Chinese Calligrapher: Li Liufang (李流芳)

Li Liufang (1575-1629), also known as Maozai or Changheng, also known as Xianghai or Pao'an, later known as Shenyu Jushi, was a native of She County and lived in Jiading. In the thirty-fourth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1606), the people were elected. Tomorrow, in the second year of Qi's reign (1622), he went to Beijing for an examination. Hearing that the eunuch Wei Zhongxian was monopolizing power and rejecting dissidents, and that the government was deteriorating, he wrote poems angrily and returned home, specializing in cultural research. The "Sketch of Chang Lin Feng" written in that year has the title: "If I want to hang up the Shenwu Gate, I first look for Shuizhu Weinan Village; but I buy the old Loulan Sword and buy a scalper to teach my descendants." There is a postscript at the end of the poem: "Returning to the south in the spring of Renxu, when I was ill and closed the door, I occasionally made this picture, which is quite like the long forest and abundant grass. I wrote this poem out of sadness." It fully expressed his thoughts of "returning to the south" to live in seclusion and abandoning his official career. Together with Tang Shisheng, Lou Jian and Cheng Jiasui, they are known as the "Four Gentlemen of Jiading", also known as the "Four Gentlemen of Jiading". Li is good at painting landscapes, with vivid pen and ink, which is very pleasing to the eye, and sketching is also interesting. When I was middle-aged, I took a trip to the West Lake and painted on the scene, which made me feel the scenery vividly and vividly. At that time, together with Wang Shimin, Wang Jian, Dong Qichang, etc., he was known as the "Nine Friends in Painting". Together with Gui Changshi and Wang Zhijian, he was also known as the "Three Talented Scholars".
"Collection of Poems of Dynasties" said that he "imitated Dongpo's calligraphy and law". Not many of his calligraphy works have been handed down from generation to generation. This piece of running script is elegant and graceful, and should be considered one of his masterpieces.