Chinese Stele Classics -- Ouyang Xun's Huangfu Jun Stele

Author: Compiled by Our Publishing House
Publisher:
Publication Date: March 1, 2003
Features: Ouyang Xun (557–641), styled Xinyen, was a native of Linxiang, Hunan. He was intelligent and knowledgeable in his youth and served as a Dachen scholar during the Sui Dynasty. During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, he was promoted to the position of a Gushi multiple times, eventually rising to the ranks of Yinqing Guangshi Dafu, Taizixiang Ling, Hongwen Hall Scholar, and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Bohai. He is widely known as "Ouyang Shuigeng." Ouyang excelled in calligraphy, blending stability with elegance, creating a unique style known as the "Ouyang Body." Together with Yu Shennan, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji, he is considered one of the Four Great Calligraphers of Early Tang. The main characteristic of the Ouyang Body is its lean and rigid stroke style. It is said that Ouyang mastered all eight calligraphic scripts—Great Seal, Small Seal, Caozi, Clerical, Running, Flying White, Cursive, and Regular. The Tang dynasty calligrapher Zhang Huaiquan praised: "He mastered all eight scripts, with a strong and daring brushwork. His Small Seal script was particularly refined." "His Flying White script was unparalleled, surpassing ancient masters." Li Sizhen of the Tang dynasty noted in "Postscript on Calligraphy": "His Yangyang Cursive script was difficult to surpass, as swift as a drought-stricken dragon finding water, or a hungry rabbit fleeing to its burrow. His brushwork lacked power." Su Shi of the Song dynasty highly regarded Ouyang's small regular script, titling: "Ouyang's Yangshuigeng script was beautiful, tight, and outstanding, especially in small regular script." Mi Fu of the Song dynasty loved Ouyang's cursive script, saying: "His late-life cursive script was brilliant and moving." Among Ouyang's eight scripts, only Regular and Running scripts 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 Yansu Stele," among others. The Running script ink traces include the "Zhang Han," "Bo Shang," "Bo Shang," "Mengmen," and "Qian Zi Wen." The "Huangfu Jun Stele," also known as the "Huangfu Dan Stele," has the full name "Song Zhuanguo Hongyi Minggong Huangfu Chen Stele." Written by Yu Zhijing, inscribed in Regular script by Ouyang Xun, the stele has twenty-eight lines, each with fifty-nine characters. The title reads: "Song Zhuanguo Hongyi Minggong Huangfu Chen Stele" in twelve-character Seal script. It is now preserved in the Stele Forest of the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. The Ouyang Body is characterized by its leanness and elegance, with this stele being the most representative of such features among Ouyang's works, having completely shed the style of the Wang family and developed its own distinct style. Sun Chengze of the Qing dynasty noted in "Gengzi Xiaxia Ji": "Its brushwork carries the division method of the Han dynasty, which is the pride of Shuigeng. Wang Yuanyi remarked that compared to other steles, it is particularly daring and strong." Yang Jing of the Qing dynasty wrote in "Learning Calligraphy Near Words": "Ouyang's Huangfu Dan Stele is the most daring and strong. Zhang Huaiquan praised it as 'densely arranged like spears and halberds in a weapons arsenal,' just like this." Wu Fanggang of the Qing dynasty even vigorously emphasized its importance: "This is the for those learning Tang dynasty Regular script. Without starting with this, how can one enter the structures of the 'Jiu Cheng' or 'Huadusi' steles?" These are Wu's earnest words, which can serve as a guide for beginners. The rubbing of the "Huangfu Jun Stele," as recorded by Wang Zhuanghong in "Supplementary Notes on ," states: "In the Song dynasty rubbings, the cracks are more obvious and extend to seven lines. The character 'wu' in twenty-two lines 'can be seen in the overall plan of the affairs' is not damaged." This article uses a Song dynasty rubbing from the Palace Museum, where the character 'wu' is undamaged, for printing, to delight the readers.