Scroll for Zhang Datong (Zeng Zhang Datong guwen ti ji 贈張大同古文題記),

1100

<p>A poet, essayist, art critic, and calligrapher, Huang Tingjian is always mentioned together with Su Shi (1036–1101), Cai Xiang (1012–1067), and Mi Fu (1052–1107) as one of the Four Great Masters of Song calligraphy. Despite such accolades, Huang’s official career met with hardship. Because of his friendship with members of a conservative political faction, he was twice exiled to remote regions, where he died in 1105.</p> <p>The <em>Scroll for Zhang Datong</em> was written as a colophon for a nephew who visited Huang during his exile in Sichuan province. The colophon originally followed Huang’s transcription of an essay by the Tang dynasty (618–907) scholar-official Han Yu (768–824). The two parts of the scroll were separated at an early date and the essay portion lost. The scroll is one of five remaining examples of Huang’s large-sized running-script calligraphy, and represents the apex of his career as a calligrapher. In this style, Huang’s brush moves with deliberate poise and tension to produce elongated strokes using centered-tip and suspended-arm techniques. The poet-statesman-calligrapher Su Shi described the effect as resembling "snakes dangling from treetops." Many sources served as models for Huang’s calligraphy. He was most deeply influenced by the style of Yan Zhenqing (709–785), his friend Su Shi, and the <em>Yihe ming</em>, a set of monumental cliff carvings dated 514, which Huang believed were written by Wang Xizhi (303–361). </p>