The Art of Points and Lines: Calligraphy

Author: Cui Zhi
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-01-01
Features: The peak of art
"The Poems of Taosi" is a work that reaches the peak of Mi Fu's calligraphy, and can be considered his masterpiece. It consists of six five-character poems composed by him and his friends during a tour of the Taosi River. The poems are fresh and lively, and the calligraphy is smooth and unrestrained, making it a rare treasure of poetry and calligraphy combined. The entire scroll breaks the conventional notion of horizontal and vertical lines, adopting a clear slant to present a dynamic and lively artistic rhythm. Perhaps the excitement of the tour stimulated the poetic inspiration, which in turn awakened the passion for brushwork. Coupled with Mi Fu's profound literary foundation and artistic cultivation, the success of this running-script handscroll was only natural. In the "Record of Paintings and Calligraphy" by Wu Qizhen of the Qing Dynasty, he commented: "The brushwork is unrestrained, and the structure is relaxed and pleasant, clearly inspired by Yan Wugu's style, without any arrogance or domineering spirit—truly extraordinary calligraphy by the old Mi."
Lost and Recovered
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the last emperor Puyi left the Forbidden City, taking away a large number of cultural relics, including Mi Fu's "Poems of Taosi." He took it to Tianjin and then to Changchun. When the puppet Manchukuo collapsed, the national treasure vanished without a trace. In the early 1960s, a young man came to Beijing's Rongbaozhai painting store with a bundle of fragments of calligraphy and paintings, offering to sell them for 1,000 yuan. The staff felt very (troubled), so they consulted the cultural relic appraiser Yang Rende. Mr. Yang, with his sharp eyes, immediately recognized the treasure and pieced it together. To everyone's surprise, the "Poems of Taosi," lost for many years, had reappeared and been recovered.