Collecting Zhao Ziqian's couplets: New Concept Calligraphy Manuscript. Issue 2

Author: Xu Qinghua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Beginners in calligraphy must start by imitating ancient steles and scripts, striving for strokes, structures, and styles that closely resemble the originals. Once initial imitation is mastered, the desire to create independently often leads to failure. The transition from imitation to creation is not easy to cross, and some may spend their entire lives failing to do so or may go astray in the process. Selecting characters from the steles and scripts imitated to form works is an excellent method. However, the characters in the works may not all be found in the imitated steles. Even if found, piecing them together may not achieve harmony in size, weight, inclination, or overall coherence. For this reason, we decided to invite experienced calligraphers to edit and publish a series of couplets and poetic works composed of characters selected from famous steles and scripts of past dynasties, using computer image processing technology to strive for the most perfect presentation to readers.
Zhao Ziqian (1829–1884), styled Huishu, also known as Yifu, and known by the sobriquets Beian and Wumen, was from Shaoxing, Zhejiang. His calligraphy is most notable for its achievements in Northern Wei script, and he was also skilled in seal script, clerical script, and running and cursive scripts. Zhao Ziqian’s study of Northern Wei script focused on grasping its brushwork essence rather than emphasizing the aesthetic of stone carving. As a result, his style is smooth, flexible, and adaptable, transforming rigidity into suppleness. His distinctive features combine the foundation of Yan style with the surface of Wei style (approximately 70% Yan and 30% Wei). His brushwork is square yet rounded, with structures that are bold, open, and expressive, exuding great elegance and charm. Compared to Northern Wei script, his work may lack the ancient and rustic quality, but its lively and vibrant charm truly reflects the characteristics of brushwork on paper, making it more appealing to a broader audience of learners.
The compilers devoted several months to carefully selecting and comparing characters for each couplet, ensuring both faithfulness to the original works and the preservation of all strokes from the original scripts, with no substitutions. At the same time, they appropriately employed computer technology to achieve harmony, ultimately completing this collection.