Xu Wei’s Cursive Script And His Calligraphy Thought

Xu Wei,one of the three great talents of the Ming Dynasty,was a famous artist in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.He made outstanding contributions to the freehand flower-and-bird painting and the large axis scroll.Xu Wei’s cursive style is varied and rich in forms.He is especially famous for his big axis cursive,which started the romantic style of writing in the late Ming Dynasty.This paper aims to collect and collate Xu Wei’s cursive works,title paintings,poems and other materials,to study Xu Wei’s cursive writing methods,styles and forms,calligraphy thoughts and his cursive achievements and influences.This article discusses from the following four chapters: First,it Outlines the historical background of Xu Wei’s life and divides his life into four periods.The second is a brief description of the existing status of Xu Wei’s cursive works,combined with the works and poetry materials to analyze the classification and selection of his cursive works,and then from the vertical axis,hand scroll,album,letters and title picture analysis of the characteristics of Xu Wei’s cursive works in five forms.Thirdly,it discusses Xu Wei’s calligraphy thought from the aesthetic thought of "teacher’s mind is horizontal and vertical,not near the door",the aesthetic thought of "learning from all kinds of Dharma,beautiful appearance",and the philosophical view behind the aesthetic ideal of "do not call consciousness,is true self".It is concluded that his cursive writing has a wide range of methods,learning from other people’s strengths,diverse styles and forms are inseparable from the guidance of his calligraphy thought.Fourth,based on the above research,discusses the achievements and influences of Xu Wei’s cursive writing.In a word,Xu Wei’s unique cursive style in the entire history of Chinese calligraphy is inseparable from the influence of his era,from his spirit of innovation and experiment,and from his difficult life course.It is precisely because of the effect of multiple factors that Xu Wei’s cursive calligraphy stands out and shines brightly in the middle and late Ming Dynasty,influencing a large number of artists later.