Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, "Seventeen Cursive Calligraphy Manuscripts": A Step-by-Step Guide for Practicing Cursive Calligraphy by Famous Calligraphers Throughout History

Author: Li Zhenggeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: "The Calligraphy Practice Course for Famous Calligraphers Throughout History" is specially written for calligraphy enthusiasts who love cursive script. "Hastily, there is no time for cursive script." Cursive script originated from practical needs. But now, it has completely shed its practical constraints, making its aesthetic quality its only characteristic. Recently, many people have been learning cursive script and using it for calligraphy creation because of its unique aesthetic feature of expressing emotions deeply. However, learning cursive script is not easy, and it is even harder to create calligraphy with it. The learning process and creative process will always encounter various problems, especially for beginners. This series of books focuses on techniques and is a technical tutorial involving the strokes, character methods, structure, and layout of cursive script. This tutorial emphasizes making these techniques micro and specific, analyzing them in detail from the micro level, so that readers can learn the techniques of cursive script more comprehensively and thoroughly. In addition to techniques, this tutorial also covers the symbols of cursive script and the identification of similar characters, both of which are related to the recognition of cursive script for beginners. Only by passing the recognition hurdle can the path of learning cursive script become smoother. This tutorial consists of five books, selecting representative cursive script masterpieces from different dynasties, including Wang Xizhi's "Seventeen Pieces" from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sun Guoting's "Shupu" from the Tang Dynasty, Huai Su's small cursive "Thousand Characters," Huang Tingjian's "Zushangzuo Tie" from the Northern Song Dynasty, and Zhu Yunming's "Red Cliff Ode" from the Ming Dynasty. "Seventeen Pieces" is a representative work of Wang Xizhi's cursive script and an excellent model for learning cursive script. This piece is both written and carved to an extremely high level, using both round and square strokes, with balanced yet unconventional character structures. The strokes are connected but not tangled, representing the simple method in cursive script. Later generations of cursive script learners have often drawn inspiration from this piece.