Zayi pian 雜藝篇

Zayipian 雜藝篇 is a chapter on arts included in Yan Zhitui’s 顔之推 (531–591) book Yanshi jiaxun 顔氏家訓. In the chapter "Miscellaneous arts", the section on calligraphy includes an exposition of Yan’s personal views on calligraphy and an exploration of the evaluation and compilation of calligraphy from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. The text praises the excellent calligraphy style of artists under the Liang dynasty, noting that they inherited the legacy of the Jin and Liu-Song artists and thus were proficient in calligraphy. Yan also examines the origins of the calligraphy of some masters based on personal observations. Quite outstanding are Yan’s remarks on the art of calligraphy during the later phase of the Southern Dynasties period and his observation that in northern China, calligraphers were not able to continue the sacred tradition of writing.