Yang Xian

Yang Xian

Yang Xian (1819-1896), whose name is Yongzhai and Jianshan, was named Jiqiu and contemptuous Weng in the late Qing Dynasty. He was born in Guian (now Huzhou), Zhejiang Province, and was a calligrapher, epigraphist and poet of the Qing Dynasty.

Personal profile

In the fifth year of Xianfeng (1855), Yang Xian failed in the exam, and joined Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang to assist in military affairs. After 50 years old, he was in charge of waterway and water transport affairs, and served as an official to salt transport envoy. During that time, he was once the magistrate of Songjiang, Jiangsu Province, and was impeached for offending Shangliao. After that, he lived in Suzhou, studied and wrote, and made a living by selling words.

Calligraphy style

Using pen to move pen

"Yang Li" used both square and round strokes, with sharp edges, light and thin round strokes, thick horizontal strokes and thin vertical strokes. The line strokes were raised sharply, leaving a long and fibrous tail, and a long foot with a juxtaposition. In the indulgent style of Pai, Na and horizontal strokes, the turning point is hard, just like the sharp edge urging the sword to break, and the PAI stroke is heavy. Yang Xian, as a Li, has a long horizontal stroke with three twists and turns, strong rhythm and vivid charm. Its points are also very different, and are very harmonious with other strokes. In the movement of the pen, we often use the methods of disease, astringency and shaking. We pay attention to the subtle changes of the straight and sharp movements of the strokes. The lines contain ups and downs, which are dignified and clumsy.

Structural modeling

The structure of "Yangli" is tight and stretched, its shape is flat and square, its frame is neat, its density is even, its shape is wide and its Qi is tight. Its structural modeling not only emphasizes the elegant appearance, but also strives to enrich the connotation.

Individual characteristics

The wave strokes of "Yangli" are mostly deformed, and they are usually received as soon as they are sent out, leaving no wave shape and emphasizing no wave. Instead, they highlight the line strokes, such as horizontal and vertical lines. Secondly, Yang Li's pen is thick and solid, and when he starts to attack, he starts to attack quickly, leaving behind a dull tail. Third, Yang Yisheng "studied the official script and looked at all the steles of the Han Dynasty". He wrote the steles with the style of calligraphy, but he didn't win by the masculinity of the steles of the Han Dynasty. You can turn rigidity into softness. You can see rigidity in softness. You can bend and be flexible, just as if you are strong.

Yang Xian's calligraphy belongs to the Beibei school. He once studied calligraphy and studied official script under the guidance of Zang Shougong, a calligrapher. Because of his wide range of methods and diligence, he is extremely skilled in writing, and his personal style is also very obvious. His official script is mainly devoted to "open Baoxie road", "Ode to Shimen" and "ritual stele". In the form structure, contrary to the previous study of Han stele, he adopted the method of tight upper part and sparse lower part as far as possible, especially the strokes such as skimming, drawing and long vertical, stretching left and right, waving and flying, which made the grace and dignity of Han stele through the rapid use of pen and brush The skillful lifting and pressing action forms a sharp and sharp, lively and radiant image, so it is called to write Lishu with cursive method. The style of writing is thin, vigorous and vigorous, sparse and close, and its pen is bright and clear, and its ink is used for variety. Light ink and Sumo are commonly used in calligraphy, which is rare among the calligraphers of Stele Study at that time. In Xianfeng and Tongzhi periods, his official script was the most prominent and influential. It is worth mentioning that Yang Xian's running script also has a distinctive style and calm stippling. The shape is long and thin, flat and square, tight knit or discrete. It is changeable and tries to avoid being plain. Its bold and uninhibited style and elegant style are flying together in Li Dynasty. Yang Xian's works are very popular, but the style of official script has a great influence on the late Qing Dynasty, even as far as Japan, but the style of his later years was popular in the decadent Tang Dynasty, lacking ancient flavor.

Artistic achievements

For more than a century, "Yang Li" has gradually attracted the attention and research of calligraphers at home and abroad.

This paper is a collection of 220 great works written by famous calligraphers in the Qing Dynasty, which is published by Japan's xiongshan Pavilion and edited by Bobang Kitagawa. One example is the collection of 786 "Yangli". Today, when we talk about "Yang Li", we begin with the plaque of "Qianbi Pavilion" written by him at the age of 62 in 1881. The inscribed tablet of "qiange Pavilion" is now hidden in qiange Pavilion, Yuehe street, Huzhou, Yang Xian's hometown. The three characters of "Qiangan Pavilion" are vigorous and unsophisticated. The short postscript was written as: "the master of Qianyuan is Han Jin brick, who has more than a thousand nets, so it can be said that he is very proud. Since Mr. Chen Baozhi, my hometown has no such ancient interest. To Tongcheng Wu Jinming house, many but not refined, not enough. Xin had already taken it from Mencius, and Yang Xian of Yongzhai uncovered it. " His writing is thin, vigorous, clear and vigorous. This is a masterpiece of his stay in Huzhou. "Qianliu Pavilion" is a building in the house of Lu Xinyuan, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty. It is named after the collection of nearly a thousand bricks from the Han and Jin Dynasties (now a provincial cultural relics protection unit in Zhejiang Province). Yang Xian also wrote a preface to Lu's "a sequel to the brick of qianliu Pavilion", pointing out its academic research value in history, calligraphy, seal and other aspects. It also discusses the calligraphy of brick inscriptions in the Han and Jin Dynasties: "it is enough to see the beginning of Zhuan Fen (Li Shu, also known as Bafen Shu, referred to as Fen Shu).

Yilin language four screens was written by Yang Xian at the age of 65 in 1884. The charm of this work is similar to the stele of ritual vessels, which is characterized by its dense and elegant lines.

It was written in 1892 in the reign of Emperor Guangxu. The style of the book is rectangular in shape and square in style. The main style of the book is garden. The style of the book is elegant. See complete works of Shudao in Japan.

The five character couplet Lishu in Nanshan you Gao Yao Arctic Jiyu contains the complete works of Shudao in Japan, which was written in 1894. In 1894, it also wrote the seven character couplet Lishu (collected in the Palace Museum) in which Kuang CI Gong should not blame poems such as Dongye Bu Yan Han. The former is Zhongya's old nephew's residence, and the latter is Yangxian's seventy-six old man. These two couplets are both simple and elegant, and are full of compiling meaning.

In the five character official script of Shenghua Manxue shuzuo Lingjiang letter, the second elder brother of Shangyi Lu is the teacher, and the second elder brother of Yongzhai is Xian. Such as Qin Zhuan, the style is bold and fresh, vertical and horizontal, and business is closely related to the ancient law. It is an innovative product.

The running script of Shuishi Huachuan poetry axis (the illustration of Ming and Qing Dynasty's calligraphy road in Japan) is full of vigour and light breath. It contains the verve of abundant spirit and vulgarity. The whole text is based on emotion and wins by arrogance.

There are also four screens on the steles of Huashan temple in Linxi prison (collected in Shanghai Museum), steles of Hengfang in Jielin Han (complete works of Shudao in Japan), etc. The author has read dozens of excellent works of local sages, either living abroad or in China, or collected by his hometown.

Besides his calligraphy, Yang Xian also studied ancient poetry, and wrote Yongzhai anthology and Chi Hongxuan poetry notes. His article "preface to the posthumous works of anjishi" has been widely read in the book "continuation of ancient prose and observation" compiled by Wang Yiru of Wuxing. It is reported that Wu Changshuo once met Yang Xian with Yu Yue (Quyuan) in Gusu. From his study of art, he was also a teacher and friend. It can be said that one voice corresponds to the other, which is rare in the history of art. Wu Changshuo once asked Yang Xian to write an inscription on the collection of Yi utensils. They expressed their own opinions and had a lot of fun.

Appreciative Remarks

Yang Xian was a good calligrapher all his life, and he explored the steles of the Eastern Han Dynasty. According to the critics, he had made great efforts in the study of Hanli. Wu Changshuo, a famous calligrapher, painter and seal cutter, came from his family. Yang Xian's handed down works are rich, and this official script seven character couplet (see Figure 1) is his later work. The work, 142.5 cm in length and 32 cm in width, is now in the Palace Museum. This couplet is quite different from the early Calligrapher's consistent style of horizontal, vertical and regular. It has the flavor of "old man chatting with young maniac". The letter and pen show the old hero's true colors. The ink is thick and vigorous, and the brush is dry, thick and thin, and the size changes naturally. It seems to be handy, but with ulterior motives. Generally speaking, the characters in Lishu are horizontal, which is the most likely to produce the phenomenon of horizontal drawing. The changes of this couplet are strange, including the most prominent wave and zhe. In the middle of the couplet, the strokes are curled and stretched to the left and right, and the waves are flying. Yang Xian made the elegant and dignified stele of Han Dynasty into a sharp and precipitous appearance through his quick stroke of writing and skillful lifting and pressing. No wonder some people say that he wrote Lishu with cursive method. The most interesting thing is that this book is mixed with the technique of trembling pen and twisting tube in addition to indulgence, which makes some thin strokes more clumsy and astringent, and forms a strong contrast with the plump and thick fat pen. This seemingly straightforward but actually ingenious way of dealing with contrastive relations seems to be very easy to accept today and has been widely used. However, at that time, it was questioned by many people - people thought that he was "decadent" in his later years. As everyone knows, this is Yang Xian's deliberate move to realize the "decaying reform".

Personal works

He is the author of Yongzhai anthology and Chi Hongxuan's poetry notes, which have been handed down to the world.

Chinese PinYin : Yang Xian