Ouyang Xun
Ouyang Xun (557–641) was a Chinese calligrapher and official of the early Tang dynasty, renowned for precise, disciplined regular script.
Regular script: A standardized Chinese calligraphic script with clearly separated strokes and balanced characters. This is the script in which Ouyang Xun’s disciplined style became most influential.
Jiucheng Palace Liquan Inscription: A 632 stele inscription written by Ouyang Xun to commemorate a spring discovered at Jiucheng Palace. Its tightly ordered regular script is a celebrated demonstration of his mature style.
Yu Shinan: A calligrapher and court official of the early Tang dynasty, known for elegant, restrained regular script. He was a contemporary whose different manner helps place Ouyang Xun among early Tang masters.
Four Great Calligraphers of the Early Tang: A traditional grouping of Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang, and Xue Ji as leading early Tang calligraphers. The grouping records his enduring place among the period’s defining calligraphic figures.
Chinese calligraphy: The art of writing Chinese characters with a brush or other tools, balancing legibility and expressive form. Ouyang Xun’s work belongs to this long tradition of writing as visual art.
Huangfu Dan Stele: A stele inscription traditionally attributed to Ouyang Xun, honoring the official Huangfu Dan. It offers another influential example of the robust, carefully composed script associated with him.
Chu Suiliang: A Tang calligrapher and official known for supple, graceful regular script and clerical writing. His style contrasts with Ouyang Xun’s more angular, tightly controlled character forms.
Calligraphy model books: Collections of exemplary writing used to teach and practice calligraphic forms. His works became models through which later students learned regular-script structure.
Chinese characters: The logographic writing system used to write Chinese and several other languages. Their complex forms gave Ouyang Xun’s precision and structural balance their subject.
Thirty-Six Methods: A traditional set of principles for arranging the structures of Chinese characters, associated with Ouyang Xun. These principles connect his reputation to the analysis of character composition.