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Epitaph for Wang Jihuan and his Wife, Madame Min
Calligrapher Dong Qichang Chinese
Not on view
明 董其昌 行書汪繼環墓志銘 卷 紙本
Dong Qichang composed and transcribed this epitaph for a couple—Wang Jihuan (Wang Chengxu, 1559–1611) and his wife, Madame Min (1558–1622)—at their son’s request. The Wangs were cultured merchants from Anhui Province who made their fortune primarily in the salt trade. As is typical of a formal epitaph, the text tells the life stories of the deceased and extols their virtues in highly stylized language. Commissioning such a text, particularly from a famous scholar and calligrapher like Dong Qichang, was a way for children to honor their parents. Dong uses semicursive script, which is also found in informal writing, but the airy regularity of the lines and the stable construction of his characters invest the work with a sense of gravitas.
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