Selection of Calligraphy by Famous Masters Through the Ages -- Ming Dynasty Zhu Yunming's Small-Kai Script "Thousand Characters"

Author: Zhu Yunming (Ming Dynasty)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-03-01
Features: Zhu Yunming (1460-1526), styled Xizhe, styled Zhishan due to a branch-shaped finger on his right hand. Known as "Zhu Jingzhao," he was from Changzhou (now Wuxian County, Jiangsu). From a young age, he was exceptionally intelligent; at five, he could write large characters one foot square, and by nine, he could compose poems. In the fifth year of the Hongzhi era (1429), he passed the provincial examination but failed the imperial examinations afterward. In the ninth year of the Zhengde era (1514), he was appointed as the magistrate of Xingning County, Guangdong. In the first year of the Jiajing era (1522), he was transferred to the position of Tongpan of Yingtian Prefecture (now Nanjing) and soon returned to his hometown due to illness.
Zhu Yunming was skilled in poetry and prose, particularly renowned for his calligraphy, which gained fame both domestically and internationally. Together with Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming, and Xu Zhengqing, he was known as one of the "Four Talents of Wuzhong." He excelled in poetry and prose and was a master calligrapher. His small regular script followed the styles of Zhong Yao and Wang Xizhi, his running script learned from Huang Tingjian, and his cursive script from Huai Su. His brushwork was vigorous yet versatile, forming a distinctive style. He was regarded as one of the representative calligraphers of the mid-Ming Dynasty, alongside Wen Zhengming and Wang Chong.
His surviving calligraphic works include the small regular script "Memorial on Sending Out the Troops," the cursive script "Scroll of Fallen Flowers Poem," and the "Scroll of the Goddess of the Luo River." He authored works such as "Huaxing Hall Collection" and compiled the "Annals of Xingning County." This is a calligraphic scroll of the "Thousand Characters" by Zhu Yunming, with the date and month inscribed at the end as "the ninth day of the ninth month in the second month of the Bingwu year of the Chenghua era," when Zhu Yunming was twenty-six years old, making it an early work. While the character forms and brushwork may lack the extraordinary elegance and freedom, they excel in stability and expressiveness. His style draws inspiration from Zhong Yao's "Xuanshi Table" while incorporating the brushwork of the "Two Wangs" (Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi). He was not rigidly bound to the forms of strokes but already showed the emergence of his own distinctive style in the overall composition and spiritual resonance.