Zhao Mengfu 趙孟〓 (1254-1322) was an eleventh-generation grandson of Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡胤, the founder of the Song dynasty, and served as an official under the five Yuan emperors Shizu 世祖, Chengzong 成宗, Wuzong 武宗, Renzong 仁宗, and Yingzong 英宗. While being of noble status, he left more than seventy-three pieces of inscriptional calligraphy (including twelve draft inscriptions), which is unusual in the history of Chinese calligraphy, and the background to this is quite interesting.
I believe that the formation of the calligraphic style employed in the drafts for the "Xuanmiaoguan chongxiu Sanqingdian ji" 玄妙觀重修三清殿記 and "Xuanmiaoguan chongxiu Sanmen ji" 玄妙觀重修三門記 was of epoch-making importance not only in Zhao Mengfu's inscriptional calligraphy, but also in his calligraphic œuvre as a whole. In this article, I set out to elucidate how the calligraphy of these two drafts created a new style of calligraphy, what lay behind it, and other questions. I also wish to examine the validity of the thesis that Zhao Mengfu's calligraphy can be divided into three distinct periods. The main issues on which I focus for investigating the above questions are as follows:
1. Zhao Mengfu's extant inscriptional calligraphy.
2. The historical background to the formation of his inscriptional calligraphy.
3. The origins, establishment, and development of his inscriptional calligraphy.
4. The growth of research on the two above-mentioned drafts.
Taking note of the common practice of writing inscriptions during the Yuan, I put forward a view differing from the views of previous scholars on the basis of Zhao Mengfu's experiences as he travelled between north and south China. I point out that the calligraphic style of the two drafts was established after his return to the south, and I draw the conclusion that because not only was it informed with the earlier styles of the Jin and Tang, but it also embodied the character of the calligraphic styles of north and south Yuan China, it laid the foundations for subsequent inscriptional calligraphy. In particular, through his acquaintance with Xianyu Shu 鮮于樞 he deepened his acquaintance with the calligraphic style of the north and gained the opportunity to be exposed to the calligraphic style of Li Yong 李〓, and it is to be surmised that this inspired a new mode of expression in his inscriptional calligraphy. The mode of expression distinctive of the two drafts merits attention also in the history of calligraphic styles, and in my view it could be called the Zhao style.
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