China's Calligraphy Art Through the Ages

 

China has been noted for its calligraphy that evolved from handwriting but has developed into an independent art genre that can be placed on a par with painting, music, dance, sculpture and literature. Beyond all doubt, the technique of calligraphy is very important, but by no means the most important, as the ultimate aim of calligraphy is to use seemingly lifeless dots and lines to produce vivid pictures in the minds of viewers. And such imagery is only to be sensed, not explained. In other words, a calligraphic work can fully expose a calligrapher’s temperament, experience and erudition, and perfectly convey his outlook on life. And the calligrapher’s personal feelings are supposed to get a ready response among viewers. For this very reason, so far as the artistic strengths and weaknesses of a calligraphic work are concerned, different people have always held different views. Marvelous calligraphy is voiceless music, motionless dance, and intangible sculpture. From it we can feel a sense of rhythm, a lapse of time and a constant change of scene. The more one reads, the more one is impressed by its profundity and unlimited charm.

Calligraphy in jin and Tang Dynastry
An Elegy for Cao E in Regular Script
Inscription of Boyuan in Running and Cursive Scripts
Inscription of After Rain in Running and Cursive Scripts
Inscription of Provincial Officials in Cursive Script
Inscription of Recovery in Zhang-cao Style
Inscription of Zhonglang in Running Script
Inscription of Mid-Autumn in Running Script
Inscription of Dongshan Pines in Running Script
A Facsimile of Wang Xizhi and His Offspring‘s Calligraphy
A Facsimile of Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion in Running Script
A Facsimile of Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion
Inscription of Confucius Dreaming About Receiving Sacrifices in Running Script
Inscription of Bu Shang Reading Books in Running and Regular Scripts
Calligraphy Score
Inscription of Improvising Linking Verses at Zhushan Hall in Regular Script
Inscription of Four Ancient Poems in Cursive Hand
Inscription of the Poem Entitled ’Zhang Haohao‘ and Prologue in Running Script
Thousand Character Reader in Cursive Hand
Autobiography in Cursive Hand
Calligraphy in Five Dynastry，Northern and Southern Song Dynasties
Inscription of Scorching Summer in Cursive Hand
Inscription of the Poem Entitled ’Luxuriant Blossoms‘ in Shou-jin Style
Thousand Character Reader in Cursive Hand
Inscription of Sailing the Sea in Running Script
Inscription of the Poem Entitled ’Picturesque Pavilion‘ in Running Script
Inscription of Scholar Tao in Cursive Hand
Inscription of Ningzhou Prefecture in Regular Script
Inscription of the Poem Entitled ’Fragrant Flowers‘ in Cursive Hand
Inscription of Ji Kang’s Concerning Health Preservation in
Regular and Cursive Scripts
Inscription of the Poem Entitled ‘Elders of East Hamlet’ in Running and Cursive Scripts
Preface to Muji Poetry Anthology in Cursive Hand
Calligraphy in Yuan Dynastry
Inscription of Ode to Autumn Sound in Running Scrip
Inscription of the Ci of Retiring to My Native Village in Running Script
Inscription of A Note on Huaiyun Monastery in Kunshan in Regular Script
Inscription of ‘Book of Wu-yi’ from Collection of Ancient Texts in Seal Characters
Inscription of the Poem Entitled ‘Autumn Mood’ in Running Script
Inscription of Han Yu‘s Preface to Seeing Friend Li Yuan to Pangu Valley in Running Script
Inscription of Wang Anshi’s Miscellaneous Poems in Cursive Hand
Inscription of a Heptasyllabic Quatrain in Cursive Hand
Inscription of the Poem Entitled ‘Climbing Up to the Summit of Mount Nanfeng’ in
Running Script
‘A Note on Zhuxi Thatched Abode’ Inscribed in Running Script on Zhang Wo‘s Same-titled Painting
Calligraphy in Ming Dynastry
Stele Inscription of the Guandi Temple in Xiao-kai
Inscription of Self-written Poems in Running Script
Biographies of Six Buddhist Masters from Bodhidharma to
Hui-neng in Running Script
inscription of Self-written Ci in Running Script
A Facsimile of Chu Suiliang’s Inscription of Rhapsody on Withered
Tree in Running Script
Inscription of Ancient Poems in Cursive Hand
Inscription of Antithetical Couplet in Running Script
Annotations on the Painting of Gongzhong Pagoda in Regular Script
Poem Inscribed on a Painting of Beautiful Women in Running and Regular Scripts
Inscription Eulogizing Xie An on His Portrait in Official Script
Inscription of Excerpts from Zhang Zai‘s Dong Ming in Regular Script
Calligraphy in Qing Dynastry
Inscription of Quotations from Xunzi in Official Script
Inscription of Concerning the Jiang Calligraphy Models in Running Script
Inscription of Manjianghong in Running Script
The Character of ’Dragon‘ in Cursive Hand
Inscription of Excerpts from the ’Biography of Zhang Han‘ in the History of
Jin in Running and Regular Scripts
Inscription of Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luoshui River in Xiao-kai
Inscription of a Self-made Poem in Running and Regular Scripts
Inscription of Excerpts from the Strategies of the Warring
States in Running Script
Inscription of a Wu-Iu Poem in Running Script
Inscription of the Poems by Yuyang Shanren in Official Script
Inscription of a Yuan Dynasty Poem in Running Script
A Five-character Antithetical Couplet in Official Script
A Four-character Antithetical Couplet in Official Script
An Antithetical Couplet in Seal Characters
A Seven-character Antithetical Couplet in Running Script
A Seven-character Antithetical Couplet in Running Script
A Seven-character Antithetical Couplet in Running Script
Inscription of Su Shi’s Poem in Running Script
A Vertical Scroll of Calligraphy in Official Script
Inscription of a Qi-yan Poem in Official Script
A Facsimile of Wanbai Shanren‘s Calligraphy in Seal Characters
Appendix