Ouyang Xun's Study Of Jiucheng Gongquan Quanming And His Study Of Books

Ouyang Xun is a great mater of regular script of early Tang dynasty.He not only createdcalligraphy works,such as Jiucheng Palace Liquan Inscription?Huadu TempleInscription?Zhongni Meng Dian Post,but also left the world with calligraphy theories books,such as Eight Tactics,Thirty Six Methods,Teaching Tactics.Influenced by thesocial background where rite and law was complete in Sui and Tang dynasties,Ouyang's works of calligraphy theories had summed up calligraphy experiences,such as structure,brushwork,techniques and writing rules,in a rather rigorous and detailed manner.Thesebooks are the summary of his practice of calligraphy.Practice is the basis of theory,andtheory is counterproductive to practice.They complement each other,and both of themare indispensable.Due to Ouyang's great achievement in practice of calligraphy,latergenerations often pay more attention to his practical works rather than his theoreticalachievement.However,there is a dialectical relation between his practical works andbooks of theories,which are closely related that cannot be treated one-sidedly.This articleis going to combine practical work and theory study of calligraphy by taking JiuchengPalace Liquan Inscription as an example to verify and interpret the rules,the shapes,and the golden mean in Eight Tactics and Thirty-six Methods,so that we can reflect on Ouyang Xun's rigorous calligraphy attitude.