Research On The Value Of Wang Shizhen’s "The Postscript Of The Calligraphy Manuscript"

Wang Shizhen’s “The Postscript of the Calligraphy Manuscript”comprehensively and truly recorded Wang’s comments and reflections on the calligraphy,calligraphers and situations of the calligraphy circle in the past dynasties in a way close to reading notes.“The Postscript of the Calligraphy Manuscript”,which has a very important historical value,is not only a concentrated exhibition of his achievements in various fields,but also historical on-the-spot documents of the cultural environment,literati exchanges and the spread of calligraphy at that time.Wang Shizhen,with his attitude of history research and position in the literary world,has become a leading figure in the field of calligraphy.His “The Postscript of the Calligraphy Manuscript” contained many of his most representative achievements in calligraphy.This paper takes “The Postscript of the Calligraphy Manuscript” as the research object,and puts forward that it not only carries Wang’s literary proposal of restoring,his attitude towards history that attaches importance to investigation,and his philosophy integrating Confucianism,Buddhism and Taoism,but also embodies his opinion that advocates the “ancient elegance” view of calligraphy.Wang Shizhen regards the ink marks as a symbol connecting history.It active participation of art activities in Wuzhong region from the period of Jiajing to Wanli enabled him to appreciate and collect a large number of calligraphy and collections,which provided concrete and reliable materials for him to construct the history of calligraphy.Therefore,this paper further puts forward the value and significance of“The Postscript of the Calligraphy Manuscript” in describing the calligraphy circle of Ming Dynasty and constructing the calligraphy history of Sanwu region.The preservation and spreading of “The Postscript of the Calligraphy Manuscript” is not only the achievement of Wang Shizhen’s personal hobby and aesthetic pursuit,but also a great contribution to the history of calligraphy.Especially,the collection and inscriptions of Suzhou calligraphers’ works are the most core and key part of his “The Postscript of the Calligraphy Manuscript” constructing the calligraphers of Sanwu region,which not only confirmed Wang Shizhen’s important proposition of “thecalligraphy of Wuzhong region is the world’s best”,but also highlights the historical position of calligraphy of Wuzhong region in the Ming Dynasty calligraphy circle.Wang Shizhen also occupied an important place in the calligraphy circle as a summarizer of the calligraphy history of the Sanwu region.