Calligraphy Mastrers in Sui,Tang Dynasty

Yu Shinan (558-638). Zi: Bo Shi. Born in Yue Zhou Yu Tao (belongs to Jiang Su province today), he is the pupil of Zhi Yong. His calligraphy has elegant disposition and peaceful manner. Representative calligraphy works are "Kong Zi Miao Tang Bei" and "Ru Nan Gong Zhu Mu Zhi Ming".

Ouyang Xun (557-641). Zi: Xin Ben. Born in Chang Sha, Hu Nan province, his calligraphy is perilous and powerful, different and surprising in structure. People call his calligraphy Ou Style. His calligraphy works include Jiu Cheng Gong, Zhang Han, Bu Shang and Meng Dian Tie.

Chu Suiliang (596-659). Zi: Deng Shan. Born in Hang Zhou, studied Yu Shinan's calligraphy first. Later, he studied Zhong You and Wang Xizhi. His calligraphy is mild and beautiful. It's said Tang Tai Zong had many Wang Xizhi's calligraphy but no one can tell which one is real and which one is fake except Chu Suiliang. His representative calligraphy work is Yan Ta Sheng Jiao xu.

Xue Ji (649-713). Zi: Si Tong. Born in Pu Zhou Zhuo Yin (west of Wan Rong county of Shan Xi province today), he is a grandchildren of Wei Zheng, who was the prime minister at the time of Tang Tai Zong. Wei Zheng's home had a lot of calligraphy works of Yu Shinan and Chu Suiliang. He studied those two people's calligraphy. He is called four great calligraphers of early Tang together with Yu Shinan, Ouyang Xun, Chu Suiliang.

Li Yong (678-747). Zi: Tai He. Born in Yang Zhou, he studied Wang Xizhi's Xing Shu earlier. He wrote many tablets. Among them, Li Si Xun Bei and Lu Shan Si Bei are strong, powerful and thick, especially high valued by people. Yun Hui Jiang Jun Bei also is his famous work.

Lu Jianzhi (585-638). Born in Su Zhou, he is a nephew of Yu Shinan. Studied Yu Shinan's calligraphy earlier, he changed to two Wang later. His son Lu Yanyuan is called small Lu. Lu Yuanyuan passed his father's calligraphy to his nephew Zhan Xu. Wen Fu is his famous piece.

Sun Guoting (648-703). Zi: Qian Li. Born in Fu Yang (southwest of Hang Zhou today), the most famous calligraphy theorist. He is good at Cao Shu. His book <<Shu Pu>> is written in Cao Shu.

Zhang Xu. Zi: Bo Gao. Born in Su Zhou, he like drink alcohol. Every time he is drunk, he runs and screams and write. He's called crazy Zhang. He is good at Cao Shu and people call him Cao god. His calligraphy together with Li Bai's poem and Pei Min's sward art are called 3 superb. His representative calligraphy is Gu Shi Si Tie.

Li Yangbing. Zi: Shao Wen. Born in Zhao county of He Bei province, he is good at Zhuan Shu.

Zhang Congshen. Every time he wrote a tablet, Li Yangbing wrote the title in Zhuan Shu for him.

Yan Zhenqing (709-785). Zi: Qing Chen. Born in Lang Ye Lin Qin (Lin Qin county of Shan Dong province today), he studied Chu Suiliang's calligraphy earlier. Later, he became a student of Zhang Xu. He broke the rules of earlier Tang dynasty and created a brand new style.

Han Zemu. Born in Chang Li (belongs to Hebei today), he was famous for his Li Shu. People said his Li Shu is as good as Cai Yong.

Zhong Shaojing. Zi: Ke Da. Born in Qian Zhou Gan (Gan county of Jiang Xi province today), almost all horizontal inscribe boards are written by him at the time of Wu Zetian, who is the only woman emperor of Chinese history. His famous piece is Ling Fei Jing.

Xu Hao (703-782). Zi: Ji Hai. Born in Yue Zhou (Shao Xing of Zhe Jiang province today), he was good at Kai Shu and Li Shu. People called his calligraphy like thirsty horse running toward water. Representative calligraphy works include Zhu Ju Chuan Gao Shen, Bu Kong He Shang Bei and Da Zhi Chan Shi Bei.

Huai Su (725-785). Zi: Cang Zhen. He was a monk. His family name is Qian. Born in Chang Sha, he was famous for his Cao Shu. He also like alcohol. His calligraphy like a sacred snake running, strong wind and violent storm. Representative calligraphy works include Zi Xu Tie and Ku Sun Tie.

Shen Chuanshi (769-827). Zi: Zi Yan. Born in Su Zhou, his calligraphy looks like dragon flying in the sky and tiger crouching on side of a brook. Representative calligraphy work is Yue Lu Si Shi.

Liu Gongquan (778-865). Zi: Cheng Xuan. Born in Yao Xian of Shan Xi, created the thin and powerful style. People say him Yan Liu together with Yan Zhenqing. Representative calligraphy works include Xuan Mi Ta, Jin Gang Jing and Shen Ce Jun Bei.

Yang Ningshi (873-954). Zi: Jing Du. Born in Hua Yin (belongs to Shan Xi today), he pretended to be crazy. People call him craze Yang. His famous piece is Jiu Hua Tie.