Deng Shiru (1743-1805), aged 63, was from Huaining, Anhui. Deng's seal script, official script, regular script, running script and cursive script are all perfect, but seal script is the most praised. He was a giant calligrapher of stele studies in the Qing Dynasty. He was good at four-body calligraphy. His calligraphy art is an outstanding monument in the history of Chinese calligraphy.
His seal scripts absorbed the style and style of seal scripts from Han Dynasty stele seals and "Three Tombs" by Li Yangbing in the Tang Dynasty, and gained a simple, thick and majestic charm, changing the rigid and restrained style of seal scripts in the Song and Ming Dynasties.
He used official script to make seals, breaking through the barriers of jade and seal scripts that had existed for thousands of years. He creatively blended official scripts into it, boldly using long edges and soft brushes, and lifting and pressing, which greatly enriched the use of seal scripts, especially in his later years. The seal script, with its round and thick lines, majestic and boundless, has reached the state of transformation, created a model for the seal script of the Qing Dynasty, and made an immortal contribution to the development of the seal script art.
"Bai's Thatched Cottage", also known as "Lushan Thatched Cottage", is an excerpt from Bai Juyi's article "Lushan Thatched Cottage", with a slightly simplified version. It is his representative work of seal script, with six panels, on paper, each panel is 101x27cm.
This book was written by Deng Shiru when he was sixty-two years old, that is, in Jiazi, the ninth year of Jiaqing (1804). It was written a year before his death. The writing style of "Bai's Thatched Cottage" is both full of ancient flavor and overflowing with history. The formation has new ideas; it is mature and prudent, yet elegant and free and easy; it pays equal attention to both merit and emotion, the movement of Qi is well-organized and the work is steady, the posture is solemn and resolute, and the rhythm is heroic and mellow.
Appreciation of Deng Shiru's "Bai's Thatched Cottage"
Explanation of "Bai's Thatched Cottage":
Arrived at the stone stream in the south, there are ancient pines and old firs in the stream. It is only surrounded by ten people, but it is hundreds of feet high. The trees are covered with clouds, and the low branches are brushing the pool, like sandalwood trees, like a canopy, like dragons and snakes walking. There are many pines under the The shrubs of radish and vines with parallel weaving leaves cover the sun and moon, and the light does not reach the ground. In the north, there is a layer of rock, with accumulated stones embedded in the hollow, and strange trees and grasses covering it. The green clouds are misty, and the vermilion is separated. I don’t know its name. Four seasons and one color.
Single character enlarged high-definition picture
