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Wang Xizhi (303–361) was a calligrapher of the Eastern Jin dynasty. His courtesy name was Yishao, and he was from Langya Linyi (in present-day Shandong Province). Born into an aristocratic family, he rose to the rank of General of the Right Army, earning him the popular title “Wang Youjun” (Wang of the Right Army).
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Chu Suiliang (596–658 CE) was a prominent statesman and calligrapher of the early Tang Dynasty, celebrated for his elegant, refined, and rhythmically fluid style of regular script (kaishu). His masterpiece, the Yanta Shengjiao Xu (Preface to the Sacred Teachings at the Wild Goose Pagoda), was inscribed on stone in 653 CE at the request…
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Liu Gongquan (778–865 CE) was a leading calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty, renowned for his rigorous, upright, and sharply structured style of regular script (kaishu). His most famous work, the Xuanmi Ta Bei (Stele of the Mysterious and Secret Pagoda), was engraved in 841 CE to honor the life and teachings of a prominent…
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Yan Zhenqing (709–785 CE) was one of China’s greatest calligraphers and a loyal official of the Tang Dynasty. He is especially famous for developing a bold, dignified, and powerful style of regular script (kaishu) that broke from earlier elegant but delicate traditions. His early masterpiece, the Dobao Ta Bei (Stele of the Many Treasures…
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Ouyang Xun (557–641 CE) was one of the most influential calligraphers of the early Tang Dynasty, renowned for his precise, disciplined, and structurally rigorous style of regular script (kaishu). His masterpiece, the Jiucheng Palace Liqueur Spring Inscription (Jiucheng Gong Li Quan Ming), was engraved in 632 CE to commemorate the discovery of a sweet…
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Zhi Yong or Zhiyong (active late 6th–early 7th century CE) was a Buddhist monk and a celebrated calligrapher of the Sui Dynasty, traditionally regarded as a descendant of Wang Xizhi, China’s most revered calligrapher. He is best known for his work Thousand Character Classic in Regular and Cursive Scripts (Zhencao Qianzi Wen), a masterpiece…
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The Zhang Heinv Tomb Inscription (also known as the Epitaph of Zhang Heinv, full title is “Epitaph of Zhang Xuan, Former Governor of Nanyang Commandery of the Wei Dynasty”) is a famous Northern Wei dynasty (386–534 CE) stone inscription, dating to 531 CE.