Curated Stillness

Li Shu, Kai Shu

He Shaoji: Clerical and Running-Script Couplet

He Shaoji was one of the most influential calligraphers of the late Qing. Early on he studied Yan Zhenqing, then turned to Northern Dynasty stone inscriptions, and only around the age of sixty began writing seal and clerical script extensively. His regular script borrows the expansive structure of Yan while avoiding looseness, and it also incorporates the dense, steep qualities of Northern Dynasties steles, Ouyang Xun, and Ouyang Tong, along with the spirit of works such as the ?Zhang He N? Epitaph? and the ?Daoyin Stele.? These combined influences make his calligraphy exceptional.