In the Tang Dynasty, many calligraphers emerged, and Ouyang Qing, Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan were among the representative figures, but there was one person who not only had profound achievements in painting, but also had strength in calligraphy.
Yan Liben was born into an aristocratic family and was the grandson of Emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. His father was a donkey horse during the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Duke of Shibao County, and his mother was Princess Qingdu, the daughter of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. A good family background has created a learning atmosphere for Yan Liben.
Yan Liben is good at painting Daoshi, figures, landscapes, and Kurama, especially known for his Daoist figure paintings, and has painted walls in the two corridors of Chang'an Ci'en Temple, which is quite famous, and his representative works include "Step Map", "Gong Gong Tu", "Xiao Yi Earn Lan Ting Tu" and so on.
Sometimes we only focus on his paintings, and it is his painting name that surpasses his calligraphy. Its font is heavy ink, thick and thin, with a dashing pen and a wide knot.
This sutra is the "Sutra of the Holy King of the Wheel", which is a model for writing the sutra in the Tang Dynasty.
Yan Liben not only had profound achievements in calligraphy and painting, he was a polymath, successively serving as an official of the three dynasties of Tang Gaozu, Tang Taizong, and Tang Gaozong Kaiji, and when Tang Gaozong was the prime minister.
Yan Liben, also a highly accomplished architectural designer, was responsible for the engineering design of the northern section of the Grand Canal in the Sui Dynasty, and was the chief designer of the most famous building in the Tang Dynasty, the "Daming Palace".
Painting was nothing more than a hobby for Yan Liben. He once warned his children and grandchildren: "It is advisable to take a deep vow and not to practice this art." "Advise future generations not to learn the art of painting. But what ultimately made Yan Liben famous for eternity was precisely the painter identity that he was most reluctant to talk about when he was alive.
Yan Liben's paintings have both the painting style of Wei and Jin's emphasis on decoration and the innovative realistic painting of the Tang Dynasty. The colors are quaint and calm, the lines are smooth and full, and the characters look fine and delicate.
The Tang Dynasty's calligraphy, like the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, is truly unprecedented. In terms of calligraphy, Yu Shinan, Ouyang Qian, Chu Suiliang, Yan Zhenqing of the Middle Tang Dynasty, and Liu Gongquan of the Late Tang Dynasty were all valued by later generations and regarded as models for learning characters.
The most popular Tang Dynasty inscriptions are nothing more than Ouyang Qian, Chu Suiliang, Yu Shinan, Yan Zhenqing, and Liu Gongquan.
In fact, Yan Liben's calligraphy has a very clever structure, which is neither similar to Yan Zhenqing nor similar to Liu Gongquan. Looking at Yan Liben's calligraphy, it gives people a stable and solemn visual effect, and this form is most suitable for the strict sense of the calligraphy.
The width and narrowness of the knot, the length and length of the different shapes produce local jagged changes, so that the neat and uniform without rigidity and rigidity of the letter will not appear discordant or monotonous.
In the Tang Dynasty, due to the economic development and unprecedented prosperity of cultural undertakings, the art of calligraphy had a place to play, and people competed to learn books, forming another peak after the Jin Dynasty.
The Tang Dynasty emperors Li Shimin, Wu Zetian, Li Longji and others were keen on calligraphy, vigorously zhang officials, promoted talents, purchased and copied famous works, set up special calligraphy, and set up other calligraphy departments.
In the Tang Dynasty, the three religions of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism were equally important, and the classics were rich and needed to be copied, resulting in the emergence of calligraphy talents, and the frequent appearance of excellent works was spectacular. Tang Dynasty calligraphy is typically marked by "Tang Kai", and the famous European, Yan and Liu scripts were all born in this era.
As the most mature calligraphy, Tang Kai has strict legal norms, and it is one of the important manifestations of Chinese calligraphy from "Jin ren shang yun" to "Tang ren shang fa".
Therefore, in the Tang Dynasty, where famous masters emerged, it was normal for Yan Liben's calligraphy to be submerged.
But today, we appreciate Yan Liben's calligraphy and feel everyone's demeanor.