Zhang Xu (, fl. 8th century),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Bogao (), was a Chinese calligrapher and poet of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. A native of

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

, he became an official during the reign of

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (; 8 September 685 – 3 May 762), personal name Li Longji, was an Emperor of China, emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 44 years was the longest during the Tang dynasty. Throu ...

. Zhang was known as one of the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup. Legend has it that whenever he was drunk, he would use his hair as brush to perform his art, and upon his waking up, he would be amazed by the quality of those works but failed to produce them again in his sober state. Though more well known for his explosive

cursive Cursive (also known as joined-up writing) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionality and m ...

script, he excelled in the

regular script The regular script is the newest of the major Chinese script styles, emerging during the Three Kingdoms period , and stylistically mature by the 7th century. It is the most common style used in modern text. In its traditional form it is the t ...

. There is an anecdote that says he grasped the essence of cursive writing by observing some porters fight for their way with the guard of honor of some princess, and by watching the solo performance of a famous sword-dancer named Lady Gongsun (). He was known as 草聖 (the Divine Cursive-writer) for his great skill in the cursive script. Under the excitement of art (and wine), he became oblivious of social expectations, and would often fling off his cap in the presence of princes and nobles. Hence he came to be known as 張顛 (Zhang the Madman). He is often paired with the younger

Huaisu 250px, One of Huai Su's surviving works Huaisu (, 737–799), courtesy name Zangzhen (), was a Buddhist monk and calligrapher of the Tang dynasty, famous for his cursive calligraphy. Fewer than 10 pieces of his works have survived. One of his ...

as the two greatest cursive calligraphers of the Tang dynasty. The duo is affectionately referred to as "the crazy Zhang and the drunk Su" (). One of Zhang Xu's poems was included in the poetry anthology '' Three Hundred Tang Poems''.

References

External links

* Zhu, Guantian
"Zhang Xu"
''

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, be ...

'' (Arts Edition), 1st ed.
Zhang Xu and his Calligraphy Gallery
at China Online Museum
Book 117
of the '' Quan Tangshi'' (which includes collected poems by Zhang Xu) in the Chinese Text Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Xu Three Hundred Tang Poems poets Tang dynasty calligraphers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Artists from Suzhou Writers from Suzhou 8th-century Chinese poets Poets from Jiangsu 8th-century Chinese calligraphers