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Letter to Jichang

Letter to Jichang
Su Shi (1037-1101), Song dynasty
Album leaf, ink on paper, 27.6 x 45.2 cm

Su Shi (style name Zizhan, sobriquet Dongpo jushi), a native of Meishan in Sichuan, was versed in the Classics and histories while excelling at poetry, painting and calligraphy, being known along with Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and Cai Xiang as one of the four great calligraphers of the Song dynasty.

 

This work is also referred to as “One Night” and “Jichang,” representing a letter that Su Shi wrote to his friend Chen Zao (style name Jichang) while Su was in exile in Huangzhou. In it, Su asks Jichang to explain to a “Mister Wang” why he was unable to lend him a painting by Huang Jucai and to express his apologies, specially including a round cake of tea with the letter. The calligraphy here is strong and decisive, the line spacing fluid in a spirit and moving manner. This work is from “Album of Calligraphy by Twelve Masters of the Song.”

Three Seven-character Regulated Verses

Three Seven-character Regulated Verses
Rao Jie (?-1367), Yuan dynasty
Album leaf, ink on paper, 24.5 x 49.1 cm

Rao Jie (style name Jiezhi, sobriquets Huagai shanqiao, Zuiqiao, Fuqiugong tongzi) was a native of Linchuan, Jiangxi. A Hanlin Academician, he also served as Jiang-Zhe Surveillance Commissioner and Secretariat of Huainan. Good at poetry and excelling at calligraphy, Rao looked back to the styles of Wang Xianzhi and Huaisu. In calligraphy history, his graceful cursive script has been compared to Huaisu’s with its round and powerful flow that harks back to Wang Xianzhi.

 

In this work, the 14th leaf from “Works by Yuan Calligraphers,” there are many variations to the undulated brushwork. Into Wang Xianzhi’s running script style has been added the brush manner of Huaisu. The entire piece waves with ease and pulsates with fluidity, draft cursive added here and there to give it an archaic manner.

 

Two Poems

Two Poems
Wen Peng (1498-1573), Ming dynasty
Album leaf, ink on paper, 25.9 x 28.5 cm

Wen Peng (style name Shoucheng, sobriquet Sanqiao), a native of Changzhou (modern Suzhou, Jiangsu), was the eldest son of Wen Zhengming. Following the family tradition in his youth, Wen Peng excelled at the arts of poetry, painting, and calligraphy. Wen was also gifted at all the script types, his achievement in cursive calligraphy being the greatest.

 

The contents of this work include two seven-character poems describing a life of ease among literati. The structure is relaxed without deviating from the rules of calligraphy. The strokes and forms are also well arranged, the brushwork quite varied with a sense of bravura and self-confidence even greater than that seen in his father’s calligraphy. This work is from “Album 50 of Yuan and Ming Calligraphy,” the last leaf of which is inscribed as being for “Revered Elder Longchi,” indicating it was given to Peng Nian (1505-1566).

Copy of a Su Shi Letter and Seven-Character Poetry

Copy of a Su Shi Letter and Seven-Character Poetry
Zhang Zhao (1691-1745), Qing dynasty

Zhang Zhao (style name Detian, sobriquet Jingnan), a native of Huating (modern Songjiang, Shanghai), was versed in Buddhist scriptures and knowledgeable in law, being also gifted at poetry and painting as well as music and especially calligraphy. In the latter, his style approaches that of Dong Qichang in the pursuit of Mi Fu. The Qianlong emperor particularly praised Zhang’s calligraphy as being “modest with beauty.”

 

The original behind the work on the right, claimed to be a “Copy of Su Shi’s Letter,” no longer survives but is based on Zhang Zhao’s imitation of a section from “Calligraphy Copied from the Four Song Masters,” a handscroll by Dong Qichang in the Qing imperial collection. Zhang’s work on the left is a painting of a teapot and with a cup, the body of the pot decorated with Zhang Zhao’s seven-character poetry describing tea in the Song dynasty. The novel and refined mounting of the painting, poetry, and calligraphy as one is harmonious. This is a leaf from “Album of Miscellaneous Calligraphy” by Zhang Zhao.

Seven-Character Couplet in Running Script

Seven-Character Couplet in Running Script
Guo Lin (1767-1831), Qing dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 124.3 x 28 cm

Guo Lin (style name Xiangbo; sobriquets Pinjia, Sui’an; late name Fu’an), because his right eyebrow had turned completely gray, had the sobriquet “Baimeisheng (Mr. Graybrow).” A native of Wujiang in Jiangsu, Guo Lin was a student of Yao Nai and particularly admired by Ruan Yuan. Guo was good at poetry and composition, excelling at seal carving. In calligraphy, he studied the style of Huang Tingjian.

 

The contents of this couplet on tea and ink come from “Miscellaneous Chants in Early Autumn” by the Southern Song poet Lu You. A contemporary of Guo Lin, Liang Zhangju (1775-1849), once wrote that Guo’s calligraphy “features characters that come from the master Peiweng (Huang Tingjian) and sometimes are mistaken for the work of Shen (Zhou).” The character forms in this work slant but are also steady, the brushwork condensed yet harmonic, indeed having the stylistic essence of the two masters Huang Tingjian and Shen Zhou.

Seven-Character Couplet in Semi-Cursive Script

Seven-Character Couplet in Semi-Cursive Script
Pu Hua (1832-1911), Qing dynasty
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 148.5 x 39.9 cm

Pu Hua (original name Cheng, style name Zhuying [or Zuoying], sobriquet Xushan waishi), a native of Xiushui (modern Jiaxing, Zhejiang), learned to paint flowers at an early age, following in the tradition of Xu Wei and Chen Chun. In later years, he enjoyed painting bamboo in monochrome ink, becoming fascinated with the works of Wen Tong. In later years he resided in Shanghai, selling his paintings for a living. He traveled to Japan as well, where he was much admired.

 

Pu Hua himself said that his cursive script was based on that of Lü Dongbin (Lü Yan) of the Tang and Bai Yuchan (Ge Changgeng) of the Southern Song. The contents of this couplet relate the leisurely ease of studying paintings, appreciating tea, and gazing at flowers. The lines in the semi-cursive script are bold and strong, the application of the brush untrammeled and unconfined by convention, revealing a style of his own among calligraphic circles at the time. This work was done in 1895, when the artist was 64 by Chinese reckoning.

Chrysanthemums

Chrysanthemums
Chang Dai-chien (1899-1983), Republican period

Chang Dai-chien (originally named Yuan, sobriquet Daqian [Dai-chien] jushi), a native of Neijiang in Sichuan, was gifted at all the arts of poetry, prose, calligraphy, and painting. In the latter, he stands out for this extraordinary talent. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he traveled as far as Dunhuang to copy the wall paintings there. After the age of sixty, he developed a new form of splashed ink and colors based on tradition, achieving renown at home and abroad as a modern master of Chinese painting.

 

This painting depicts chrysanthemums and a teapot in light ink for a succinct and elegant atmosphere. The inscription reads, “The tea is ready, the flowers in bloom. He who appreciates autumn, when will he arrive?” The brushwork is interestingly archaic. Done around 1932, Chang Dai-chien originally presented this work to Chen Yungao (sobriquet Zhelu). It comes from “Album of Flowers and Insects by Chang Dai-chien and Yu Fei’an.”

Seven-Character Couplet in Running Script

Seven-Character Couplet in Running Script
Pu Ru (1896-1963), Republican period
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 106.4 x 15.8 cm

Pu Ru (also often known by his style name Hsin-yu), a native of Wanping in Hebei (modern Beijing), was a member of the Manchu Qing imperial clan. After the establishment of the Republic, he went into reclusion at West Mountain in Beijing to study, compose poetry, and devote himself to painting and calligraphy, achieving great results. In 1949, he crossed the Taiwan Strait with the Republican government and came to serve as a teacher at Taiwan Normal University. An artist of many talents, he has had a deep and lasting influence on art circles in Taiwan.

 

Pu Ru in this couplet, with its description of washing an inkstone in a stream and brewing tea, conveys a serene rustic scene of the scholar detached from the mundane world. Pu was especially skilled at running script, often imitating and capturing the spirit of classics throughout the ages, attaining their spirit through copying. With composed variations, he was able to write naturally with untrammeled beauty and force.