The Use of Sources in Zhang Huaiguan's <i>Shuduan</i> and Popular Treatises on Calligraphy

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  • 張懐〓『書断』の史料利用と通俗書論
  • 張懐瓘『書断』の史料利用と通俗書論
  • チョウカイカン 『 ショダン 』 ノ シリョウ リヨウ ト ツウゾクショロン

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Zhang Huaiguan 張懷〓 was a leading theoretician of calligraphy in the Tang, and in the Shuduan 書斷, his representative work, he develops his own theories about calligraphic styles and calligraphers on the basis of copious references cited from many written sources. Therefore, in order to gain an understanding of the Shuduan, it is essential to clarify his use of sources.<br>  In this article, taking into account past research, I carefully examine the actual use of sources in the Shuduan, and I educe the following general rules: (1) facts that are found in general (non-calligraphic) works possessing an established scholarly reputation, are widely shared, and are publicly recognized are used without citing the author's name or the book's title; (2) when utilizing the views of predecessors in discussions about matters regarding which there is no generally accepted view, the author's name is given in the case of works about calligraphy and the book's title in the case of non-calligraphic works; (3) criticism about works of calligraphy is utilized by giving only the author's name; (4) popular traditions about calligraphy that fall under (1) are utilized without giving the author's name or the book's title; and (5) popular traditions and manuals of calligraphy that are hardly worth consulting in scholarly terms are not utilized.<br>  This writing stance can be characterized as an orientation characteristic of orthodox calligraphic studies, which pursued the elegant and eschewed the vulgar, and from this there is also gained a perspective that divides calligraphic treatises over the ages into orthodox treatises that are worth consulting for their scholarlymerits and popular treatises that are not. But it is also a fact that there are a small number of passages in the Shuduan for which, contrary to this basic orientation, popular treatises may have been utilized. Furthermore, when one traces the history of the reception of the Shuduan in later times, it becomes clear that it drew closer to popular treatises in the way in which it was read, and its image eventually changed from its original image of an orthodox treatise on calligraphy to the exact opposite of a treatise with a popular coloration.

Journal

  • CALLIGRAPHIC STUDIES

    CALLIGRAPHIC STUDIES 2012 (22), 13-26, 2012

    ASSOCIATION FOR CALLIGRAPHIC STUDIES

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