Yu Shinan (558 – 638 AD) (pronounced ‘You Shh-nan’) is an important figure in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
He helped create the distinct Tang dynasty style of calligraphy.
The Taizong Emperor, himself a keen calligrapher, once described him as ‘The Man of Five Merits’.
Contents
Yu Shinan’s life and career
Yu Shinan (虞世南 [Yú Shìnán]), courtesy name Boshi, was born in Yuezhou (today’s Yueyao, Zhejiang Province) during the late Southern and Northern dynasties period (420 – 581 AD).
Though states were unstable and short-lived during this period, the Yu family were a part of a ruling elite.
His father was Yu Li (虞荔) was the son of a Southern dynasty Crown Prince and a concubine.
Both Yu Shinan and his brother Yu Shiji (虞世基) were officials during the Sui dynasty (581 – 618 AD). This dynasty unified China for the first time in nearly four centuries.
They both then stayed on as officials during the Tang dynasty.
However, his brother was executed by palace coup-leaders in 618 AD. Yu had wanted to take his place, but wasn’t able to.
(The coup ringleader was himself killed the following year).
During Yu’s life, his class – the elites – were generally martial aristocrats. Yu himself worked an official and a general throughout his life.
He was 60 years old when the Tang dynasty was founded.
Friendship with the Taizong Emperor
The Taizong Emporer (598 – 649 AD) was the second ruler of the Tang dynasty.
He was one of the most successful and cultured emperors in Chinese history.
A keen calligrapher and poet himself, he also used the arts to help legitimise his rule.
One of the ways he did this was by promoting the work of the Jin dynasty calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303 – 361 AD).
He also admired Yu Shinan’s calligraphy and poetry. The two would often discuss politics and art.
In 628, Yu was one of several scholar-officials to recommended that Taizong build a imperial library. It contained over 200,000 books.
And in 635, the emperor was given a lion (an animal the Chinese were largely unfamiliar with). He ordered Yu Shinan to write a fu-style poem on it:
瞋目电曜，发声雷响。
– Extract from ‘Fu on Lion’ by Yu Shinan
拉虎吞貔，裂犀分象。
It glares like the flash of lightening, it roars like thunder’s echoes.
Dragging tigers, swallowing bears,
Splitting rhinos, cleaving elephants.
It’s said that no matter what the issue, Yu was unfailingly honest with Taizong.
One story has it that he persuaded Taizong to give a relative a simple funeral to save on expenses.
Another that he advised Taizong not to publish a poem he (Taizong) had written.
The five merits of Yu Shinan
Taizong famously complimented Yu Shinan as being a man with five wonders (五绝). He said Yu possessed:
- Morality
- Loyalty
- Erudition
- Literary talent
- Excellent calligraphy
Yu Shinan’s calligraphy
The early Tang dynasty
Today, the Tang dynasty (618 – 907 AD) is remembered as one of – if not the most – culturally brilliant dynasties in Chinese history.
A large number of great calligraphers, poets, and painters emerged from this time.
It reached its height during the High Tang period (712 – 765 AD), which came several decades after Yu’s death.
However, Yu’s calligraphy and poetry significantly contributed to the later era’s flourishing.
Style
Yu is considered one of the ‘Four Great Tang Masters’ of calligraphy, along with:
Along with Ouyang and Chu, Yu helped establish a distinct and lasting Tang style.
Perhaps unsurprisingly (because of the Taizong Emperor’s obsession with Wang Xizhi), this style is seen as a synthesis of Jin dynasty calligraphy.
Besides Wang Xizhi, Yu was clearly influenced by Wang’s son, Wang Xianzhi (344 – 386 AD), especially in the structure of his characters.
Yu was known for his skill in the regular (or standard) calligraphy script and the running (or semi-cursive) script, too.
Not many original versions of his work survive. But the ones that do demonstrate both his original style and range.
Zhang Huaiguan, the Tang dynasty calligraphy critic, noted that Yu had absorbed the ‘grandeur’ of Wang Xizhi’s style. And that it was at once firm and flexible.
Zhang also compared Yu with his contemporarly, Ouyang Xun.
Ouyang, Zhang wrote, had a style like a brave general who made bold moves into the enemy’s territory.
But Yu’s style was more like a protocol official who would rarely make mistakes.
Yu’s style, therefore, was superior because of how refined and restrained it was.
(Ouyang’s likely went on to be more influential early on, however, largely due to the higher number of original surviving copies.)
Interestingly, Yu is said to have prepared for calligraphy by meditation rather than practice. This has led some critics to note that he probably stunted his development this way.
The outspoken Northern Song calligrapher and art critic, Mi Fu (1051 – 1107 AD)was critical of Yu.
He believed that during the development spurred by Yu (and Ouyang Xun and others), ancient methods of calligraphy were essentially watered down.
And Mi Fu’s contemporary, the poet and calligrapher Huang Tingjian (1045 – 1105) wrote:
The untrammelled quality in the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and his son [Wang Xianzhi] is missing in the Tang masters Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, and Chu Suiliang.
– Huang Tingjian, ‘Colophon on Yan Zhenqing’
Examples of Yu Shinan’s calligraphy
Stele Dedicated to Confucius’ Temple
Yu’s Stele Dedicated to Confucius Temple (孔子庙堂碑 [Kǒngzǐ miàotáng bēi]) was created in 626 AD.
A stele (occasionally called a stela) is a stone monument slab. And a rubbing (a form of tracing) of the monument is a way to capture the original characters.
The only known rubbing of a stele by Yu Shinan is based on a monument that disappeared shortly after. Today, a copy based on a Song-dynasty copy of it has been created in Xi’an.
The original stele had 35 rows of 64 standard script characters in each column.
Princess Ru Nan’s Epitaph
The Draft of the Epitaph for Princess Ru’nan (汝南公主墓志高 [Rǔ nán gōngzhǔ mùzhì gāo]) was written for the Taizong Emperor’s third daughter, who passed away young.
It commemorates the princess, praising her intelligence and reflecting on the sadness of her passing.
It has 222 characters arranged in 18 lines of running script.
Example of Yu’s poetry
One of his poems made the 300 Tang Poems, a famous collection of Tang poems collated in the Qing dynasty.
