Calligraphy Classics Series Vol. 19: Preface to the Sacred Teaching (Yanta)

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Created to commemorate the completion of the translations of the Great Bodhisattva Sutra and Records of the Western Regions of the Great Tang Dynasty brought back by Xuanzang, these prefaces to the Sacred Teachings of Emperor Taizong of Tang and a preface by the Crown Prince (later Gaozong) are included. This work was written in the final years of the calligraphy of Suiliang, one of the three great masters of the early Tang Dynasty. The fine lines are powerful, with exquisite variations in strength and weakness, and the character shapes are rich in scope and expansiveness. This magnificent beauty makes it one of the most elegant masterpieces of regular script, ancient or modern. The original is the "Shogakuin edition," which marked the beginning of Hidai Tenrai's discovery of the technique of bowing and lifting. This is a pale-colored rubbing known as "Semiyokutaku," a pocket-sized scroll (small calligraphy book) hand-bound by Matsuda Nanmei. Traces of Tenrai and Nanmei's research remain as gold and vermilion circle marks. While this was not possible in the text series, this time we have reproduced the charm of this masterpiece in its entirety through precision printing that even allows the circle marks to be seen.