Yan Zhenqing (颜真卿, 709–785) was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang Dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy parallels the greatest master calligraphers throughout the history. His “Yan style” of the Regular Script is the textbook-style that most calligraphy beginners imitate today. The “Yan style”, which brought Chinese calligraphy to a new realm, emphasizes on strength, boldness and grandness. Like most of the master call...

       Born in Linyi (临沂), Shandong (山东) Province, he spent most of his life in the present-day Shaoxing (绍兴), Zhejiang (浙江). He learned the art of calligraphy from Wei Shuo, commonly addressed as Lady Wei (衛夫人). He excelled in every script but particularly in the semi-cursive script (行书). Unfortunately, none of his original works...