Shen CHUANSHI

Shen CHUANSHI

Shen CHUANSHI (769-835) was a calligrapher of Tang Dynasty. The word Ziyan. Wu county (today's Suzhou, Jiangsu Province) people, Wuxing Wukang (today's Deqing, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province) people. At the end of Zhengyuan (785-805), Emperor Dezong of Tang Dynasty promoted Jinshi, Li Taizi educated Shulang, Hanlin bachelor, Zhongshu Sheren and Hunan observation envoy. In the first year of Baoli (825), he became a minister and minister.

Gongzheng, Xing and Cao all have regular script. Zhu Changwen's xushuduan juxtaposed it with Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu suiliang, Liu Gongquan, etc.

Previous evaluation

Zhu Changwen's xushuduan juxtaposed it with Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu suiliang, Liu Gongquan, etc. Song Ouyang Xiu's "61 postscript" says: "biography is not one, easy and lovely." In Song Dynasty, Mi Fu seldom permitted other people's calligraphy, but highly praised Shen CHUANSHI. It is said that Shen's calligraphy is "like a dragon in the sky, a tiger by the stream, with a self-confident spirit and a clear bone." He said that Shen Shu was the best after the middle Tang Dynasty, and Mi Fu claimed that Shen CHUANSHI was the main scholar of great books. Tao Zongyi's Shushi Huiyao called it "good at regular script, Li, Xing and Cao, named after the book".

Characteristics of calligraphy

Handwriting and achievement

The book traces handed down include "Luochi Temple stele", "youdaolin Yuelu Temple poem", "Liuzhou Shijing inscription" and so on. The stele of Luochi temple was erected in the first month of the first year of Changqing (821). Han Yu, Shen CHUANSHI and Chen Zeng Zhuan. Old in Liuzhou, Guangxi, long lost. Only he Shaoji in the Qing Dynasty preserved the unique edition of Song Dynasty. There are photocopies of corolla in Bowen hall, Japan. The calligraphy of this tablet is beautiful, smooth and beautiful. It is clear, vigorous and vivid. Although its shape is thin, it has tendons and flesh. It is not withered and barren. It is extremely lovely. The late Tang Dynasty was a period of depression in calligraphy, but the "chufei" school, represented by Shen CHUANSHI, obviously brought some vitality to the dull calligraphy world, and also provided valuable experience for Liu Gongquan to create "Liuti".

A comparison with Liu Gongquan's Calligraphy

The regular script "Liuzhou Luochi Temple stele" was written by Shen CHUANSHI when he was 53 years old. The stele was written by Han Yu, a great writer, to commemorate and praise Liu Zongyuan's political achievements when he was demoted to Liuzhou governor. The stele stands in Luochi temple. The stele has long disappeared. As for the year when it was destroyed, there is no way to find out. The rubbings we see today are photocopies of an old collection of Song Dynasty rubbings by he Shaoji of Qing Dynasty. Looking at the calligraphy of this stele, you can see that the breath is clear, the strength is mellow, and the bone method is vigorous. Although the characters are thin, they are healthy and beautiful. The flesh is hidden in the tendons, and there is no dry and barren disease. At first glance, it's similar to Liu (Gongquan) Shu, but there is a fundamental difference between Liu Shu and Zhonggong. That is, Zhonggong is too introverted and tight, which makes people panic. Shen Shu has no such feature. Although Zhonggong is also a little introverted, on the whole, it is relatively loose. Another difference from Liu's calligraphy is that the structure of Shen's calligraphy is low on the left and high on the right, and slightly to the right. Of course, there are some similarities between the calligraphy of this tablet and Liu's calligraphy, such as vertical hook, point, Pai, Na, hanging needle, and the structure of some words, such as "Yan" beside the word, "Zhao", "Liu", "Shi" and "bu", which are similar to Liu's calligraphy Who actually influenced who? Look at a sentence in Wang Duo's postscript, "Shen Shu is a little bit of a scholar, Yu Yongxing is a native, Liu Chengxuan and Ou liegeng are a family.". If Wang Duo's words are believable, it is obvious that Shen inherited Liu. However, according to the biography of Liu Gongquan in the old book of the Tang Dynasty, Liu (Gongquan) is nine years younger than Shen CHUANSHI. At the same time, there is a passage in the biography that is also thought-provoking, "Gongquan first learned Wang Shu, read all the modern writing techniques, and became his own family.". Maybe Shen CHUANSHI is included in this "modern writing". For example, when Li Sheng's stele is compared with Luochi temple's stele, the use of pen and the conclusion of characters are quite similar. It seems that Wang Duo's Shen "Ben" and Liu Gongquan are to be discounted. Huang Luzhi once said in his discussion of calligraphy in Tang Dynasty that "in the early Tang Dynasty, the calligraphy was vigorous and vigorous, which was in the style of Jin and Song dynasties. After the beginning of Yuan Dynasty, it became plump, and after Yuan Dynasty, Liu and Shen's disciples were still fresh and vigorous.". It can be seen that both Liu and Shen are calligraphers who are capable of correcting the disease of hypertrophy and advocating the beauty of "Qingjin". If we use today's words, at that time, Liu and Shen were very innovative calligraphers. In this way, it is not surprising that Liu and Shen Shufeng are similar.

Chinese PinYin : Shen Chuan Shi