Liu Gongquan (),

courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theo ...

Chengxuan (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, and politician who lived during the late Tang dynasty. Liu Gongquan was especially famous for

regular script Regular script (; Hepburn: ''kaisho''), also called (), (''zhēnshū''), (''kǎitǐ'') and (''zhèngshū''), is the newest of the Chinese script styles (popularized from the Cao Wei dynasty c. 200 AD and maturing stylistically around th ...

() and was one of the 4 calligraphic masters of regular script in China. The other three were

Yan Zhenqing Yan Zhenqing (; 709–785) was a Chinese calligrapher, military general, and politician. He was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy is equal to that of the ...

Ouyang Xun Ouyang Xun (; 557–641), courtesy name Xinben (), was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, and writer of the early Tang dynasty. He was born in Hunan, Changsha, to a family of government officials; and died in modern Anhui province. Achievements ...

and

Zhao Mengfu Zhao Mengfu (; courtesy name Zi'ang (子昂); pseudonyms Songxue (松雪, "Pine Snow"), Oubo (鷗波, "Gull Waves"), and Shuijing-gong Dao-ren (水精宮道人, "Master of the Water Spirits Palace"); 1254–1322), was a Chinese calligrapher, pa ...

Style

A minister like Yan of the Tang dynasty, Liu was a native of today's

Tongchuan, Shaanxi Tongchuan () is a prefecture-level city located in central Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China on the southern fringe of the Loess Plateau that defines the northern half of the province ( Shanbei) and the northern reaches of the Guanzho ...

, a devout Buddhist and follower of Yan's style of writing. Like him an expert of the

, Liu's works were imitated for centuries after and he is often referred in unison with his famed predecessor as "Yan-Liu".

Calligraphy

Xuan mi ta bei () from the

Forest of Steles The Stele Forest or Beilin Museum is a museum for steles and stone sculptures in Beilin District in Xi'an, Northwest China. The museum, which is housed in a former Confucian Temple, has housed a growing collection of Steles since 1087. By 194 ...

in Xian. File:《玄秘塔碑》-“Stele of the Xuanmi Pagoda” MET 1977 375 17 label strip sf.jpg File:Xumitabei1.jpg File:Xuan mi ta bei by Liu Gongquan.jpg

References

*Wang, Jingfen
"Liu Gongquan"
''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, begin ...

'' (Arts Edition), 1st ed.

External links

Liu Gongquan and his Calligraphy Gallery
at China Online Museum {{DEFAULTSORT:Liu Gongquan 778 births 865 deaths 9th-century Chinese calligraphers Artists from Shaanxi Politicians from Tongchuan Tang dynasty calligraphers Tang dynasty essayists Tang dynasty politicians from Shaanxi Writers from Tongchuan