Title Frontispiece for "Two Letters" by Lin Bu of the Song

Title Frontispiece for “Two Letters” by Lin Bu of the Song Li Yingzhen (1431-1493), Ming dynasty Li Yingzhen, a native of Changzhou (modern Wuxian in Jiangsu), was the father-in-law of the famous calligrapher Zhu Yunming (1461-1527). The artist Wen Zhengming (1470-1559) also learned calligraphy from him. Lin Bu’s “Two Letters” were a cherished part of Shen Zhou’s (1427-1509) collection, and Li Yingzhen wrote a title frontispiece leaf for the two works in seal script that reads, “Authentic Works by Recluse Hejing (Lin Bu).” The style of this title is quite unusual. The ends of the lifting strokes are pointed, and the application of the brush sometimes has the manner of regular script. The lines are also heavy and the forms balanced. In fact, it is quite different from “jade-chopstick” seal script with its focus on evenly balanced lines in the interesting manner seen here.