Northern Song Huang Tingjian, "Zhu Shangzuo Tie"

Author: Shao Xin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-01-01
Features: "The Calligraphy Practice Guide for Famous Masters of Grass Script" is specially written for calligraphy enthusiasts who love grass script. "Hurry and no time for grass script." Grass 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 grass script and using it for calligraphy creation because of its unique aesthetic feature of expressing emotions deeply. However, grass script is not easy to learn, and even more so, 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 formation, structure, and layout of grass script. This tutorial emphasizes making these techniques micro and specific, analyzing them in detail from small parts to make the readers' study of grass script techniques more comprehensive and thorough. In addition to techniques, this tutorial also covers the symbols of grass script and the identification of similar-looking characters, both of which are related to the reading of grass script for beginners. Only by passing the reading hurdle can the path to learning grass script become smoother. This tutorial consists of five books, selecting representative grass 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 "Thousand Characters in Small Grass Script" from the Northern Song Dynasty, Huang Tingjian's "Zushangzuo Tie" from the Northern Song Dynasty, and Zhu Yunming's "Red Cliff Ode" from the Ming Dynasty. Huang Tingjian is considered a pivotal figure in the history of grass script, connecting the Jin and Tang dynasties to the Yuan and Ming dynasties. "Zushangzuo Tie" is one of his representative works. This piece features bold strokes, prominent main lines, precise brushwork, dynamic momentum, and varied character structures. Beginners should avoid exaggeration when practicing this piece to prevent forming bad habits.