Chinese Stele and Manuscript Classics -- Emperor Taizong of Tang's Screen Fan Manuscript

Author: Shanghai Shuxue Publishing House
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-09-18
Features: Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin (597–649), was the second son of Emperor Gaozu and a native of Chenghua, Longxi. He ascended the throne in the ninth year of Wude (626) and ruled for twenty-two years until the twenty-third year of Zhenguan (649). After his accession, Taizong harbored great ambitions, demonstrated his outstanding talent, expanded the territory through external policies, and reformed the political system internally. He promoted Confucianism, revered Buddhism, and selected officials based on merit. He once ordered Kong Yingda to compile the Five Classics Orthodoxy. Thus, under the Zhenguan era, the country flourished. In his spare time managing state affairs, Taizong was deeply fond of calligraphy, especially the works of Wang Xizhi. He personally wrote a biography of Wang Xizhi and issued an edict to the imperial treasury, offering gold and silk in exchange for Wang’s lost calligraphic works. As a result, his passion attracted contributions from all over the land within a few years, yielding five volumes of regular script and fifty-eight volumes of cursive script, though they were a mix of authentic and forged works. He then ordered Wei Zheng, Yu Shennan, and Chu Suiliang to authenticate them, and tasked Han Daozheng and Feng Chengsu with meticulous copying. Thus, the style of Wang Xizhi became widely popular.
Taizong initially learned calligraphy from Shi Ling, a calligrapher of the Sui dynasty. According to the Jinshi Lu, [Shi Ling excelled in regular script, with a brushwork as refined as that of Ou Yan and Yu Shiyuan.] He often exchanged calligraphic techniques with Yu Shennan, Ou Yanxun, and Chu Suiliang. Later, he became deeply devoted to Wang Xizhi, practicing his works day and night, especially the Lanting Preface, which he placed beside his pillow and often copied by candlelight in the middle of the night. His calligraphy improved significantly. Taizong was skilled in running script, cursive script, and flying white, and particularly excelled in emulating ancient styles, achieving remarkable realism. The Shanshui Tieshuo states: [Taizong was exceptionally wise and learned, surpassing others in his studies. His imperial decrees in his later years bore the style of the Wei and Jin dynasties, which is also a treasure. However, he could not continue his studies in his final years.]
His extant works include the Jinci Inscription and the Hot Spring Inscription, among others. The Screen Fan Tieshuo was written by Taizong in the fourteenth year of Zhenguan. The original work was written in both regular and cursive script on silk and consisted of eleven scrolls. It later disappeared from the imperial collection and was only rediscovered in the Southern Song dynasty. A connoisseur named Wang Yun first had it inscribed on stone, but the regular script is now lost, and only the cursive script remains, though fragmented. Today, the cursive script records the rise and fall and turmoil of past dynasties. Taizong wrote it on silk, displayed it on a screen fan, and presented it to his ministers, hoping to warn future generations with the lessons of history. His cursive script is powerful and vigorous, with a flowing rhythm. The layout is unconventional yet balanced, with varying sizes of characters, and each stroke exudes a sharp, elegant energy, making it a rare masterpiece.
This volume of the Cursive Script Screen Fan Tieshuo of Emperor Taizong, a rubbing copy, was once owned by Mr. Zhou Tuimi. It is accompanied by a lengthy inscription by Mr. Shi Zhecun, which was not published after the founding of the People’s Republic of China. It has now been photolithographed and made available to fellow enthusiasts. It can serve as a model for practicing cursive script and an important resource for studying the calligraphy of Li Shimin, a calligrapher of early Tang. To aid beginners in identification, a cursive script gloss is appended, though it may contain errors. We humbly seek corrections from the learned.