Calligraphy – Graceful (yaotiao)

A devout Buddhist, the important calligrapher Zhang Jizhi (1186-1266) often wrote religious texts as an act of devotion. Born in Hezhou, present-day Anhui, into a family of high-ranking scholar-officials, he obtained his jinshi degree in the imperial examination and held various positions in civil services. At Tiantong Temple near Ningbo, China, he befriended disciples of the prominent Chan Buddhist monk Wuzhun Shifan (1178-1249). Deeply rooted in the styles of the Tang-dynasty masters and characterized by tight, disciplined structures and powerful brushstrokes, his calligraphy was particularly treasured by Zen monks in Japan, many of whom knew his work firsthand from their studies in China. Some extant works in Japan were originally sent by Wuzhun Shifan to his Japanese disciples who studied with him in China. His calligraphy, reading fangzhang, ‘Abbot’s Quarters’, now graces the Tofuku-ji in Kyoto.
Although Zhang Jizhi is renowned for his monumental writing in standard and running scripts, such as Song of Twin Pines in Standard Script at the Palace Museum in Beijing, and Excerpt from Song of Leyou Park at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, his medium-sized calligraphy is often more delicate and fluid in nature. The inscription, yaotiao, refers to a quiet, virtuous grace that can be traced to one of the earliest poems in the Book of Songs:

Modest and graceful is the gentle beauty,
For a gentleman what a good mate she is.

Here, the balanced and square form of the calligraphy is reminiscent of the writing of Yan Zhenqing and Huang Tingjian. The brushwork is confident and forceful, boldly contrasting thick and thin strokes to create a strong sense of visual drama.
The present work, attributed to Zhang Jizhi, was remounted and preserved in Japan, where his handwriting was often found in fragments. The two characters in the Utterberg scroll, arranged vertically, were likely carefully put together by previous Japanese collectors.