Liu Gongquan (778 – 865 AD) was one of the greatest calligraphers of the Tang dynasty.
He has also long been considered one of the four great masters of regular script.
He helped regular script reach its zenith in the Tang dynasty.
It has been directly copied out and imitated by generations ever since.
Contents
Biography
Family background and early life
Liǔ Gōngquán (柳公权), courtesy name Cheng Xuan, was born to family of officials in Huayuan County (today’s Yaoxian, Shaanxi Province).
His paternal grandfather was Liu Zhengli was an official and general.
And his father Liu Ziwen served as the provincial governor of Danzhou (today a part of Yichuan County, Shaanxi Province).
His elder brother was Liu Gongzhuo (柳公绰) was also a well-known official and calligrapher.
Liu is said to have been a precocious child, good at writing poetry and fu (a kind of poetic essay) by the age of 12.
In 808, when he was around 30 years old, he passed the imperial examination, graded first place of all students.
Childhood anecdotes
Some likely apocryphal stories about Liu’s childhood have been told over the years.
For example, he already had brilliant calligraphy when children his age could barely write.
Or that he sought out the armless man who he had been told was an expert on calligraphy.
The man told him that he couldn’t directly teach him, but he could give him some advice in the form of a poem:
写尽八缸水
砚梁涝池黑
博取百家长
始得龙凤飞
Use up eight jars of water writing,
Flood your inkstone with ink;
Acquire knowledge from one hundred different schools,
And you’ll begin to fly like a phoenix.
Career as an official
Liu began his career as a proof-reader for the secretariat.
He went on to hold several official posts whilst also serving as a calligraphy teacher for the Tang royal family for 20 years.
One account has it that would stand by to pass Liu inkstones and brushes as he demonstrated calligraphy to the royals.
He was made a duke of a prefecture in Shanxi Province.
Mid- to late-Tang
Liu’s long career spanned many emperors across the middle and late Tang dynasty.
This was a difficult time for the dynasty.
It had never recovered the political power and centralisation lost during the An Lushan Rebellion (755 – 763 AD) a few decades earlier.
And internal struggles for power, including with court eunuchs, added to further instability.
Despite this, Liu managed to achieve a long and stable career.ss Liu inkstones and brushes as he demonstrated calligraphy to the royals.
A candid voice
One – likely apocryphal – story has it that Liu once directly criticised the Muzong Emperor’s rule via his calligraphy.
The story has Muzong asking Liu how he can make his characters more beautiful and elegant. He asked this question at a time when the empire was being run badly and his ministers were afraid to speak up.
Liu answered him that as long as one’s heart was properly upright the characters would naturally become better formed.
The emperor understood the implied hint behind this admonishment but didn’t punish him.
Liu’s calligraphy
Liu has long been known as one of the greatest calligraphers in Chinese history.
He was versatile in most scripts, but is most famous for his regular script.
Like many Tang calligraphers, he was heavily influenced by Wang Xizhi (303 – 361 AD). However, he was also inspired by many other Tang calligraphers, including:
- Ouyang Xun (557 – 641 AD): A Chen and then Tang dynasty official,
- Chu Suiliang (596 – 658 AD): A scholar-official that rose to prominence at an early age. One of Taizong’s favourite official calligraphers
- Yu Shinan (558 – 638 AD): A poet and calligrapher, another favourite of Taizong
- Yan Zhenqing (709 – 785 AD): The upright official known for his sturdy, composed calligraphy that – literally – used an upright brush.
For example, many of the strokes he uses have the vigorous, rapid look that Ouyan Xun deployed.
This includes strokes that end with an abrupt, sharp-shaped ‘whip’ at the moment the brush leaves the page.
And Liu often leaves spacious gaps between the different elements within characters just like Chu Suiliang.
Liu Gongquan and Yan Zhenqing
Liu’s name has been linked with that of Yan Zhenqing (709 – 785 AD) for centuries.
Yan was born 70 years before Liu. But many believe Liu’s work is a clear descendent of Yan’s.
The association is partocracy linked to their standard script styles. Both frequently used smooth and rounded brushwork.
However, where they differ lies in the stature and thickness of their characters and strokes. This difference is summed up an idiom often used in discussions on calligraphy:
颜筋柳骨
– Fan Zhongyan, ‘Study of the Sacrificial Stone’
The sinews of Yan; the bones of Liu
This phrase was coined by Song dynasty critic Fan Zhongyan.
It is commonly thought to mean simply that Yan’s style is thick and strong whereas Liu’s is ‘bonier’ (slender strokes that are thicker at both ends) and strong.
However, this is an oversimplification of the differences between their styles.