Li Yong's Stele of the Lotus Sutra

Author: Shanghai Shuhua Publishing House
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2001-10-01
Features: Among the calligraphers of Tang Dynasty regular script, Li Yong stands out with his unique and distinctive style. The regular script of the Tang calligraphers generally exhibits a dignified and harmonious posture, almost uniformly upright, while Li Yong's script, which enters stele calligraphy in running script form, features a tilted and daring structure, yet he remains unparalleled in the calligraphy world and has exerted a profound influence on later calligraphers.
Li Yong was born in the second year of the Yifeng era (678) and died in the sixth year of the Tianbao era (747), at the age of seventy. His style name was Taihe, and he was from Jiangdu, Yangzhou. Due to his appointment as the Prefect of Beihai, he was known as "Li Beihai." His father, Li Shan, was renowned for his erudition and had written annotations for the Wenxuan. Li Yong inherited his family's learning and excelled in writing, earning praise from the famous literary talent Li Qiao.
Throughout his life, Li Yong experienced ups and downs in his official career and achieved little success. Initially, he served as a Left Supplementary Officer for his straightforward and courageous nature in speaking truth to power. In the third year of the Kaixuan era (715), he was promoted to the position of Minister of Revenue, but was soon demoted to the position of Marshal of Kuazhou. Later, he was appointed as the Governor of Chenzhou but was falsely accused and sentenced to death. Fortunately, he was saved by Kong Zhang and was demoted again to the post of County Magistrate of Zunxian in Qinzhou. After distinguishing himself in battles led by Yang Si, he was appointed as the Prefect of Beihai in Jizhou at the beginning of the Tianbao era. However, five years later, he was hated by the Chancellor Li Linfu and was beaten to death in prison.
Despite his failures in officialdom, his literary and calligraphic works gained widespread acclaim. Ma Zonghuo's Shulin Jishi described him as "particularly skilled in inscriptions and eulogies, and the officials and temples throughout the empire often sought his calligraphy with gold and silk." As a result, he left behind a large number of inscriptions.
Li Yong began his calligraphic studies with the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi, but because he was adept at selecting and adapting, his script captured the essence of Wang's "broken and connected" style while innovating in structure. Thus, he developed a unique style characterized by tilted and dynamic postures, bold and vigorous strokes, and a daring and open composition. Xuanhe Shupu stated: "Li Yong was proficient in calligraphy, and his running and cursive scripts were particularly renowned. He initially learned the running script of Wang Xizhi, mastered its essence, and then broke free from old habits, revitalizing his brushwork." This spirit of learning from the ancients without rigidly adhering to them reflects Li Yong's strong artistic personality.
Among his surviving inscriptions, the most famous include the Ye Youdao Stele, the Yunwei Li Sixin Stele, the Yunwei Li Xiu Stele, and the Lushan Temple Stele. His running and cursive script slightly inclines to the upper right horizontally and to the left vertically, forming a posture that extends leftward and contracts rightward, appearing unconventional yet balanced. His brushwork is vigorous, with every stroke and dot as solid as bricks falling to the ground, making it impossible to imitate with flimsy or insubstantial techniques. Mi Fu once praised his calligraphy as "captivating and moving, with ink as dry as thirst and brushwork as strong as divine assistance." His calligraphy had a profound influence on later generations, with masters such as Su Shi, Mi Fu, Zhao Mengfu, Dong Qichang, and Wu Changshuo all absorbing his brushwork and composition to establish their own styles.
Li Yong once said, "Those who imitate me are vulgar, and those who learn from me are doomed." Beginners who merely follow the form without understanding his vigorous and dry brushwork and the balanced yet daring composition risk producing weak and lifeless works, easily falling into frivolous and superficial styles. It is crucial to grasp his artistic spirit and style, which cannot be achieved merely by imitating the form.
The Fahuai Temple Stele, also known as the Qinwangshan Fahuai Temple Stele, was written by Li Yong when he was fifty-seven years old during the twenty-third year of the Kaixuan era. It was long lost, and only one surviving copy was preserved. Heziheng acquired it from Han Lüqing in Wumen, with four lines per page and six characters per line, totaling twenty-three sheets. The stele was carved by Feilin of Donghai and was published in print form, providing a new resource for calligraphy enthusiasts to study or learn from Li Beihai's calligraphy.