Eulogy on the Chronicle of Ni Kuan (Comments on the Chronicle of Ni Kuan) 倪寬贊 翻譯 英譯 Translation - Vincent's Calligraphy

Galleries and Translations > Models of Masterpieces >A model of "Elaborations on the Bio-graphy of Ni Kuan" 臨 褚遂良書 倪寬贊

35  X  137cm (2) in Standard Script (楷書)

Chu Suiliang’s (褚遂良, 596-658AD) Elaborations on the Bio-graphy of Ni Kuan is considered to be one of the finest standard script works in Chinese history. The piece is renowned for its elegance as well as its dynamic variations of thickness within each brushstroke. The original was long lost but a model of it can be observed in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan. This model might not have been scribed according to Chu Suiliang’s original and was presumably written by an unknown calligrapher after Tang but before Song Dynasty, which was the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–979AD).(1) Further, “韋玄成” was incorrectly scribed as “韋弘成” in the 37th column starting from the right.

The textual content of this artwork was extracted from the Book of Han (《 漢書 》), which was compiled by Ban Gu (班固, 32–92AD). Similar to Sima Qian’s elaborations (太史公曰) in Records of the Grand Historian (《 史記 》), the words seen in this artwork were Ban Gu’s personal elaboration at the very end of Biographies of Gongsun Hong, Bu Shi and Ni Kuan (公孫弘卜式兒寬傳) in Volume 58 of the Book of Han (《 漢書 》 卷五十八); they illustrated and compared imperial court personnel between the administrations of Han Emperors Wu (武帝) and Xuan (宣帝). Accordingly, it is wrong for those who interpret it as a eulogy since “贊” here should be interpreted as “說明(to elaborate)” not “稱頌(to praise/to eulogize)”(2).

Chu Suiliang was the son of Tang Dynasty scholar and officer Chu Liang (褚亮, 560-647AD) and was renowned for his “broad and extensive understanding of literature and history (博涉文史)” as well as his “adeptness in scribing the standard script (尤工隸書)”.(3) Wei Zheng (魏徵, 580-643 AD) once remarked Chu Sui-liang’s calligraphy was “vigorous and powerful, very much bearing the form of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy (下筆遒勁，甚得王逸少體)”.(4) Tang Emperor Taizong (唐太宗, 598-649 AD) recognized Chu’s talents, appointed him to high office as a close adviser, and relied heavily on his many recommendations.(5) During Taizong’s final moments, Taizong valued deeply Chu’s steadfast loyalty (忠烈) and so entrusted Chu to assist his son and successor, Emperor Gaozong (唐高宗, 628-683AD), in governing the country.(6)

Chu Suiliang’s later years was rather turbulent and bitter, however. His staunch and unwavering objection against Emperor Gaozong’s designation of Concubine Wu (昭儀武氏) as the Queen (Concubine Wu later became Empress Wu Zetian 武則天who overthrew Tang to become the first and only Empress in Chinese history) ultimately led him to be demoted and ousted from the imperial court.(7) He died shortly thereafter at the age of 63.

Chu Suiliang’s elegant, honest and compelling style of calligraphy was certainly attributed to his noble, righteous, and unwavering temperament. This is what Sun Guoting (孫過庭) in his renowned A Narrative on Calligraphy (書譜) described calligraphy as “the culmination of the principles of righteousness, and so those who are wise, talented and virtuous should be able to write good calligraphy as well (固義理之會歸，信賢達之兼善者矣)”(8) and a “testament of living through the fickleness of the mundane world while maintaining one’s noble integrity unaltered throughout the times (驗燥濕之殊節，千古依然)”(9). Chu Suiliang’s calligraphy is certainly one of the very best examples to demonstrate this philosophy in the history of Chinese calligraphy. Another is Yan Zhenqing’s (颜真卿, see A Poem on General Pei).

2. 而四夷未賓，制度多闕。

3. 上方欲用文武，求之如弗及。

4. 始以蒲輪迎枚生，見主父而歎息。

16. 應對則嚴助、朱買臣;

24. 招選茂異，而蕭望之、梁丘賀、夏侯勝、韋弘(玄)成、嚴彭祖、尹更始以儒術進;

29. 參其名臣，亦其次也。