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The "Thousand Character Classic" was
reportedly composed on the order of the Liang dynasty emperor
Wudi (464-549) as a form of instruction in calligraphy for his
princes. Rubbings were made from works by the master
calligrapher Wang Xizhi (303-361) in the imperial collection to
compile a list of one thousand non-repeating characters. Zhou
Xingsi (?-521) was then ordered to put them to rhyme, creating
lines of four characters each. The contents of the poetry touch
on a variety of subjects, including nature, society, history,
and ethics. Intended for teaching calligraphy, this text not
only became a classic primer for educating children in ancient
times, it was also used in daily life as a form of numbering. An
example is the vast collection of painting and calligraphy
amassed by
the vast collection of painting and calligraphy amassed by Xiang Yuanbian, in which characters from
the "Thousand Character Classic" served as accession numbers for
individual works.
In terms of literary history, the "Thousand Character Classic"
also inspired a trend in creating imitations, in which numerous
variations developed over the ages. Some lines from the text
were even directly mentioned in novels and dramas, reflecting
the permeation of this classic in society. From the initial
collection of Wang Xizhi's characters to Zhiyong's (ca. 510-ca.
610) transcription of 800 copies for distribution to various
temples in eastern Zhejiang, the "Thousand Character Classic"
has always been closely connected to the study and practice of
calligraphy. Therefore, from its inception, this text has been
the focus of attention among calligraphers and has continued to
hold sway through the history of calligraphy. Since all the
characters are unique and of appropriate length (as well as
familiar and popular among audiences), the "Thousand Character
Classic" became a primary choice among those seeking calligraphy
and calligraphers creating modelbooks for study, resulting in
many great transcriptions of this text.
Surviving examples of the "Thousand Character Classic" include
those not only in seal, clerical, cursive, running, and regular
script, but also a combination of these forms, such as Zhiyong's
"'Thousand Character Classic' in Regular and Cursive Scripts,'
Yu He's (1307-1382) "'Thousand Character Classic' in Seal and
Clerical Scripts," and Wen Zhengming's (1470-1559) "'Thousand
Character Classic' in Four Scripts" in the National Palace
Museum collection. Copied and calligraphed innumerable times
through the ages, the "Thousand Character Classic" became an
important part of mainstream calligraphy. Consequently, almost
all calligraphers of renown through the centuries made
transcriptions, turning the text into a unique cultural
phenomenon in the history of Chinese calligraphy. This
exhibition presents major examples of the "Thousand Character
Classic" from the Museum collection for comparison and
appreciation by general audiences and students of calligraphy
alike.
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