ChinaKnowledge.de -
An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History and Literature

Guan Zhong Yao shufa shi'er yi 觀鍾繇書法十二意

Sep 2, 2024 © Ulrich Theobald

Guan Zhong Yao shufa shi'er yi 觀鍾繇書法十二意 is, in the second part of the text, an assessment of the works of the late Eastern-Han-period 東漢 (25-220 CE) calligrapher Zhong Yao 鍾繇 (151-230) and other artists written by Xiao Yan 蕭衍, who was Emperor Wu 梁武帝 (r. 502-549) of the Liang dynasty 梁 (502-557).

The title is derived from twelve definitions of stroke shapes and character compositions that make out the first part of the text. The author highlights Zhong Yao's mastery of the following twelve techniques or "senses" (yi 意):

Table 1. Zhong Yao's mastery of senses in calligraphy
平,謂横也。 Levelled, or horizontal, strokes.
直,謂縱也。 Upright, or vertical, strokes.
均,謂間也。 Equal, or spaced, strokes.
密,謂際也。 Dense, or interrelated, strokes.
鋒,謂端也。 Pointed, or ending, strokes.
力,謂體也。 Forceful, or physical, strokes.
輕,謂屈也。 Light, or curved, strokes.
決,謂牽掣也。 Determinded, or blocked, strokes.
補,謂不足也。 Supplementary, or lacking, strokes.
損,謂有餘也。 Defective, or surplus, strokes.
巧,謂布置也。 Skilled, or well-distributed, strokes.
稱,謂大小也。 Outbalanced, or [evenly] large and small strokes.

The text is quoted in the books Fashu yaolu 法書要錄 and Hanxi shufa tongjie 漢溪書法通解. It is included in the series Lidai shufa lunwen xuan 歷代書法論文選.

Sources:
Gu Anwen 顧安文. 1996. "Guan Zhong Yao shufa shi'er yi 觀鍾繇書法十二意." In Zhongguo xueshu mingzhu tiyao 中國學術名著提要, vol. Yishu 藝術卷, edited by Zhou Gucheng 周谷城, 413. Shanghai: Fudan daxue chubanshe.
Sun Baofa 孫寶發. 1997. "Guan Zhong Yao shufa shi’er yi 觀鐘繇書法十二意." In Zhonghua guocui da cidian 中華國粹大辭典, edited by Men Kui 門巋, and Zhang Yanjin 張燕瑾, 837. Xianggang: Guoji wenhua chuban gongsi.
Wang Zhen 王震. 2017. "Shang yi xiang shang fa lilun zhuanbian de qidian: Guan Zhong Yao shufa shi'er yi “尚意”向“尚法”理論轉變的起點——《觀鐘繇書法十二意》." Zhongguo shufa 中國書法 2017 (19): 199–201.