Calligraphy Self-Learning Series - Regular Script (Chinese)

Author: Compiler: Shanghai Shuxue Publishing House
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1983-12-01
Features: The full title is "Remembrance of Ma Guan Fairy Platform in Nancheng County, Tang Prefecture." In regular script. Written and inscribed by Yan Zhenqing of the Tang Dynasty. Erected in the sixth year of the Dali era. Yan Zhenqing (709-785) was a renowned calligrapher of the mid-Tang Dynasty. His style is robust, majestic, and powerful, forming a unique school known as the "Yan style," which has had a profound influence on later generations. This stele is a mid-period work of Yan's. The brushwork is less extraordinary and bold than his early works, such as "Oriental Painters" and "Remembrance of Xianyu Shi," which contain more clerical script elements, and instead features more seal script influences, appearing clear, slender, and strong. The brushwork rounds off sharp angles, and the characters "face each other" with turns executed by lifting the brush subtly rather than using sharp angles, with the characteristic "silkworm head and swallow tail," displaying a delicate and refined brushwork. Learning Yan's script easily leads to writing it as fat and clumsy. Upon close examination, this script is truly "fine veins entering the bone like autumn eagles." Additionally, Yan's script is spacious, and it must be avoided to write it loosely. Calligraphy is one of China's traditional arts with strong ethnic characteristics and practical value. Today, as we build socialist spiritual civilization, more and more people are interested in and learning calligraphy. To meet the urgent need of readers who are beginners in calligraphy or have a certain foundation and wish to further improve their skills, we have compiled this series of "Self-Learning Calligraphy Anthologies." The entire series consists of three major parts: "Regular Script," "Running and Cursive Script," and "Seal and Clerical Script," each independent and forming its own system. Calligraphy enthusiasts can choose according to their needs. This is a "Regular Script" series, consisting of three volumes. To cater to different audiences, stages, and the need for breadth, we have selected twenty-two practical steles and scripts from the Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty. The selected models are all famous representative works of each era and calligrapher. The regular script models in this series include works from various schools and styles, both large and small characters, and are essentially complete. From the perspective of laying a foundation in regular script, they all have certain reference and practical value.