Beijing

Born in 714 in LinYi, todays Shangdong province to a well distinguished family of government officials, Yan Zhenqing is one of China’s greatest Calligraphers if not the greatest of them all. His position in Chinese calligraphy parallels that of  the great sage-calligrapher Wang Xizhi (王羲之), and his Yan style of calligraphy, is the textbook-style that every calligrapher must imitated and study carefully to this day.

There are two points mentioned in the introduction to Calligraphy section that are well manifested in this great master. The first point is the fact that throughout history a style of calligraphy is so attractive and innovative to the people of its day that it establishes itself as the standard way to write the language. Such is the calligraphy of Yan Zhenqing. The Yan style of calligraphy turned into a cannon and a standard form of writing Chinese characters. It is crucial to understand that in the days of Yan Zhenqing during the Tang Dynasty, a standard system of writing was still in the making. Yan Zhenqing introduced a new form of Kai Shu that brought Chinese characters to a new level of maturity, Yan’s characters were so well proportioned, so attractive in their strength and beauty that they have been adopted as an authority model.

 The other point mentioned in the introduction is the fact that the Chinese, from days of old, associated calligraphic style with ones personality and moral virtues. Yan Zhenqing’s life story definitely supports this belief. Not only a phenomenal calligrapher, Yan Zhenqing was a gifted government official, a brave strategist and an uncompromising man of morals, he was one of the major figures responsible for the repression of the famous 755AD An LuShan rebellion and remained loyal to the Tang regime to his last day. As a result of his unwillingness to compromise on matters of morality and official and civil duties, at the age of 73, old Yan was secretly strangled as a result of a conspiracy plotted by his political rivals.  After receiving many honorary titles throughout his impressive career, he was posthumously given the prestigious title of Wen Zhong (文忠). Yan Zhenqing’s character was modest, imposing upright forceful and well controlled just like the characters that were created under his brush.

 Famous Works

 The, Duobao Ta Bei or the DuoBao Pagoda Stele(多寶塔碑), done in 752 AD and made for emperor Tang XuanZong, belongs to his early style and still conforms to the taste of the early Tang but at the same time shows traces of Yan’s later style that displayed solidity and firmness as opposed to the preferable elegance and ornamental style of the time.   

The GuoJian Miao Stele (郭傢廟碑) and MaGu Shan XianTan Ji (痲姑仙墰記) belong to a later period when Yan establishes his own style and incorporates techniques from the Zhuan style(篆) and Li style (隷) into his revolutionary Kai style (揩). During this period Yan lays down the basic structure of his characters and creates a style that is unique and representative to the Yan school he established. This mature period began around his fifties.   

 His Masterpiece, the Yan QingLi Stele (顏勤禮碑) belongs to the period around his death. In this work Yan displays total control and fluidity and reached a stage of total naturalness, where, as Confucius says, ones intention and will are no longer in conflict.   

>Link Partners             >Contact Us      

- The World of Chinese Art (tm) -