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Poem by Wang Wei
Calligrapher Zhang Ruitu Chinese
Not on view
明 張瑞圖 行書王維詩句 軸 紙本
Zhang Ruitu transcribed this poem in vigorous—almost violent—strokes, with the speed and pressure of his hand splitting the hairs of the brush to create an effect known as “flying white” (feibai). The scale and ferociousness of the calligraphy is in tension with the tranquil message of the poem by Wang Wei, which reads:
As you have passed many years writing books behind
closed doors,
The pines planted long ago have all grown scales like
old dragons.
—Trans. by Shi-yee Liu
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