Mei Tiaoding Zisha Art Research

Mei tiaoding,a calligrapher in the late Qing Dynasty,was born in Cixi County,Zhejiang Province in 1839.Meitiaoding’s family was poor,but he was still self-improvement.When he was a boy,he Songjia,a local scholar,studied poetry and prose.In the eighth year of tongzhi(1869),meitiao dingbu,a disciple of the doctor,passed the examination as a scholar.In the next year,he took the provincial examination,but was disqualified by the supervisor because the font did not conform to the examination rules of "Pavilion style".This "examination event" became a turning point in Mei tiaoding’s life.Since then,he has decided not to step into the officialdom for life.Later,he seldom contacts with high-ranking officials and dignitaries.His calligraphy has gone further and further on the way to show his own style.After that,Mei Tiao Ding went to live in Shanghai and made a living as a cashier in a bank.During his decades living in Shanghai,he made friends with a group of Shanghai literati and purple sand craftsmen.He first advocated the formation of a loose group of literati purple sand,such as "Yucheng kiln",and created a number of purple sand works with typical literati aesthetic taste.This group of Shanghai literati mainly include Hu Gongshou and Ren Bonian,and the purple sand craftsmen are mainly he Xinzhou and Wang Dongshi.Meitiaoding’s calligraphy and Zisha’s creation were carried out simultaneously for a long time,which lasted until his later years.In the field of calligraphy,he began to study calligraphy when he was young,and he has great talent in the field of calligraphy.In calligraphy,he studied Yan Zhenqing when he was young,and Yan’s vigorous style had a far-reaching influence on him;when he was young,he studied "two kings",and his calligraphy style was elegant and graceful;after middle age,he focused on Ouyang Xun and the inscriptions of Wei and Jin Dynasties,and his writing style became mature gradually.Meitiaoding is a poor family.In the field of purple sand art,he has created "bolangzhe pot","soft beam gourd pot" and "coconut gourd pot" with distinct personal style.The shape is simple and elegant,the lines are beautiful and full of ingenuity.At the same time,he also applied his superb calligraphy skills to the decoration of purple clay pots,creating rich and colorful inscriptions with elegant and vigorous calligraphy.The inscriptions created by Mei Tiao Ding have a high intention and are the cultural extension of the shape of the purple clay pot.Each inscription is in harmony with the image expressed by the purple clay pot.The art of purple sand created by Mei Tiao Ding is an organic combination of calligraphy,engraving,modeling,purple sand material and craft,which shows the harmonious unity of various art types on the purple clay pot.Meitiaoding purple sand art is not limited to the old style,breaking through the original design concept,taking the self-expression of personal ideas as the first design,is the most typical literati Zisha in that era.The cooperation mode of "Yucheng kiln" advocated by meitiaoding is not limited to the concept of origin and culture,which broadens the horizon and mind of the later scholars of purple sand.