Written for a certain “He'nian,”“He Nian” cannot be identified. For unlikely candidates with a similar name, see Wang Deyi 王德毅, Qingren bieming zihao suoyin清人別名字號索引 (Taipei: Xinfeng chubanshe, 2011): 836, and Yang Tingfu 楊廷福, Yang Tongfu 楊同甫 ed., Qingren shiming biecheng zihao suoyin (additional copy) 清人室名別稱字號索引（增補本）(Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 2004), Vol. I: 772; Vol. II: 149, 351, 501. the text of this work of art is an excerpt from the famous Letter on the Controversy over Seating Protocol (Zheng zuowei tie爭座位帖) by the celebrated Tang Dynasty calligrapher Yan Zhenqing 顏真卿 (709–785). Yan drafted his letter in 764 to send to the senior administrative minister Guo Yingyi郭英儀, criticizing his improper arrangement which placed a powerful eunuch Yu Chan’en魚朝恩 in the head seat at a banquet. Yan’s indignant attitude was clearly manifested in both the content and the calligraphy of the letter. It has, therefore, been highly praised and admired by later generations of calligraphers.Ouyang Zhongshi, Wen C. Fong [et al.]; translated and edited by Wang Youfeng, Chinese Calligraphy (New Haven: Yale University Press, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 2008): 226; 229, 4.34. This excerpt written by Song Cao demonstrates both Song's study of the original as well as his own calligraphic innovations.

Generally speaking, Song did calligraphy with little reference to the original source he was emulating. This work, however, is close in style to Yan’s letter. For instance, the characters “ye” (也) and “gao” (高) in the middle of the first column are close in style and structure to Yan’s characters. Similarly, the vertical stroke of the character “zheng” (爭) in the second column bends to the left as in Yan’s letter.

However, by magnifying the characters and changing the format to a two-meter-high hanging scroll, Song Cao gave new life to this famous letter. In particular, Song’s free expression can be seen in characters such as “ru” (汝) in the second and third columns, which end with a dramatic angular stroke that is based on the original. All in all, the characters in this work are round in shape, vary in size, and are written with an upright brush (zhongfeng 中鋒), which was a brush technique mastered by Yan. The brushwork is thick and strong, and the whole work is done with great speed, the characters linked fluently by occasional dry strokes. While the overall character of this work is consistent with Song’s other calligraphies, the momentum of the brush admirably conveys the character and spirit of Yan’s work. Therefore, this work not only allows us to see Song’s personal calligraphy style, but also his attitude towards learning ancient masterpieces, namely that one should learn the spirit rather than the form of the originals.

This practice, which uses ancient masterpieces as an inspirational source of calligraphy— but not as a model for copying—is said to have been initiated by Dong Qichang 董其昌 (1555–1636).Zhu Huiliang (Chu Hui-liang, 朱惠良), “Lingu zhi xinlu: Dong Qichang yihou shuxue fazhan yanjiu zhiyi,” (臨古之新路 — 董其昌以後書學發展研究之一) The National Palace Museum Research Quarterly故宮學術季刊, Vol. 10, No. 3 (1993): 51-94. Wang Duo王鐸 (1592–1652), a contemporary of Song Cao, was known for making creative collages of multiple calligraphers’ works in large hanging scrolls, the meanings of which were often incomprehensible.Qianshen Bai, Fu Shan’s World: The Transformation of Chinese Calligraphy in the Seventeen Century (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2003): 40-44. In fact, Song learned calligraphy through copying ancient masterpieces in his childhood. He comments, “All the calligraphy model-books (tie) are placed beside my pillow, and I carry them with me when I travel. I always imitate and copy them, keeping them in my mind, regardless of the weather—cold or hot, windy or rainy. Although I am poor, they keep me company.”“枕畔與行麓中嘗置諸帖，時時摹倣，倍加思憶，寒暑不移，風雨無間。雖窮愁患難，莫不與諸帖俱。”Song Cao (宋曹, 1620-1702), Shufa yueyan書法約言, in Xuxiu siku quanshu 續修四庫全書, Vol. 1065 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1995): 120. Some scholars regard Song’s calligraphy as representative of the “Northern calligraphy style” of the early Qing dynasty.Liu Heng 劉恒, Zhongguo shufa shi: Qingdai juan 中國書法史‧清代卷 (Nanjing: Jiangsu chubanshe, 2002): 44.

After Beijing fell to the Manchus, Song Cao remained a Ming loyalist, serving as an official at the Southern Ming court. His choice of Yan’s calligraphy suggests that he viewed his life, like Yan Zhenqing's, that of a loyal and just man.

© 2013 by the Seattle Art Museum