书虽一艺，然非率尔可工；而一技入神，则器或寓道。
Achievements cannot be made without efforts in terms of calligraphy. Various styles have come into existence during the process of achieving a high mastery of this skill.
自东汉末年书法艺术兴起以来，历朝历代，名家辈出。汉魏有钟张之绝、晋末称二王之妙。初唐之欧虞褚薛，承前启后，镕南北于一炉。其后颜筋柳骨，楷法精严；颠张醉素，狂草入圣。宋太宗命翰林侍书王著摹勒《淳化阁帖》，羲献父子遂被奉为帖学道统。沿流而下，宋四家之苏黄米蔡、元之赵孟頫，明之祝允明、文徵明、董其昌等皆为正传。
Since the art of calligraphy rose at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, great masters have appeared in the past long period of time. In the Eastern Han dynasty, Zhang Zhi was greatly admired, while in the Three Kingdoms Zhong You of the Wei Kingdom. At the end of the Jin dynasty, Wang Xizhi and his son Wang Xianzhi dominated the calligraphic circle. At the beginning of the Tang dynasty, Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, Chu Suiliang and Xue Ji inherited the tradition of the past dynasties and set an example for the later generations, and managed to combine the features of both North China and South China. Later Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan excelled in regular script, while Zhang Xu and the monk Huaisu cursive script. In the Song dynasty, Emperor Taizong ordered the official of the Imperial Academy Wang Zhu carve a collection of model calligraphies on steles, which made the calligraphy of Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi mainstream. Later, the four renowned calligraphers of the Song dynasty, namely, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu and Cai Xiang, and Zhao Mengfu of the Yuan dynasty, together with Zhu Yunming, Wen Zhengming and Dong Qichang of the Ming dynasty, all became their inheritors.
大抵而言，晋人尚韵、唐人尚法、宋人尚意、元明以后尚态。或鸾翥凤翔、或铁画银钩；或奇峭险绝、或平正雍容；或刚健婀娜、或雄浑宽博；或遒润妍媚，或劲挺秀逸；或萧散自得、或逸兴遄飞…各有擅场，不一而足。惟唐摹宋拓，化身千百，虽有功于书学不浅——其妙者更是下真迹一等，然原本历经辗转翻刻，其神韵渐失、流弊纷出，亦势所不免也。且入清以后，乾隆一朝搜秘殆尽，传世名迹，一般士人已然难得一见。典型不具、真赏难遇，因之而碑学兴起，广泛上溯北碑、汉隶、篆籀诸体，并参之以金石考据之学，风格多样，面目一新。其中造诣以篆、隶二体成就最高，理论则以包世臣、康有为等倡导最为有力，帖学传统遂为之一变。
To sum up, artists of the Jin dynasty pursued the poetic charm of calligraphy, while those of the Tang dynasty advocated squareness and uprightness of characters. Artists of the Song dynasty admired aesthetic appreciation of calligraphy, while those of the Yuan and Ming dynasty paid more attention to formation of characters. The copies of the Tang and Song dynasty, though having made great contributions to the development of calligraphy, it is evitable that the charm of the authentic version has gradually lost after many times of reproduction both on paper and on steles. Since the Qing dynasty, Emperor Qianlong tried to keep all the authentic versions to himself, which made scholars hardly had the chance for a review. It was due to this reason that led to the rise of stele inscription. Calligraphers combined different scripts, such as regular script, official script and seal script, with the art of engraved inscriptions on bronze and stele to bring in new fashions. The calligraphers made the greatest achievements in official and seal script, and followed Bao Shichen and Kang Youwei’s calligraphic theories to the most. All of these made an utter change to the stele inscription.
苏州博物馆所藏历代书法，虽不乏唐宋名品，但主要以元明清为多。此次展出馆藏元明以后书家凡30余人，卷轴皆有、四体兼备，或书以人传、或人以书重；有着意而妙者、亦有无意而佳者。观者览之，定当欣然有得焉。
Though not lack in excellent works of art, most of the calligraphies collected by the Suzhou Museum were passed down from the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasty. This exhibition selects works of over thirty calligraphers since the Yuan and Ming dynasty in various forms and scripts. We hope they will be of interest and benefit to the visitors.
