second of two albums; tan silk covered cardboard covers; inside of front cover has abstracted foliage imagery with gold leaf; double-sided pages of calligraphy with primarily four characters per page; primarily bold characters; some characters are very pointed; two pages of thin, closely-spaced, freeform characters; two pages of very looping, organic characters

Model Book of the "Thousand Character Classic", pt. 2, second half 17th century

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Sasaki specifically introduces a formal and orthodox orthography in this primer for elementary education. The Thousand Character Classic was created in China between 500 and 600 ce, consisting of 250 rhythmic four-character couplets in reference to other ancient Chinese classics.

Unlike other works in this exhibition, Sasaki’s writing is bold and clear― using few sweeping connections between two strokes and maintains a fixed size and square shape throughout all characters― so that pupils could practice holding their
brushes properly and observing correct stroke order. The clear, regular script Sasaki uses was based on the Holy Altar of the Magu-Nymph stela written by Yan Zhenqing, a late Tang Dynasty official and calligrapher. In several instances, however, he departed from the staid characters and experimented with different types of writing, some that appeared engulfed in flames and others that looked intentionally childish.

Details
Title
Model Book of the "Thousand Character Classic", pt. 2
Artist Life
1619 - 1695
Role
Calligrapher
Accession Number
2013.63.11.2
Curator Approved

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second of two albums; tan silk covered cardboard covers; inside of front cover has abstracted foliage imagery with gold leaf; double-sided pages of calligraphy with primarily four characters per page; primarily bold characters; some characters are very pointed; two pages of thin, closely-spaced, freeform characters; two pages of very looping, organic characters