A Proposal to Resolve the Doubts about the Theory in Zhang Huaiguan's Shuduan that Cai Yong Created Flying White Script

Abstract

  The Shuduan, written by Zhang Huaiguan of the Tang dynasty, is a work that discusses calligraphic styles and calligraphers. In it, Zhang Huaiguan advances the view that Cai Yong of the Later Han created the Flying White Script. However, no supporting evidence for this claim is presented within the Shuduan itself. Moreover, in other works that are known with certainty to have been compiled prior to the “Shuduan,” it is difficult to find any record linking Cai Yong with the Flying White Script. The reasons why Zhang Huaiguan put forward such a theory are unclear, and consequently various interpretations have been proposed over time. This article seeks to disentangle the philological issues surrounding the origins of this theory and to present a coherent interpretation.

  The focus of debate is the Zhuanli wenti, written by Xiao Ziliang of the Southern Qi. According to the annotations appended to Record of the Character “Xiao” in Flying White Script on the Wall by Cui Bei of the Tang-dynasty, the claim in the Shuduan that Cai Yong created the Flying White Script may in fact be traced back to the Zhuanli wenti. However, the existing manuscript of the Zhuanli wenti identifies Emperor Ling of Han as the creator of the Flying White Script, and thus its account diverges. In this article, therefore, attention is directed to two works that closely resemble the Zhuanli wenti in content, namely, Description of Fifty-six Calligraphy Scripts by Wei Xu of the Tang-dynasty, and Gujin wenzi zan by Wei Yi of the Tang-dynasty. Analysis of the tendencies of their contents demonstrated that the above possibility remains persuasive. Furthermore, with respect to the existing manuscript of the Zhuanli wenti, concrete evidence is presented to suggest that the passage concerning the Flying White Script may suffer from textual omission. Taken together, these arguments largely resolve the questions and allow for a consistent explanation regarding both the origin and subsequent development of the theory that Cai Yong created the Flying White Script.