"Spring Couplets" with willow style calligraphy
Liu Gongquan (778-865) was the last great calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty and one of the four masters of regular script (Ouyang Xun, Yan Zhenqing, Liu Gongquan and Zhao Mengfu). He first learned calligraphy from Wang Xizhi, then read modern calligraphy, learned from Yan Zhenqing, and incorporated his own new ideas. Then he became his own calligraphy style and created his own unique Liu style, which became a model for generations to come. His calligraphy is balanced, thin and hard, resolutely pursuing the Wei stele, his stipples are crisp and straight, his bones are strong and his body is tight. "The more expensive the calligraphy is, the thinner and harder it is, the more it can communicate with the spirit." His regular script is slightly more uniform, thinner and harder than his Yan style, so it is known as "Yan Jin Liu Gu". Liu Gongquan has many handed down works. The handed down steles include "Diamond Sutra Carved Stone", "Mysterious Pagoda Stele", "Fengsu Stele" and so on. Among them, "Diamond Sutra Engraved Stone", "Mysterious Tower Stele" and "Shence Army Stele" best represent his regular script style.
