Calligraphy Classics Series Vol. 17: Confucius Temple Stele

A calligraphy piece by Yu Shinan, one of the three great masters of calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty. Yu Shinan was a calm and self-effacing man with excellent writing skills, erudite and strict, and, along with Ouyang Xun, was one of the leading calligraphy masters of his time. This monument is a masterpiece in which Yu Shinan, now in his 70s and highly trusted by Emperor Taizong of Tang, poured all of his knowledge and calligraphy into it. The free-flowing, effortless brushwork and serene style exude a high level of elegance. The monument was destroyed in war either at the end of the Tang Dynasty or during the Five Dynasties period, and only one original remains. It is incomplete, with the missing sections (approximately one-third) having been reprinted or filled in with original calligraphy. In this book, anything other than the characters on the original stone is enclosed in quotation marks, so when copying and creating a work, be sure to use the original stone itself.

Table of Contents

Illustrations of the Confucius Temple Monument, modern translations, commentary, character shapes and stroke order, and instructions for creating calligraphy works (sections suitable for copying)