Ma Xulun Calligraphy Research

Ma XvLun is a famous social activist,educator,scholar and calligrapher in modern China.Ma XvLun was born in the late Qing Dynasty and died in New China.He experienced three historical stages in his life:the late Qing Dynasty,the Republic of China government and the New China.Throughout his life,he campaigned for democracy and people’s livelihood and established the China Association for Promoting Democracy.As an educator,he has made contribution to the dissemination of scientific and cultural knowledge.He is also a scholar,leaving behind millions of words of academic books.At the same time,he is a calligrapher and famous in BeiJing in the 1930 s.In his later years,he also insisted on writing in small regular script,and left many calligraphy works in his life.He also had his own opinions on calligraphy theory,leaving many calligraphy works such as "on the twenty quatrains of calligraphy","on the calligraphy of Mihai Yue",etc.These opinions give useful enlightenment to later generations.This paper studies Ma Xulun’s calligraphy in four chapters.The first chapter mainly discusses Ma Xulun’s life and academic summary,reveals his family origion,his experience of studying and politics,and his academic achievements,so as to explore the reasons for his remarkable achievements in calligraphy.In the second chapter,the author mainly studies Ma Xulun’s friends,including his friends with scholars,and his friends with calligraphers and painters.This paper focuses on the investigation of several influential figures in Ma Xulun’s calligraphy.Among them are Zhang Taiyan,Shen Yinmo,etc.Ma Xulun’s contacts with these people broadened his artistic vision and had an important influence on the formation of his calligraphy thoughts.The third chapter discusses Ma Xulun’s calligraphy thought form four aspects,namely,Ma Xulun’s calligraphy view,methodology,aesthetic ideas and tool theory.The last part of this paper,that is the fourth chapter,analyzes the style and characteristics of Ma Xulun’s works.As an influential patriotic Democrat in modern Chinese history,Ma Xulun has made many achievements.Calligraphy is only his hobby.As a part-time calligrapher,he has made great achievements in calligraphy.The author hopes that the discussion and carding of Ma Xulun’s calligraphy thoughts in this paper can provide some reference for contemporary people to learn calligraphy.