Marvelous Couplets, Superb Characters: Selections from the NPM’s Collection of Antithetical Couplets

Wu Chang-shuo, Republican era
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Wu Chang-shuo (1844-1927) was a native of Anji in Zhejiang province. Born Wu Chün, he went by his style name, Chang-shuo, but also had the style name Tsang-shih and the sobriquets Fou-lu and Ku-tieh (“Cabin of the Earthen Wine Jar” and “Bitter Iron”). Wu served as director of the Xiling Seal Art Society and was a modern-day master of scripts inscribed on bronze vessels and steles, calligraphy, and painting. His calligraphic forte lay with stone drum script (shiguwen), which he blended with character structures and styles found on ancient bells, cauldrons, and earthenware vessels. Wu’s innovations came from his explorations of history. 
This couplet, written when Wu was sixty-seven years old, combines excerpts from several sentences originally written in stone drum script. The brushwork is rounded and robust, while the linework is richly imbued with rhythm. Its character structures striking a fine balance between expansiveness and compactness, the work exudes a spirit of grandeur. 

Wang Ti, Republican era
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Wang Ti (1880-1960) was originally from Hangzhou but lived for much of his life in Shanghai. He was born Wang Shou-ch’i and had the style name Wei-chi and the sobriquet Fu-an   . After the age of seventy he used the sobriquet Chih-mo Lao-jen (“The Elder Who Holds His Silence”). A renowned seal carver and calligrapher, Wang was one of the founders of the Xiling Seal Art Society.

This couplet is written in a form of a clerical script (lishu) that incorporates techniques for writing seal script (zhuanshu). This is why, in this work, clerical script’s “silkworms’ heads” (a description of the bulges at the beginning of horizontal strokes) are toned-down, and also why there are no “swallows’ tails” (a term describing the flaring out of the brush’s bristles at the end of right-falling strokes). Wang moved his brush with a balanced mix of lifts and presses of its tip, effecting a sense of unadulterated timelessness and learned refinement—this work is richly endowed with the aura of scripts inscribed on ancient bronze vessels and steles.

He Shaoji, Qing dynasty
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He Shaoji (1799-1873), whose style name was Zizhen, hailed from Daozhou in Hunan province. He passed the imperial examinations at the rank of presented scholar in the sixteenth year of the Daoguang reign period (1836). His calligraphy was strongly influenced by Yan Zhenqing (709-785), and he also made extensive studies of the inscriptions on steles in northern China as well as Han dynasty clerical script (lishu). His own style was unique and distinctive. 

He Shaoji used a special way of holding his brush while writing this piece—his hand was suspended high above the paper, with his wrist bent so that his palm faced towards his torso. The lines have an extraordinary sense of agility; in combination with the natural alternations between the heaviness and paleness of the ink and the dryness and moistness of the brush, they give rise to a tableau of uninhibited ebullience. The paper on which He wrote was emblazoned with two floral-botanical designs. The darkness of the paper’s background is set off by the two pale-colored images, yielding an effect that recalls intagliated designs carved in counter-relief on a seal. This piece was donated to the NPM by Mr. Tan Po-yu and his brother Mr. Tan Chi-fu.

Qian Feng, Qing dynasty
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Qian Feng (1740-1795) had the style name Yuefu and the sobriquet Nanyuan (“Southern Garden”). A native of Kunming in Yunnan province, he passed the imperial examinations at the rank of presented scholar in the thirty-sixth year of Emperor Qianlong’s reign. Qian Feng was active at the same time as the notoriously crooked official Heshen. Qian criticized Heshen to his face, and delivered memoranda accusing him of corruption to the governor-general of Shaanxi province, Bi Yuan (1730-1797) and the inspector-general of Shandong province, Guotai (?-1782). 

This antithetical couplet was written on blue, wax-treated paper, the surface of which was painted with delicately beautiful cloud and mist designs. Qian wrote regular script (kaishu) with balanced, proportionate character structures. He moved his brush with palpable strength, showing himself to have a deep grasp of the stable, solid energy inherent in Yan Zhenqing’s (708-784) style of regular script. This piece was donated to the NPM by Mr. Tan Po-yu and his brother Mr. Tan Chi-fu.