Portrait of Second to the sage Zhenqing of Tang Dynasty.
Yan Zhenqing’s Calligraphy Work.
Yan Zhenqing (709—784), Han nationality, was of Langya descent (presently the territory of Linyi, Shandong Province), calligrapher of Tang Dynasty. He was one of the Four Masters of Kai Calligraphy and his style was called “the Yan Style of Calligraphy”. He enjoyed the same fame as Liu Gongquan, another great master of calligraphy in Tang Dynasty and they were referred together as “Yan and Liu”. Their handwritings were usually described as “Yanjin liugu”, which refers to the dignified and imposing features of Yan’s character and Liu’s powerful and thin handwriting.
Because of his important achievements of calligraphy, Yan Zhenqing is called Second to the sage (while the calligraphy sage is Wang Xizhi).
