Yang Ning's Study On The Inheritance Of The "old Law" Of The Two Kings

The conditions of the Late Five Dynasties are quite similar to that of Wei and Jin dynasties,with the society full of chaos and turbulence caused by war,great political and economic revolution and development as well as dissipated scholars.Yang Ningshi lived in this chaotic age of the Five Dynasties for most of his life.As a person in the final stage of Tang and a calligrapher connecting between Sui-Tang Dynasties and Song-Ming Dynasties,the status of Yang Ningshi in the calligraphy history can not be ignored.In discussing the inherent relationship between his writing and two-Wangs’ “ancient calligraphy”,people usually focus on discussing the external expression of the calligraphy,such as the techniques and art of composition,thus ignoring the writing habit,writing status and the same strain of Weijin and Suitang Dynasties of Yang Ningshi in Five Dynasties.The unique feature of this article lies in that it emphasizes on discussing the inheritance of Yang Ningshi calligraphy style from two-Wangs’ “ancient calligraphy” in writing tools,writing means and so on,which are ignored by the previous scholars.The writing tools and means are usually the easiest to be ignored by the calligraphers even though they are obviously apparent.The writing habits of the calligraphers in the Five Dynasties are deduced by the unearthing ink brush in archaeology,the existing ancient scripts and paintings as well as the writing means presented in the ancient scripts,thus tracing back to Wei and Jin Dynasties of the two-Wangs.As a result,the “necessity” of Yang Ningshi’s absorption of the two-Wangs’ “ancient calligraphy” is confirmed.