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Yan Zhenqing
Yan Zhenqing (709–785) was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang Dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy parallels the greatest master calligraphers throughout the history, and his calligraphy style, Yan, is the textbook-style that every calligraphy lover has to imitate today.
Liu Gongquan
Liu Gongquan was a Chinese calligrapher who stood with Yan Zhenqing as the two great masters of late Tang calligraphy.
A minister like Yan of the Tang dynasty, Liu was a native of today's Tongchuan, Shaanxi, a devout Buddhist and follower of Yan's style of writing. Like him an expert of the regular script, Liu's works were imitated for centuries after and he is often referred in unison with his famed predecessor as "Yan-Liu".
Zhang Xu
Zhang Xu was a Chinese calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty.
A native of Suzhou, he became an official during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Zhang was known as one of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup. Legend has it that whenever he was drunk, he would use his hair as brush to perform his art, and upon his waking up, he would be amazed by the quality of those works but failed to produce them again in his sober state.
Though more well-known for his explosive cursive script, he excelled in the regular script. Anecdotes go that he grasped the essence of cursive writing by observing some porters fight for their way with the guard of honor of some princess, and by watching the solo performance of a famous sword-dancer.
He is often paired with the younger Huai Su as the two greatest cursive calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty. The duo is affectionately referred to as "the crazy Zhang and the drunk Su" (颠张醉素 Dian Zhang Zui Su).
Editor: Feng Hui
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