Selections from the Zuozhuan (Zuo jin)
Description
A scholar of the Chinese classics, Fu Shan was born near Taiyuan in Shanxi province. A medical doctor, philosopher, and theorist, Fu was also talented in seal carving, painting, and calligraphy. He remained a loyalist to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) after its fall to the Manchus in 1644. Donning Daoist attire he devoted himself to the arts, and professed a strong desire to invent a personal calligraphy style. He claimed that he would rather his calligraphy "be awkward, not skillful; ugly, not charming; and spontaneous, not premeditated." By studying archaic scripts and ancient inscriptions, he developed an eccentric manner that transformed past styles and invented new possibilities. In this beautifully written album, which can be considered one of Fu Shan's calligraphic masterpieces, Fu can be seen freely practicing his calligraphy by transcribing the classic historical narrative Zuozhuan in black ink using a spontaneous running-script style. Corrections to the text as well as names and highlighted passages of the text were marked in red ink. This album was part of a larger artistic project, and another section of the manuscript are located in the collections of the Shanxi Provincial Museum, Taiyuan.
