Introduction

Oracle Bone Script

• Tung Tso-pin (1895-1963), Republican period

     Oracle bone script refers to the ancient Shang dynasty writing or engraving on tortoise shells and animal bones. Representing a combination of ideographic and phonetic symbols, it reflects the advance of written language into a more mature stage more than three millennia ago.

     Tung Tso-pin took part in several excavations at Yinxu, the Ruins of Yin, making an outstanding contribution to the study of oracle bone script. Along with Wang Yi (ca. 1875-1960), he compiled a collection of the characters found at Yin into poetry entitled Qiji Anthology. In this book is a poem on "Autumn at Cassia Palace," which is about meeting under a bright moon and the departure of horse-and-chariot, the last line mentioning it as if in a dream. These lines form the contents of this work, which features beautifully elegant and upright brushwork that reflects the spirit harmony of this script associated with court divination in the late Shang dynasty.

Letter to Brother Yunfu

• Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), Song dynasty

     Huang Tingjian (style name Luzhi, sobriquet Shangu daoren) was good at poetry and prose. Excelling also at calligraphy, especially running and cursive scripts, his regular script was in a style of his own. Huang's brushwork extended in an eccentric manner with wave-like features.

     The lines in the running script of this letter are solid and steady, the characters tilting to the left and right. The characters are constricted but with diagonal strokes extending outwards, similar in manner to Huang's letter "Ode on Bitter Bamboo Shoots" written around the age of 55; the letter here is therefore probably a late work. Huang in this letter mentions doing a preface and copy-editing "Old Man Pang's" Treatise on Cold Damage. "Old Man Pang" refers to Pang Anshi (ca. 1042-1099), a scholar skilled in medicine who was also friends with Su Shi.

Harmonizing with the Verse of Biancai

• Su Shi (1037-1101), Song dynasty

     Su Shi was a native of Meishan in Sichuan, and Biancai (1011-1091) was a monk originally surnamed Xu with the personal name Yuanjing. In 1089, Su Shi was assigned as the Prefect of Hangzhou, where he met Biancai, the two of them often harmonizing the poetry that they exchanged. Biancai also once wrote poetry with the added encouragement for Su Shi to focus on politics and create prosperity for the people and country. In return, Su Shi wrote a poem in harmony, in which he compared their friendship to that of the famous recluse-poet Tao Yuanming and the monk Huiyuan. Praising Biancai in the process, Su humbly said he could not compare to Tao Yuanming. This work in regular script features elements of running script and is reserved and introspective. Focusing on the spirit and not calligraphic technique, it is a classic example of Su Shi's mature style.

Letter

• Mi Fu (1052-1108), Song dynasty

     Mi Fu, a native of Xiangyang (part of modern Hubei), was a famous poet, calligrapher, and collector of the Northern Song. Along with Cai Xiang (1012-1067), Su Shi (1037-1101), and Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), he was referred to as one of the Four Northern Song Masters of Calligraphy.

     This work is also known as "Letter on River Matters," which was actually written as a form of self-recommendation on the part of Mi Fu. In it, he analyzes the rate of water in a canal based on the flow, depth, and curve of the channel. It demonstrates that Mi had sufficient knowledge on water management, an important subject in officialdom during ancient times. The brushwork throughout is natural and fluid here, the character forms varied and slanted with force that is dashing yet simple. This is the sixth leaf from "Album of Authentic Works by the Four Song Masters."

Letter

• Cai Xiang (1012-1067), Song dynasty

     Cai Xiang (style name Junmo) was good at poetry and prose, excelling also at calligraphy. Early on, he studied the style of Zhou Yue (a Northern Song calligrapher whose birth and death dates are unknown), but later he departed from the manners of Yu Shinan (558-638) and Yan Zhenqing (709-785), tracing back to calligraphers of the Jin dynasty. Cai's style inherited from that of the Tang dynasty and excelled at standardization, for which it was praised in calligraphy circles.

     The brushwork here is fluid and natural, the size of the characters ranging in density and the twisting lines varied in thicknesses. It has a very fluent manner but also exhibits the gentle and even features of Cai's calligraphy with a steady and mature manner. This work is the eighth leaf from "Collected Album by the Four Song Masters."

Inscription for Song Gaozong's Imperial Order to Yue Fei

• Wen Zhengming (1470-1559), Ming dynasty

     Wen Zhengming, a native of Changzhou (Suzhou) in Jiangsu, was gifted at the arts of poetry and prose, calligraphy, and painting, being known as one of the Three Masters of Wu. In calligraphy, he first studied the styles of the Song and Yuan dynasties before turning to those of the previous Jin and Tang, becoming gifted at all the major script types.

     Judging from the contents of the colophon at the end of this handscroll, we know that a man surnamed Shen in Wu (the Jiangsu area) uncovered a stone engraving of an imperial order originally written by the Song dynasty emperor Gaozong (1107-1187) to the general Yue Fei. Wen Zhengming thereupon wrote a poem for it, transferring blame from the Song prime minister Qin Hui and placing it squarely on the emperor, thereby offering a unique viewpoint. The large characters in the running script here feature strong and forceful brushwork, the characters broad and untrammeled. Written at the age of 90 by Chinese reckoning, and done a few days before Wen passed away, it has not the slightest sense of laxity.