Tang Sun Guoting's Shupu

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Publish Date: 2001-12-01
Features: Wang Xizhi's calligraphy had a profound influence on the calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty, not only in regular and running scripts but also in cursive script. Sun Guoting was one of the outstanding representatives. Sun Guoting (648–702?) was known as Qianli, and according to the Treatise on Calligraphy by Dou Shang, he was possibly from Fuyang, while Zhang Huan's Book of Calligraphy suggested he was from Chenliu in Henan. However, the Book of Calligraphy claimed he was from Wuyun in Jiangsu. His birth and death dates are unknown. According to Chen Zi'ang's (661–703) Epitaph for Sun Qun, he mentioned: "At the age of forty, I suffered from slanderous accusations." In his Eulogy for Sun Qun, he wrote: "Suddenly, in mid-life, I faced adversity and passed away early." It is also known that Sun Guoting was slandered and died prematurely. Based on the Book of Calligraphy, which was written in the third year of the Chui'gong era (687), he was around forty years old when writing it. At sixteen, he was considered to have reached the age of "zhi xue" (beginning to learn), and twelve years constituted a "ji" (a cycle). Therefore, when writing the Book of Calligraphy, he was approximately forty years old. According to this calculation, Sun Guoting was likely born in the twenty-second year of the Zhenguan era (648) during the reign of Emperor Taizong of Tang, and his death must have occurred before Chen Zi'ang's death in the third year of the Chang'an era (703). Thus, Sun Guoting likely died in the second year of the Chang'an era.
Sun Guoting's official career was not smooth, and he faced many hardships. He held positions such as Assistant Military Officer of the Right Guard and Recorder of the Imperial Guard. In his youth, he valued filial piety and fraternal affection but did not focus on studying literature. As he grew older, he became knowledgeable and erudite in both philosophy and literature. Due to his lack of success in life and the slander he faced, he eventually died in a guest house in Zhiye Village, Luoyang.
Sun Guoting's calligraphy followed Wang Xizhi as his master. According to Zhang Huaiquan's Book of Calligraphy, he wrote: "Guoting was erudite and skilled in literature. His cursive script followed the style of the 'Two Wangs' [Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi], excelling in brushwork. He was bold and decisive, valuing novelty and curiosity, surpassing the (dangerous obstacles) of the art. However, he lacked practice and possessed only natural talent. His regular and running scripts were inferior to his cursive script. He was a close friend of Wang Zhijing, who was too slow, while Sun Guoting was too rushed. If the two sons had complemented each other, it would have been perfect."
Sun Guoting's surviving works include the Cursive Script Thousand Characters and the Eulogy for the Jingfu Palace. His most famous work is the Book of Calligraphy, which is the most distinctive representative of small cursive scripts in history. This scroll is, in content, an essay on calligraphy, with exceptionally beautiful writing. It covers topics such as integrity, script styles, techniques, aesthetic concepts, and artistic insights, with broad content and incisive arguments. The entire scroll has 351 lines, with each character like a gem, flowing seamlessly. Especially in the later sections, the brushwork is dynamic, the strokes are lively, and the passage is truly brilliant. Upon close examination, his brushwork draws inspiration from Wang Xizhi's Seventeen Pieces, combining both square and round strokes. The characters are not connected in form but connected in spirit, with swift and refined brushwork, playing within the rules while hiding the underlying structure. The ink is clear and smooth, with points and strokes appearing in the turns, creating a sense of artistic completeness throughout the scroll.
The Xuanhe Manual of Calligraphy praised his cursive script as: "It rivals Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi in skill, with extraordinary brushwork. It is bold and decisive, born of natural talent, not something that can be achieved through practice." Mi Fu's History of Calligraphy also stated: "Among Tang cursive scripts, none surpass his in mastering the style of the 'Two Wangs.'" Thus, this work is most suitable for beginners in cursive script to build a foundation.
Because this cursive script was studied repeatedly, predecessors criticized it as "a thousand papers of the same type, ten thousand characters the same," lacking variation. This is also a minor flaw, not harming its overall excellence. Liu Xizai's General Principles of Calligraphy described: "Guoting's cursive script, in the Tang Dynasty, well followed the style of the Jin Dynasty. His brushwork breaks the rules yet achieves perfection, becomes more orderly amidst chaos, more elegant yet more profound, and more graceful yet more robust." This is a fair assessment.
The first line of this scroll is titled The Book of Calligraphy, Volume 1, and at the end, it states: "I have compiled six chapters, divided into two volumes, ranking them by skill and calling them The Book of Calligraphy." The Xuanhe Manual of Calligraphy, Volume 18, also has The Preface to the Book of Calligraphy, Part 1 and Part 2, indicating that there was a second volume, but it has since been lost. The first volume's original manuscript was once in the Northern Song imperial collection, bearing the seals of Double Dragons, Xuanhe, and Zhenghe. Later, it was acquired by the Qing imperial collection and is now housed in the Palace Museum in Taipei.
There are also engraved versions, including the Taqing Pavilion, Tingyun Pavilion, Yuxiantang, Sanxi Hall, and Anlu Village editions. Among these, the Yuanyou edition is the best, with the note at the end stating: "Engraved in the second year of Yuanyou (1087) by Xue Shaopeng of Hedong," indicating it was carved by the famous Northern Song calligrapher Xue Shaopeng. However, none of these engraved versions match the original manuscript. The present publication is a photolithographic reproduction of the original to delight all lovers of calligraphy.