Zhang Yuzhao's Calligraphy Research

Zhang Yuzhao was a well-known calligrapher with profound academic background in late Qing Dynasty,who had devoted his whole life to education and had cultivated a great many people of ability.Meanwhile,he represented tablet calligraphy of the time and contributed a lot.While teaching in Lotus Academy,he had a Japanese student,Mushi Yoji,and the stories between them witnessed Sino-Japan's friendship and cultural communication.This thesis starts with Tablet Study in Qing Dynasty,focusing on Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy.Picture analysis,document collecting and field research are used in the following four parts.The first part is about the factors that influenced Zhang's calligraphy style and the second its features.Brush centre was mainly used,with a pursuit of ancient Han and Wei Dynasty methods;the structures were based on Regular Script in Tang Dynasty,combined with the style of tablet calligraphy in Wei Dynasty,so each character was unique yet connected.He was in favour of the use of Su Mo(overnight ink),with a small amount of clear water,to show the richness and restraining features of it,thus formed his calligraphy style of hardness and strength on the outside but tenderness on the inside.The third part has compared Zhang's calligraphy style with contemporary calligraphers Yang Shoujing,Shen Zengzhi and Kang Youwei and drawn the conclusion that Zhang's uniqueness was the result of his exploration in Tablet Study and the use of it,which greatly enlightens modern calligraphy.The fourth part focuses on Zhang Yuzhao's great contribution to tablet calligraphy.What's significant about his calligraphy in history is the great influence in places like Ezhou in Hubei and Nangong in Hebei and modern calligraphy in Japan.He also remarkably improved history of tablet study and influenced modern calligraphy.