In this journey, we will show you the calligraphy works which emerged in the Three Kingdoms and the Northern and Southern Dynasties. All of these works are terrific, wonderful and classical, but most of them were not the authentic works, they were copied by other people. How did this happen? Let’s have a look.
Xuan Shi Biao, Regular script，Zhong You《宣示表》，小楷，钟繇This famous calligraphy work was written by Zhong You, who was a high official in Cao Wei government. It is said that the work was then copied by Wang Xi Zhi, who was the most famous calligrapher in history. Then someone else copied Wang Xi Zhi’s replica. At last, the one written by Zhong You disappeared, the one copied by Wang Xi Zhi was also lost. Now we see in the picture is the replica that imitated by someone who lived in Song Dynasty. It is regarded as the founder of Regular script.
Ping Fu Tie, Cursive script，Lu Ji《平复帖》，草书，陆机It is said that this work was written by Lu Ji, who was a famous literator living in the early Western Jin Dynasty. It’s actually a letter, which Lu Ji wrote to his friends in Cursive script. The Cursive script is the most popular script form among the literator at that time. Of course, it is still a difficult job to recognize these characters for most Chinese people nowadays. No matter what, this plain and modesty artwork is precious, because it is confirmed to be the earliest authentic calligraphy work that written on paper we have found so far.
Lan Ting Xu, Running script, Shen Long version《兰亭序》，行书，神龙本
Lan Ting Xu, Running script, Ouyang Xun Version《兰亭序》，行书，欧阳询本
Lan Ting Xu, Running script, Chu Sui Liang version《兰亭序》，行书，褚遂良本There are three similar calligraphy works above. They are all called Lan Ting Xu, but written by different calligraphers. The original Lan Ting Xu was created by Wang Xi Zhi ( about 303-361A.D. ) , who is the greatest calligrapher in Chinese history. It is thought that Lan Ting Xu is the best Running script work on the earth. Unfortunately, the original work was lost, and these three copies were written by three outstanding calligraphers in Tang Dynasty ( 618-907A.D. ). Many people also made copies after Tang Dynasty. Up to now, a large number of replicas of Lan Ting Xu were left. Some of these replicas were written by famous calligraphers, the worth of them cannot be underestimated.
Yi Mu Tie, Running script，Wang Xi Zhi《姨母帖》，行书，王羲之Because Lan Ting Xu was imitated by so many people, the original style of Wang Xi Zhi’s version was getting fuzzy. Here in the picture is called Yi Mu Tie, created by Wang Xi Zhi, copied in Tang Dynasty, was considered to be the closest style to Wang Xi Zhi’s works.
Ya Tou Wan Tie, Cursive script, Wang Xian Zhi《鸭头丸帖》，草书，王献之This work was written by Wang Xian Zhi, who was the youngest son of Wang Xi Zhi. Here we see is also a replica, made in Tang Dynasty. There were amounts of calligraphers in the Wang family. Wang Xi Zhi had seven sons, every son was excellent in calligraphy, but Wang Xian Zhi is the best one.
Xin Yue Tie, Running script，Wang Hui Zhi《新月帖》，行书，王徽之This work was written by Wang Hui Zhi ( another son of Wang Xi Zhi ) and copied by someone in Tang Dynasty.All the works above are reproductions. Paper works can not be maintained for long time. To prevent the classical works vanishing from the world, some artists copied them. Although we cannot see the original works forever, we can approach the style and spirit of the originals through the high quality replicas.
Yuan Hui Epitaph, Regular script《元晖墓志》，楷书
Yuan Zhen Epitaph, Regular script《元桢墓志》，楷书In Chinese history, the Northern Wei Dynasty ( 368-534A.D. ) is funded by the nationality of Xianbei. The royal family name of Xianbei was called Tuoba at first. After they unified the North China, they changed their family name to Yuan, in order to get close to and imitate the Han culture. The titles of these two tablets ( Yuan Hui, Yuan Zhen ) give us hints of the changing of this family name. These two Yuans all belonged to the royal family.All the tablet works made in Northern Wei Dynasty were called Wei Bei（魏碑）. They belong to Regular script, but the style is different from Tang Regular script. The nicks by knife are stronger and more obvious, the structure of the characters are typical and lively.
Zhang Xuan Epitaph, Regular script.《张黑女墓志》，楷书This work was also made in the Northern Wei Dynasty. Compared to other Wei Bei, this one is more elegant. Today, many people learn Wei Bei, but they just amplify the characteristic of rough instead of acquiring the feature of elegance. This behavior, I call it penny wise and pound foolish.The End
