Figure 1. Statue of Yan Xiu in Nankai school in Tianjin, China (Photo by Fanghong). Figure 2. Calligraphic couplet by Yan Xiu, UWM Special Collections (cs 000017).
Graduate Research: Chinese Scroll and Fan Work, Part 8
This week we focus on an important Chinese calligraphic treatise and on an interesting dichotomy in Chinese art relating to the couplet shown above (Figure 2) by noted Chinese educator and co-founder of Nankai University Yan Xiu (1860-1929, Figure 1) from our Zhou Cezong Collection of Chinese scroll and fan work. The couplet reads:
A copy of Wang Xizhi’s “Huang Ting Jing” (a copy of Wang’s calligraphic writing) is what I like to emulate. “Biyu”(an ancient musical composition)-like melody is what I usually play in my place. I strive to read various books including very valuable imperial collection. Orthodoxy of Confucianism is the principle I inherit and strictly follow.
In the fourth century, Wei Shuo (272-349), the teacher of Wang Xizhi (303-361, the most famous calligrapher in Chinese history), illuminated seven seminal strokes of calligraphy (Figure 3, see from right to left) in her treatise Diagram of the Battle Array of Brush (translated also as The Picture of Ink Brush):
First Stroke 一 ---Like a line of clouds stretching a thousand miles, indistinct yet tangible. Second Stroke 、---Like a rock falling from a peak, pounding yet crumbling. Third Stroke丿---Clean-cut like (the horn of) a rhinoceros and (the tusk of ) an elephant. Fourth Stroke ㇂---A shot from a crossbow which has one hundred Jun (15 kilograms) in strength. Fifth Stroke ∣ ---Old vine ten thousand years of age. Sixth Stroke ㇏--- Breaking wave and rumbling thunder. Seventh Stroke 𠃌 --- Sinew and joints of a strong crossbow.
Figure 3. Wei Shuo’s Diagram of the Battle Array of Brush, from Lucy Driscoll and Kenji Toda, Chinese Calligraphy (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1935), pp. 41-46.
The brushstrokes from Yan Xiu’s couplet align with the key features of these seven key strokes. They look impregnable and sublime, as if representing troops arrayed for battle, generating an aura of power and uprightness.
Yan’s brush style seems influenced by that of Huang Tingjian (1045-1105), as can be seen in Huang’s Scroll for Zhang Datong. For instance, for the character “書,” Yan (Figure 4: Left) and Huang (Figure 4: Right) commonly conveyed a sense of foreboding compactness and deliberate poise. This common feature indicates both of them had a great understanding of the ancient artistic principles. However, there is one striking difference between these two figures; and this difference reveals an intriguing dichotomy in Chinese art.
Figure 4. Left: Yan’s character from Figure 2; Right: Huang Tingjian’s Scroll for Zhang Datong
As one of the most celebrated calligraphers of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Huang disliked the formality and sophistication of some ancient arts. Instead, he stressed asymmetry, irregularity, and spontaneity in his creation while maintaining a dynamic equilibrium for the whole. In Figure 4 (Right), the first horizontal stroke (as well as the top of the central vertical stroke) breaks the balance of the composition by pushing the character to the top right. Next, the intensity of the second horizontal stroke pulls the dynamism of the word back to the left. The third and fifth horizontal strokes also contribute to this counterbalance by the alterations of their width and angle. Finally, the slim vertical line down to the left is overshadowed by the powerful counterpart to the right, thereby moving the axis to the right again. Here, Huang created an S curvature throughout the word, which is analogous to the contrapposto effect in Michelangelo’s statue of David---although the individual parts lean to different directions, the overall structure maintains an equilibrium. On the contrary, for Yan’s work in Figure 4 (Left), the composition and strokes seem to be uniform and sophisticated with very few contrasting and complementary elements. Bordering on rigidity, his brush was likely to be premediated in a careful plan; and he was faithful in carrying out this plan.