"Yang Xiaoyong's Epitaph" is a precious inscription in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and its official name is "The Epitaph of Yang Jun, the Assassin of the Late Wei Auxiliary General Dongliang Prefecture". The inscription is square, made of stone, with a side length of fifty-five centimeters, and the inscription has a total of twenty lines, each line can hold twenty characters, and the total number of words reaches three hundred and sixty-two words. Due to the relatively late unearthing time, this epitaph has not been subjected to natural erosion and man-made damage, so it is quite well preserved, the handwriting is clear, almost like a new carving, only a handwriting damage was found in the whole text, which can be called a rare treasure in the Wei stele.
The owner of the epitaph, Yang Xiaoyong, according to the inscription, is from "Xixianli, Huayintong Township, Hongnong", and is a descendant of the Yang family of Huayin. The Huayin Yang clan was a prominent family that had been officials for generations during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Yang Xiaoyong's family history can be traced back to Yang Zhen during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and he has a biography in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, known for his erudition and Confucian status, as well as the writings of Ouyang Shangshu. The epitaph mentions that Yang Zhen is the thirteenth ancestor of Yang Xiaoyong. Yang Zhen's fifth son, Feng's eighth grandson, served as the minister of Zhongshan in the Murong clan of Yan State, and his two sons Zhen and Jizhong, Zhen's son Zhen, that is, Yang Xiaoyong's ancestor.
Yang Zhen's son Yi, that is, Yang Xiaoyong's great-grandfather, according to historical records, served as Taiping Taishou, and was posthumously named Hongnong County Duke after his death, and the epitaph records that he served as Luozhou Assassin Shi, Hongnong Jian Gong, which is consistent with historical records. Yi's son Tsubaki, who inherited the family's literary talent and enjoyed a good reputation, served as the assassin of Jeju, and was later killed by the powerful minister Zhu Tianguang and was posthumously presented as the prince and prime minister. Chun's son Yang Yu, that is, Yang Xiaoyong's father, was posthumously presented as Sikong after his death, and the history of Dingzhou Assassination. The epitaph records the ancestors of Yang Xiaoyong, all of whom are celebrities**. From the record of the epitaph, it can be known that Yang Xiaoyong was killed in Luoyang, which coincides with the historical record.
This epitaph was carved in the last years of the Northern Wei Dynasty. The epitaph mentions "He was killed in Luoyang on March 1 of the second year of Epupai" and "He was buried on November 19 of the first year of Taichang in the god of Hussar Sikong Gong", which actually refers to the same year, i.e., 532 AD. According to the records of the Book of Wei, "Putai" is the name of the former deposed emperor, who changed his name to Putai after he ascended the throne in the second year of Jianming (531 AD). And "Taichang" is the name of Emperor Xiaowu, who changed his name to Taichang after ascending the throne in March of the second year of Putai (also the second year of Zhongxing, 532 AD). In this short year, the regime underwent many changes, including the "Zhongxing" era name of the deposed emperor supported by Gao Huan, which reflected the political turmoil and social chaos at the time.
The calligraphic style of the epitaph follows the standard of Wei stele and is similar to the time when the Epitaph of Zhang Heinu was engraved in 531 AD. Through the comparison of the calligraphic structure and penmanship of the two epitaphs, it can be seen that there are certain similarities between them, but the "Yang Xiaoyong Epitaph" is more simple in style, and some of the handwriting retains the characteristics of Lishu, such as the character "Ming" in the first line, the character "Zu" in the third line, the character "Yu" in the fourth line, the character "Tong" in the fifth line, the character "And" in the seventh line, and the character "end" in the eighth line. In addition, the radicals such as "kou" or "tian" in the epitaph tend to be square rather than the inverted trapezoidal shape common in Sui and Tang Kaishu, and at the turn of the strokes, the common frustration brushwork in Wei Kai is rarely used, but tends to turn lightly or lift the pen to put the pen down again, which further emphasizes the legacy of Lishu. At the same time, the epitaph also incorporated the penmanship of Wei stele script, such as "pen pin", "pick pen" and "Ge gou", which indicate that the epitaph calligraphy is in the transition stage from Han and Wei Lishu to Sui and Tang Kaishu, and has not yet fully matured. This degree of stylistic freedom provides a rich space for the expression of Weibei calligraphy, and provides a variety of stylistic references for later generations of calligraphy learners.
Since the unification of the Sui Dynasty, Wei tablet calligraphy has been silent for more than 1,000 years, until the middle of the Qing Dynasty, with the rise of Jinshi archaeology, Wei tablet calligraphy has been re-emphasized and has achieved significant development. Kang Youwei was a representative of the late Qing Dynasty who strongly admired the calligraphy of the North Tablet, and he discussed the ten kinds of beauty of the calligraphy of the Wei Tablet in the "Guangyi Zhou Shuangji", and believed that the calligraphy of the Wei Tablet had its unique charm no matter who the hand came from. Although this view is subjective, it also reflects the stylistic diversity and structural precipitousness of Weibei calligraphy. The calligraphic structure of Yang Xiaoyong's Epitaph inherits the characteristics of the Han Dynasty's official calligraphy, and at the same time maintains the "oblique painting immediately after" style of Wei tablet calligraphy, with rich glyph variations, including the stretch of words such as "Tai" and "Zheng", as well as the compactness of words such as "Wang" and "Gui". Its calligraphy style is neither as solemn as the epitaph of the Yuan clan in Luoyang, nor does it pursue exquisite calligraphy, but has an oblique tendency in the square, with a pen both put and receive, not to please the viewer with the stretch of the strokes, especially in the writing of horizontal paintings, sometimes using the flat potential of the official book, sometimes using the oblique potential of Wei Kai, breaking the rules of parallel unity, increasing the sense of movement and change.
The lifting and turning of his brushwork, as well as the combination of square and round brushes, make the seemingly simple strokes contain delicate changes, and the overall style is relaxed and natural, revealing the ancient meaning in the subtlety. The calligraphy of the epitaph is very obvious, and there are no strong knife carving marks like other Northern Dynasty carved stones, which well shows the sense of pen and ink of calligraphy and the natural vividness of line writing. Among the "ten beauties" mentioned by Kang Youwei, in addition to "strong" and "bold", the other eight beauties can be used to describe the calligraphy of "Yang Xiaoyong's Epitaph". The roundness, fullness, simplicity and other characteristics of the epitaph text are also the difference between its calligraphy style and other Wei epitaph calligraphy. Although the size of the carved stone of Yang Xiaoyong's Epitaph is not large, and the number of words is not large, its unique calligraphy style brings a new perspective to the viewer, provides valuable materials for us to study and copy the calligraphy of Wei tablets, and is an excellent model for learning regular script. It is an excellent model for learning regular script.
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