The Han Capital in Cursive Script Image 1

Ranking with Dong Qichang, Mi Wanzhong and Xing Tong as the “Four Masters of the Late Ming”, Zhang Ruitu, a native of Jinjiang (present-day Quanzhou), Fujian, has been fondly remembered by posterity for his calligraphic achievement rather than his distinguished career. Among the four, Zhang was the only one who owed his fame to the cursive script.

As exemplified by the present scroll, angular rather than rounded bends is a defining feature of the calligrapher’s mature style. Although it was purely Zhang’s own invention and an audacious noncompliance with the calligraphic tradition, it had an exotic appeal at a time when personality was in fashion. A recent study suggests that the simplified brush method employed for the purpose was prompted by the need to speedily entertain swarms of requests, from paying patrons or otherwise. It is of interest to note that many of such works, sometimes sloppily done, are undated hanging scrolls leaving the recipient unspecified.

The text of the piece is the poem Hanjing Pian (The Han Capital) by the Ming literary icon Li Mengyang reflecting on the decline of Han dignitaries. It was chosen probably because of its allusion to a time of political volatility that was not unlike the calligrapher’s own in light of the sovereign being replaced thrice within months in just the previous year.