Excerpt from the Kong Zhou Stele in clerical script

Object Details

• Artist

  He Shaoji (1799-1873)

• Label

  He Shaoji was an important calligrapher and poet. He excelled in clerical, seal, standard, and running script and is known as one of the leading nineteenth-century scholars and calligraphers who found inspiration in the study of ancient writing. For this scroll, He Shaoji freely imitated a section of a stone stele erected in B.C.E. 164 in memory of the scholar and official Kong Zhou (103-163), who was a nineteenth generational descendent of the philosopher Confucius (551-479 B.C.E.). The portion copied by He Shaoji appears on the back of the stele, where the names and birthplaces of Kong Zhou's followers are recorded.

  To achieve the lively, energetic brushwork seen here, He Shaoji held the brush tightly in a perpendicular manner and suspended his entire arm. The squat, compact structure of the individual characters, with their elongated diagonal strokes, emphatic horizontal strokes, and occasional heavy accents, is characteristic of clerical script from the Han dynasty (206 B.CE.-C.E. 220), while the randomly spaced wet ink blobs are intended to resemble the chipped, weathered stone of He Shaoji's ancient model.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Writing, Carving and Rubbing: China’s Calligraphic Arts (April 4 to October 25, 2009)

  Masterpieces of Chinese Calligraphy (June 7, 1994 to March 20, 1995)

  From Concept to Context: Approaches to Asian and Islamic Calligraphy (July 28, 1986 to February 6, 1987)

  Ch'ing Dynasty Calligraphy and Painting (August 30, 1985 to January 26, 1986)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Calligraphy

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1850s, 1860s

• Name

  He, Shaoji

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Chinese Art, Qing dynasty (1644 - 1911), Clerical script

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Calligraphy (visual works)