A Study Of Zeng Xi’s Shanghai Calligraphy Style

Zeng Xi was a famous calligrapher,painter and educator during the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican period,and his calligraphy is known as the “Four Great Masters of the Republic”together with Wu Changshuo,Shen Zengzhi and Li Ruiqing.In1915,Zeng Xi traveled through Shanghai,and was invited by his friend Li Ruiqing to sell words in Shanghai to make ends meet under the influence of his background and friends.Although Zeng Xi was a great calligrapher and painter,he did not leave any theoretical monographs,and his calligraphic ideas can only be summarized from his calligraphic and painting inscriptions and the records of his disciples.Under the guidance of the idea of “revering the classical and tracing the source,”Zeng Xi combined the “stele” of gold and stone with the “calligraphy”of scrolls to form a simple and elegant artistic style.His seal script has been pursued for three generations,forming a broad and strong appearance;his official script is integrated into the seal script,which is simple and heavy and full of postures;his regular script is a mixture of monuments and posters,with a clear and elegant atmosphere;he writes monuments and posters,forming a simple and innocent style of cursive script;his “regular script” is integrated into the cursive script,making his cursive script wonderfully interesting.Through the study of Zeng Xi’s practice of learning and creating calligraphy,his experience is summarized and dissected in stages,thus providing more ideas for future generations of calligraphy research with reference and guidance.