抄録
Zeng Xi 曾熙 (1861-1930) and Li RuiQing 李瑞清 (1867-1920), who were two outstanding calligraphers of the late Qing dynasty and the early days of the Republic of China, are recognized as being leaders in the fields of culture and art in Shanghai during the early stage of the Republic of China in particular. The two had a mutual close friendship and many students. Because of their unconventionality, however, their works have received negative reviews from some critics. As a result, they have been appreciated in earnest only recently.
In April this year, an epoch-making exhibition was held that dramatically promoted anew studies on Zeng and Li: a retrospective titled "The Mentors of Chang DaiChien -- Painting and Calligraphy of Zeng Xi and Li RuiQing" organized by the National Museum of History in Taiwan. At the exhibition, catalogues of their works including pictorial records as well as discussions by leading experts in the field were published. The content of these catalogs was so substantial that it more compensated for the lack of effort made until then to produce a compilation of their works. This landmark exhibition was held to commemorate the 80th and 90th anniversaries of the deaths of Zeng and Li, respectively, who also had been mentors of Chang Dai-Chien, another great calligrapher, and to whom the museum has paid special attention in past exhibitions.
The objective of this article is to give an outline of the exhibition, which has been acclaimed as a daring attempt among the studies made of Zeng and Li. It also aims to present an overview of preceding studies that affected the exhibition, along with recent major individual studies focusing on Zeng and Li. Based on this overview, the article also summarizes future study themes and offers the author's personal view on some of them.
