A Research On Official Script Of Zheng Fu

At the beginning of the Qing Dynasty,most of the copybooks that were learned by people of the time were repeated by the predecessors.Although most of the original works were created by famous artists,because of the time being too long,and they were repeatedly engraved,their mental outlook was very different from that of the original style.At that time,the culture of the calligraphy was gradually declining.With the continuous excavation of a large number of inscriptions in the early Qing Dynasty,the culture of stele studies gradually came into sight of literati scholars,and the literary visits to monuments also arose.Thus also accelerating the flourishing of stele studies and the decline of copybook studies.The official script studies also opened a new chapter due to the rise of stele studies.Zheng Fu,from Shangyuan,Jiangsu Province,spent his entire life earning his living by practicing medicine and did not enter official career.He was one of the important participants of the visit to the monument in the early Qing Dynasty.In his early years,he studied Song Jue's official script.Later,he discovered that “there was a long period of separation,and it was a long journey away from ancient times.”He repented of his previous studies,changed his study to the Han Dynasty monuments,and spent more than 30 years indulging in them,forming his own unique calligraphy style.He also involved cursive in his official script,changed the inflexible character of Yuan and Ming's official scripts.In addition,he became the first calligrapher in the early Qing Dynasty who became famous in the official script.His official script was praised as the first peak in the Qing Dynasty for almost 300 years by the later generation.Zheng Fu participated in the visit to the monument many times in his life,and he also loved collecting rubbings,which almost exhausting all his money.At the same time,his calligraphy had also been recognized and sought after by contemporary calligraphers.For example,Zhou Lianggong,Tang Yansheng,Zhang Feng,Zhu Yizun,Gu Ling,Kong Shangren and other scholars had considerable appreciation for Zheng Fu's official script.Even a century after his death,his style of calligraphy still affected a large number of calligraphers,such as the “ Eight Yangzhou Monsters ” in Yangzhou,among whom the important figures Gao Fenghan,Jin Nong,Gao Xiang and Zheng Banqiao,they were all affected by Zheng Fu.Zheng Fu had a lot of friendsin his life,and was friendly;he was also very generous for a good friend's claim.As a result,the literati gifted his "eight-segment book song" to as many as 17 titles.This phenomenon was extremely rare for a pure calligrapher.Zheng Fu's official script can be said to be a milestone of the calligraphy history in the Qing Dynasty.