Dong Qichang's "Zhou Zi Tong Shu" scroll, this scroll was written around 1611. It is a book about Zhou Dunyi's words and discusses how people can learn to become holy. Regular script, paper, 189.4x154.5 cm, collected by the National Palace Museum, Taipei.


This scroll combines the regular script style of Ouyang Xun and Yan Zhenqing throughout, with round and thick lines, correct and slightly slender fonts. The contrast between thick ink and flying white shows the rhythm of pressing and makes people feel the freedom and boldness of the brushwork. 


【Definition】Sage can learn from it. Said yes. It matters. Want it. One is important. One has no desires. Without desire there is stillness and emptiness. Move straight. Silence leads to clarity. If you move straight, you will be fair. If it is clear, it will lead to success. The public is Pu. It's so common. Written by Dong Qichang.


Dong Qichang's "Book of Zhou Zitong" Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei 



Dong Qichang believed that learning calligraphy must be based on the past. The so-called "learning calligraphy if you do not follow the past, you will fall into the evil path." Volume 2 of "Rongtai Collection" "Shupin" But what he advocates is this "Su Zizhan Zizi" That is to say, if you hang it on the wall and watch it, you will get the general idea."



Dong Qichang proposed in Volume 2 "Shu Pin" of "Rongtai Collection" that "the beauty lies in the ability to combine, and the spirit lies in the ability to separate". He called this process of practice "combination". Those who are united will take away the spirit of others. As the saying goes, "When you meet a stranger, you don't need to recognize their ears, eyes, head, face, hands and feet. You should pay attention to their behavior, laughter, and where the true spirit is revealed." Those who are separated, "take off all your own writing and come up with your own ideas." Axis, like the Zen masters who, after enlightenment, take apart the flesh and return it to their mother, take apart their bones and return it to their father, yell at the Buddha and curse the ancestors, and their appearance has changed." "Shupin", Volume 2 of "Rongtai Collection" It is obvious that this kind of "shattering begins to reveal the whole body" ” spirit is the result of complete innovation.