Su Shi’s Calligraphy’s Relation To Yan Zhenqing And Yan Zhenqing’s Learners

Su Shi is the leader among the pioneers of the “Notion-Pursuing Art Movement” in Song Dynasty.And it was attributed to their study in Yan Zhenqing’ s calligraphy.Su Shi learned a lot from Yan Zhenqing in aspects of art rules and personality.Su Shi was in the middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty,during which Yan Zhenqing’ s calligraphy were very popular.To learn from Yan Zhenqing,Su Shi had two ways.One way was learning directly from Yan’s works,the other was learning from those famous calligraphers who had learned successfully from Yan,like Yang Ningshi and Li Jianzhong.In addition,his understanding of Yan’ s innovative spirit also helped him lead the calligraphers of his time to create a new era of their own.With a long-term in-depth study of Yan’ s calligraphy,Su Shi also used his understanding in Taoism and Buddhism to help him find the true meaning of calligraphy — to find and express the truth of life.He made a famous saying,and that was “My calligraphy was not made with any rules but only to follow my notion.” It didn’t mean that he took calligraphy as only a tool for expression of his idea or notion.Actually,he took calligraphy as a keen and natural revelation of true feelings and thinking of life.This conception took a step forward from the “Rule-Maintaining” conception of Tang Dynasty and set a brand-new goal for the calligraphers of his time.This could be a further exploration for the question ”What is art rule for?”.The thesis tries to analyze Su Shi ‘s learning from Yan Zhenqing’s calligraphy and spirit of art,thus to explore the relations between his calligraphy and those of Yan Zhenqing and Yan Zhenqing’ s learners.