Guo Yongxin Huangfu Jun Bei

Author: Compiled by the Press
Publisher:
Publish Date: March 1, 2003
Features: Ouyang Xun (557–641), styled Xinyen, was a native of Linxiang, Hunan. He was quick-witted and erudite in his youth and served as a Dachen scholar during the Sui Dynasty. Under Emperor Gaozu of Tang, he was successively promoted to the position of Jushi and later rose to the rank of Yinqing Guanglu Shidafu, Taizisi Ligeng, and Hongwen Academy Scholar, becoming enfeoffed as a male of Bohai County. He was widely known as "Ouyang Shuigeng." In calligraphy, he studied the works of the Wang brothers (Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi) and developed a unique style characterized by balance and danger, earning the nickname "Ouyang Style." He was ranked alongside Yu Shilang, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji as one of the "Four Great Calligraphers of Early Tang." The main feature of the Ouyang style is its slender and rigid character method. It is said that Ouyang mastered all eight calligraphic scripts: Great Seal, Small Seal, Cao Cao, Clerical Script, Running Script, Feather-Brush Script, Cursive Script, and Regular Script. Tang Zhang Huaiquan praised: "Master of all eight scripts, with strong and perilous brushwork; especially skilled in Seal Script." "Feather-Brush Script is unparalleled, surpassing ancient masters." Tang Li Sizhen's "Postscript on Calligraphy" noted: "Ouyang's Cao Cao script is difficult to surpass, like a drought-stricken dragon finding water, or a hungry hare running into a burrow—only lacking in brushwork." Song Su Shi highly regarded Ouyang's small regular script, titling: "Ouyang Shuigeng's script is exquisite and tight, particularly skilled in small regular script." Song Mi Fu loved Ouyang's cursive script, commenting: "His late-life cursive script is captivating." Among Ouyang's eight scripts, only Regular Script and Running Script are currently visible. The surviving Regular Script masterpieces include the "Huangfu Jun Stele," "Huadusi Stele," "Jiu Cheng Gong Stele," "Yu Gong Gong Stele," and "Fang Yanshu Stele," among others. The Running Script manuscripts include "Zhang Han," "Bo Shang," "Bo Shang," "Meng Meng," and "Qian Zi Wen," among others.
The "Huangfu Jun Stele," also known as the "Huangfu Tan Stele," is fully titled "Si Zhi Guo Hongyi Ming Gong Huangfu Chen Stele." Written by Yu Zhiqing, inscribed in Regular Script by Ouyang Xun, the stele has twenty-eight lines, each with fifty-nine characters. The title in Seal Script reads: "Si Zhi Guo Hongyi Ming Gong Huangfu Chen Stele" (twelve characters). It is now preserved in the Stele Forest of the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. The Ouyang style is characterized by its slenderness and danger, and this stele is the most representative of this feature among Ouyang's steles, having completely shed the style of the Wang brothers and developed its own unique charm.
Qing Sun Chengze's "Gengzi Xiaoxia Ji" recorded: "Its brushwork carries the division method of the Han people, which is the essence of Shuigeng's skill. Wang Yuanmei said it is more perilous and strong than other steles." Qing Yang Jing's "Xue Shu Er Yan" noted: "Ouyang's 'Huangfu Tan Stele' is the most perilous and strong. Zhang Huaiquan's 'Shu Duan' described it as dense as weapons in a war arsenal, just like this." Qing Weng Fanggang even went so far as to emphasize the importance of this stele: "For those learning Tang Regular Script, this is the first path they must take. Without starting with this, how can one enter the structures of the 'Jiu Cheng Stele' or 'Huadusi Stele'?" This is Weng's earnest advice, which can serve as a guide for beginners.
According to Wang Zhuanghong's "Zengbu Xiaobian Shibai," the "Huangfu Jun Stele" rubbing from the Song Dynasty has noticeable cracks, extending to the seventh and twenty-second lines, where the character "wu" in "canzong jiwu" is undamaged. The present printing uses a Song Dynasty rubbing from the Palace Museum where the character "wu" is undamaged to delight the readers.