Clerical Script Of Emperor Xuanzong Of The Tang Dynasty And Flourishing Tang

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty,also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang,personal name Li Longji,was the third son of Emperor Ruizong(Li Dan),and his reign was the longest during the Tang dynasty.Li Longji was a wise and astute ruler and a versatile artist proficient in music,particularly in Chinese calligraphy.Ably and diligently governing the country in the early half of his reign,he was credited with bringing Tang China to a pinnacle of culture and power,which is known as the Reign of Kaiyuan(713-741).At the same time,Li Longji showed distinctive artistic preference and aesthetic appreciation of calligraphy.He was an earnest advocator of the clerical script who ardently practices it and orders craftsmen to carve steles.The favor of the emperor led to a wave of revivalism of clerical script in Flourishing Tang(713-755).Moreover,Li Longji breathed new life into the brushwork of clerical script by creating a style characterized by the roundness and broadness of strokes,which is credited as the “new style of Emperor Ming of Tang”.Since the Eastern Han Dynasty,clerical script had been in decline.In the golden days of the Tang Dynasty,however,this form of calligraphic art saw a short climax development with Li Longji as the core.His works are not only self-entertaining but affected by religion,politics,etc.Full of power and elegance,Li Longji’s works embodied his personality and contemporary feature: they resembled that of the Han Dynasty in terms of appearance yet could not get rid of the influence of the regular script.The clerical script of Emperor Xuanzong was significant in his time,and famous clerical script calligraphers emerged in large numbers,most of whom were court officials around him.Moreover,the clerical script in Flourishing Tang also had a profound influence on its development in later ages.Therefore,it is advisable to say that the clerical script works of Emperor Xuanzong and those in Flourishing Tang constituted an indispensable link in the history of the clerical script.