Chinese Stele Classics -- Xu Hao, The Stele of the Monk Fuhong

Author: Shanghai Shuhua
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-09-18
Features: The calligraphy of the early Tang Dynasty, favored a slender and hard style. The masters Yu, Ou, Chu, and Xue inherited the lingering influence of the "Two Wangs" (Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi), valuing a balanced and elegant beauty. By the mid-Tang period, particularly from the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (713–741) to Emperor Shaozong (761–779), the calligraphy style gradually shifted from slender and hard to robust and vigorous, pursuing a fuller and more majestic aesthetic. This change is evident in the aesthetics of both human figures and Buddha statues, reflecting the transformation in the era's aesthetic preferences that led to this stylistic reversal. During the mid-Tang era, the two most representative calligraphers were Xu Hao and Yan Zhenqing.
The Buddha Bezek of Master Amoghasiddhi, erected in the second year of the Jianzhong era (778), was written by Xu Hao at the age of seventy-eight. It is in regular script, with twenty-three lines, each containing forty-eight characters. The original stele was located in the Daxingshan Temple in Chang'an and is now preserved in the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. The stele records the achievements of the Indian monk, Amoghasiddhi, of the Xingshan Temple. The best rubbings of this stele are from the Jiaqing era, which are unbroken Ming-era rubbings. According to Zhang Yansheng's Catalog of Fine Manuscripts and Stele Rubbings: [The Ming-era rubbings, in the thirteenth line ("Sariputra" - ), have the character intact without any stone flecks, and in the eighth line ("Great Wisdom" - ), the cross of the character is also intact without any flecks.]
This stele was not reproduced in (Kèbǎn, a type of photolithography) before or after the liberation. For this publication, we have selected an old rubbing preserved in Shanghai Huayun Studio for reproduction, to delight the (vast calligraphy enthusiasts).