| Summary: | 碩士 === 華梵大學 === 美術學系碩士班 === 104 === Zhuang Yan’s Slender Gold Style Calligraphy Research
Abstract
The art of calligraphy has its origins far back in China’s long history. Chinese characters together form one of the world’s oldest scripts, and with them emerged the art of writing. Since ancient times, people have copied the calligraphy of the old masters, and from these models created the variety of styles we have today, be they plain and primitive, bold and vigorous, delicate and regular, or flowing and beautiful. The numerous masters of the various schools have each left behind great works, which have had a profound and far-reaching influence on calligraphy.
Personal style is an essential element of calligraphy. Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty inherited the styles of Tang dynasty calligraphers Chu Suiliang, Xue Ji, and Xue Yao. He took these and created his own style, the regular, fluid and elegant, “slender gold” style. Though quite a number of examples Huizong’s slender gold style still exist today, there are few examples of calligraphy by subsequent masters of the style. The only modern masters of the slender gold style are Yu Feian (1889-1959), Wu Hufan (1894-1968), and Zhuang Yan (1899-1980). They have all derived the essence of their art from the slender gold style.
Zhuang Yan was born at a time of great upheaval at the end of the Qing. Shortly after the last emperor’s expulsion from the Forbidden City, he entered the newly-established Palace Museum, where he would have the good fortune to work for the next 45 years. This gave him the opportunity to see with his own eyes the historical artifacts that had always been hidden deep in the imperial palace. These subtle influences greatly informed his style of calligraphy. His deep love for and knowledge of calligraphy propelled him to simultaneously excel in a variety of styles, especially the slender gold style. What captivated him about this style, which is easy to learn yet difficult to master? The first modern slender gold style master, Zhuang Yan, was a student of Emperor Huizong’s style, but their tastes differed greatly. This paper gathers together Zhuang Yan’s extant works, and analyzes the techniques used in his slender gold style calligraphy, its form, composition, and content. It also compares their styles and characteristics, and discusses the influence of slender gold style calligraphy on modern and contemporary calligraphy.
Changes in modern writing habits are resulting in the gradual disappearance of this writing art. During his lifetime, Zhuang Yan actively promoted calligraphy education, writing a number of essays on calligraphy. How we, born in the technologically advanced 21st century, should regard this traditional art form and ensure it is passed on to future generations, are problems we need to discuss as a society.
Keywords: Zhuang Yan, Slender Gold Style, Fei-An Xu, Hu-Fan Wu
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