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Colophons to Collected Ancient Inscriptions (集古錄跋)

Ouyang Xiu (歐陽修, 1007–1072), Song Dynasty (960–1279)

Handscroll, ink on paper, 27.2 x 171.2 cm, National Palace Museum, Taipei

       Ouyang Xiu, courtesy name Yongshu (永叔), sobriquet Zuiweng (醉翁, Drunken Old Man), and late sobriquet Liuyi Jushi (六一居士, Resident of Six Ones), was a native of Luling (modern-day Ji’an in Jiangxi) during the Song dynasty. This handscroll was done in regular script with restrained and precise characters. In terms of the brushwork, the horizontal strokes are light and the vertical ones are heavier. The distinction between the application and lifting of the brush is pronounced but in a manner akin to a peaceful and introverted movement, demonstrating a pure and untrammeled ambience. The four sections on “Han Dynasty Stele at the Western Peak of Mt. Hua”, “Han Dynasty Stele of Gentleman Yang”, “Biography of the Sage of Tea Lu Yu in the Tang Dynasty”, and “Record of Plants at the Mountain Dwelling of Pingchuan” have been mounted together into a single scroll here. Written in 1064, the contents differ from those in the printed edition, indicating that this is probably a manuscript version.