Comparative Study On Chen Jieqi's And He Shaoji's Thoughts Of Esteemed Steles

Abstract:Stele study refers to a study on the origin,year of production,authenticity,and inscription of a stele,as well as calligraphy schools advocating stele inscription styles.In his works Commentaries on Northern Steles and Southern Copybooks,Ruan Yuan classified elegant,beautiful ink scripts into the Southern School of Copybooks,and primitively unsophisticated,rough stele inscriptions into the Northern School of Steles.This paper intends to explore the differences in the thoughts on esteemed steles of Chen Jieqi and He Shaoji,the two prominent pupils of Ruan Yuan.With thorough analysis on their lives,experiences and thoughts,as well as comparison of their thoughts of steles derived from their scholarly works,the paper comes to the similarity and differences between them in this regard.Inheriting from Ruan Yuan and Bao Shichen,both of them upheld calligraphy in stele inscriptions as the orthodox school.In terms of style,they preferred thick and primitive calligraphy.Their different positions in epigraphy and calligraphy are also reflected in their thoughts of stele studies.Chen Jieqi was more used to raising his thoughts from the angle of an epigraphist or a researcher,while He Shaoji was more likely to conclude his thoughts from the perspective of personal needs in creation and personal adorations.Chen Jieqi's thoughts of esteemed steles focused more on "the origins".He emphasized"pursuit of top criteria" and "learning from the most orthodox ancient calligraphy by studying its origins".Even though he spoke highly of the Northern Steles in general,his heart went much further to those with the "ancient styles of Seal or Li calligraphy",such as Tomb Inscription of Zhang Heinu.Although they were different in their ways of holding brush pens,both of them followed the unsophisticated and thick style of Seal or Li calligraphy.In regard to the Southern School,Chen Jieqi proposed that the style of this school was garish,while He Shaoji suggested that Wang Xizhi,the most prominent representative figure in the Southern School,also kept the ancient style in his calligraphy;therefore,he agreed on Wang's times.According to him,the copybooks written by the latecomers lost their original spirits and hence became more and more garish.Compared to Chen Jieqi,He Shaoji was more inclusive and analysis-oriented.Their thoughts of esteemed steles were derived from profound background of times,and exerted a significant influence on the prevailing fashion of advocating stele calligraphy,which were popular from the mid and late Qing Dynasty to the era of the Republic of China,as well as the research and creation in the integration of stele and copybook calligraphy.Both of them achieved outstanding attainments in the research and inheritance of copybook calligraphy.Their advocacy and practice helped expand theoretical research in calligraphy at their times and later periods.Moreover,their thoughts of esteemed stele have a great significance in the reference of current calligraphy learning.First of all,calligraphy learning should be based on personality.Their grounded research and actual practice,in one hand,have helped our inheritance from these predecessors,and on the other,have played an important role in guiding our exploration and innovation in calligraphy.Secondly,calligraphy should absorb whatever is beautiful or deserves to be learned from.In particular,He Shaoji,who practically tried to integration stele and copybook calligraphy,explored a novel style derived from ancient calligraphy,so his works,like fairies making flower rain,were unsophisticated and totally free,leaving a splendid view in the circle of calligraphists in Qing Dynasty.In modern China,prosperity in life leads to more diversified interest in aesthetic taste.The passion on calligraphy is fueling and many people try to inherit and develop the thoughts of esteemed steles,esteemed calligraphy copybooks and the integration of these two.From the author's point of view,we should not only inherit the tradition,but also make progress in fine literary and artistic heritage by critically absorbing whatever is helpful and beneficial.Only in this way,we can produce a strong voice of modern times and contribute our spiritual strengths to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.