Le Sitishu shi de Wei Heng (252-291) - Première traité chinois de calligraphie

Résumé En

Wei Heng (252-291), the author of the first compilation of Chinese texts on the art of calligraphy, the Sitishu shi, The Art of the Four Styles of Calligraphy, was himself part of an important family in calligraphic history and in the Chinese aristocracy under the Western Jin dynasty. His father, Wei Guan, who was a famous calligrapher working closely with the imperial court, was the witness of important archaeological finds in the field of calligraphy that inspired his son to write this essay on the "beauty" (shi) of Chinese scripts as viewed by himself and his contemporaries. One generation later, a niece of Wei Heng, named Wei Shuo (272-349), also called Wei Furen, Lady Wei, was to become the calligraphy teacher of the most renowned artist in the field in the whole of Chinese history: Wang Xizhi (321-379 or 307-365). As is suggested by the title of the text which is partially translated in this article (a full translation of the first chapter concerning ancient scripts guwen, is given here; the other three chapters are summarized and analyzed), it deals with four styles of writing and calligraphy: ancient scripts (guwen), seal scripts (zhuanshu), clerical script (lishu), and cursive script (caoshu). Each of the four "chapters" of the text is itself divided into two main sections; the first section is devoted to the historical background of the style and is followed by a critical commentary, a descriptive eulogy written in a colorful poetic language to describe its "beauty". This article is an attempt to present the cultural and historical environment of Wei Heng and his circles and to explain why such a text which made its way into the official dynastic history (it can be found in the Jinshu, within the biography of the author's father) can be considered as a valuable foundation for all the calligraphy treatises that were written afterwards. I believe that with this organized presentation and description of the scripts, this text was also a major support and encouragement for the practice of the cursive cao which had been previously severely attacked by what is considered the earliest text on calligraphy, the famous Feicaoshu, Against the Cursive Script, by Zhao Yi of the latter Han dynasty.