Huang Tingjian

2020-11-12

Huang Tingjian (August 9, 1045 – May 24, 1105), courtesy name Lüzhi, pseudonym Shan Gu Dao Ren, and later known as Fu Weng, was born in Fenning, Hongzhou (now Xiu Shui County, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province). As a child, he often visited his maternal grandparents’ home near Sanxi Bridge on the western shore of Mount Lu. He was a renowned literatus and calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty, the founder of the influential Jiangxi poetic school, and was collectively referred to as one of the “Three Masters and One Founder” (with Huang Tingjian being one of the Three Masters) alongside Du Fu, Chen Shidao, and Chen Yuyi. He studied under Su Shi along with Zhang Lei, Chao Buzhi, and Qin Guan, and together they were known as the “Four Scholars of the Gate.” During his lifetime, he was equally celebrated with Su Shi, and the two were commonly referred to as “Su-Huang.” Huang Tingjian’s mother, Li Shi, and his maternal uncle, Li Chang, were descendants of Li Hou, the knife-sharpening artisan from Sanxi Bridge in Xihai, Lushan.

He is the author of "Shan Gu Ci," and Huang Tingjian’s calligraphy also developed a distinctive style of its own, earning him a place among the “Four Masters of the Song Dynasty.” Li Zhimin, a professor at Peking University and the pioneer of incorporating stele inscriptions into cursive script, commented: “Huang Tingjian incorporated the inscriptions from the Crane Stele into his cursive script, endowing it with a vigorous, unrestrained, and entirely new artistic realm.”

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Yimen Chen

Wei Yuan

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