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The Rise of the Yang Clan Yang Guozhong, originally named Yang Zhao, was the nephew of Zhang Yizhi, a favorite consort of Empress Wu Zetian. In his youth, he was a gambler and a drunkard, despised by his relatives until he found a lifeline in the military in Sichuan. His fortune changed dramatically when…
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Zhao Mengfu (1254–1322) was a renowned calligrapher, painter, and scholar-official of the Yuan Dynasty. As a descendant of the Song imperial family, he played a pivotal role in reviving classical styles of Chinese art and calligraphy. His work Dao De Jing (The Tao Te Ching), handwritten in small regular script (xiaokaishu), is one of…
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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…