pagoda Stele is a representative work of Liu Gongquan. This stele features sharp and crisp brushwork, clean and neat in structure. When practicing this stele, attention should be paid to its combination of square and round brushstrokes, with square starts and round ends, avoiding excessive exposure of the calligrapher’s skill.