China FDC on "Ancient Chinese Calligraphy - Cursive Script"

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China


Ancient Chinese Calligraphy - Cursive Script

Date of Issue : 15 April 2011

(Top FDC)
4-1 : Calligraphy of Recovery
Featuring single and brief characters, clerical cursive script (zhang cao) is the early form of cursive script. Some of its strokes remain the style of "li shu", or clerical script. Ping Fu Tie (Calligraphy of Recovery), calligraphed by Lu Ji (261 - 303, a scholar of the Western Jin) on a hemp paper scroll, is the oldest existing calligraphy copybook of "zhang cao", now in the collection of Palace Museum in Beijing. It is calligraphed with a worn-out writing brush.

(2nd FDC)
4-2 : Calligraphy of Early Moon
Developed by Eastern Jin Calligraphers, modern cursive script (jin cao) features exquiste lines and dots as well as unrestrained strokes. The best representatives of "jin cao" are works by Wang Xizhi (303 - 361) and his son Wang Xianzhi. Chu Yue Tie (Calligraphy of Early Moon) was a letter from Wang Xizhi to his friend. The original copy was lost, and the version collected by Liaoning Provincial Museum is an imitation dating to the Tang Dynasty.

(3rd FDC)
4-3 : Four-Poem Calligraphy Copybook
Developed by Tang Calligraphers, wild cursive script (kuang cao) is the most free and unrestrained type, exemplified by the writings of Tang Calligraphers Zhang Xu and Huai Su. Gu Shi Si Tie (Four-Poem Calligraphy Copybook), now collected by Liaoning Provincial Museum, is a long paper scroll devoted to poems calligraphed by Zhang Xu during the Tang Dynasty.

(4th FDC)
4-4 : Autobiography
Developed by Tang Calligraphers, wild cursive script (kuang cao) is the most free and unrestrained type, exemplified by the writings of Tang Calligraphers Zhang Xu and Huai Su. Zi Xu Tie (Autobiography), by Huai Su (737 - 799), an eminent monk and calligrapher of the Tang, is currently housed by Taipei Palace Museum. This long paper scroll depict the author's calligraphy experience and communication with other scholars.

One of the five major calligraphy styles of China, cursive script (cao shu) originated in the late Qin dynasty (221 BC - 206 BC), matured in the Eastern Han (25 - 220), and reached its pinnacle in the Eastern Jin (317 - 420). During the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), the calligraphy style developed new genres. Originally created for fast writing, it later bacame an art form. It features concise forms and continous brushwork as well as such processing as association, omission and symbolization on strokes of Chinese characters.