Six-Panel Couplet in Bronze Script: “Idle Reflections While Living in Seclusion” by Fang Hsiao-Ju
Calligraphy
2009
Length:308.4 x Width:226.7 x Height:3 (cm)
1組6件尺寸均為51.4x226.7x3,6件總尺寸為:308.4x226.7x3
Hsiao Shih-Chiung (b. 1959, Budai, Chiayi) was the fifth child in a fisherman’s family. After graduating from Taiwan Provincial Chiayi Normal College (now National Chiayi University), he pursued further studies in Chinese literature at National Taiwan Normal University. Beginning in 1995, he taught at Taichung First Senior High School and established the Shih-Chia Studio to promote the teaching of calligraphy. He retired from the high school in 2011 and has since taught at Asia University and Feng Chia University. Since the 1980s, Hsiao has been selected multiple times for the Provincial Art Exhibition and was granted review exemption status in 1992. His work has earned him several prestigious accolades, including the Chungshan Literary and Artistic Award and the Wu San-Lien Award.
Proficient in various traditional scripts, Hsiao is also known for his willingness to innovate. Building on the foundations of early bamboo-slip and silk-calligraphy aesthetics, he developed a distinctive style known as “creative calligraphy,” which has gained wide recognition. In this six-panel piece, Hsiao uses the style of Western Zhou-period bronze inscriptions (chin-wen) to transcribe three poems from Idle Reflections While Living in Seclusion by Fang Hsiao-Ju (1357-1402), a revered Ming-dynasty scholar and martyr. Though the characters are rendered in the square, archaic forms of bronze script, Hsiao breaks their rigid symmetry through expressive brushwork. Bold and fine strokes alternate in rhythm, creating a subtly irregular structure that imparts the lively movement of hsing-shu (semi-cursive script). The result sheds the stiffness often associated with seal or bronze scripts, replacing it with a dynamic sense of flow.
The colophon at the end reads: “Idle Reflections While Living in Seclusion by Master of Orthodox Learning. Written in the spirit of bronze script. First month of winter, year of Chi-Ch’ou (2009). Calligraphed by Hsiao Shih-Chiung in seal script.” Two red seals are affixed: “Hsiao Shih-Chiung” and “Shih-Chia Studio.”
Accession number:20190100054