Ji Zhi Wengao (祭侄文稿) (The Draft Eulogy for Nephew Jiming or Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew ), handscroll, ink on hemp paper, in running script, 758 CE. The text of the 28.3 x 75.5 cm piece has 234 characters arranged in twenty-three columns. Plus the thirty-four characters Yan himself struck out, the calligraphy has a total of 268 characters. It is kept at the National Palace Museum, Taipei (國立故宮博物院).
In the rebellion of An Lu-shan (安祿山) around 755 CE, Yan Zhenqing’s nephew Yan Jiming (顏季明) was serving in the government of Changshan (常山). The rebel forces invaded the town, the Tang armies did not come to the rescue, resulting in the fall of the town and the death of Jiming. This is what Yan Zhenqing meant when he wrote in this piece, “ Traitorous officials did not rescue them, so the orphaned city was besieged and compelled to submit. The father was taken and the son killed in 756 CE, the nest tipped and the eggs overturned.” After the incident, Yan Zhenqing sent his elder nephew Quanming (泉明) to the town to make funerary arrangements. Only his head of Jiming was found. In 758 CE against these circumstances, Yan Zhenqing at the age of 49 wrote the Draft Euology for Nephew Jiming. His heart was filled with deep sorrow and indignation. Hardly able to restrain himself, he poured love and hatred onto the paper.
There are a lot of crossing out and alternations on the scroll. The scroll was probably a preliminary draft for a formal composition.
The masterpiece of Yan was regarded as the second best running script in history after Wang Xizhi’s Lanting Xu (Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection). But the original of Lanting Xu has been lost. The Draft Eulogy for Nephew Jiming is regarded to be the best running script that survived till today.
English translation is found in Amy McNair The Upright Brush, University of Hawaii Press
維乾元元年，歲次戊戌。
時在唐肅宗乾元元年（公元758年），農曆是戊戌年。
In the inaugural year of Gān yuan, the reign period of Emperor Sùzōng of the Táng Dynasty.
九月庚午，朔三日壬申
農曆九月的朔日是庚午日，初三日壬申
On the third, a Reshen day, of the ninth month, in which the first was a Gengwu day. [9 October 758 CE]
第十三叔，銀青光祿大夫。
(顏季明的）第十三叔、佩帶銀印章和青綬帶的光祿大夫。
His thirteenth uncle, Grand Master of Imperial Entertainments with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon,
(Alternative translation) His thirteenth uncle, Glorious Grand Master with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon,
使持節、蒲外諸軍事、蒲州刺史。
加使持節、蒲州諸軍事之蒲州刺史。
Commissioner with Extraordinary Powers Over All Military Affairs in Puzhou, Prefect of Puzhou
上輕車都尉、丹陽縣開國侯真卿
授勳上輕率都尉和晉爵為丹陽縣開國候的顏真卿
Senior Commandant of Light Chariots, and Dynasty-Founding Marquis of Danyang District, Yan Zhenqing
以清酌庶羞祭于亡侄 贈贊善大夫 季明之靈。
現在以清薄的酒類和家常的食物來祭祀贊善大夫顏季明侄兒的亡靈。詞曰：
With pure wine and a complement of the delicacies, sacrifices to the spirit of Jiming, his late nephew, who was granted the posthumous title of Grand Master Admonisher:
(Alternative translation) : With pure wine and simple dishes, sacrifices to the spirit of Jiming, his late nephew, who was granted the posthumous title of Grand Master Admonisher:
惟爾挺生，夙標幼德。宗廟瑚璉，階庭蘭玉，每慰人心。
惟有你（季明）生下來就很出眾，平素已表現出少年人少有的德行。你好像我宗廟中的重器，又好像生長於我們庭院中的香草和仙樹，常使我們感到十分欣慰。
From your birth, you showed your youthful virtue early. Like sacrificial vessels in the ancestral temple and fragrant plants in the courtyard, you were a comfort to our hearts.
方期戩穀，河圖逆賊閒釁，稱兵犯順。
正期望（季明）能夠得到幸福和作個好官，誰想到逆賊（安祿山）乘機挑釁、起兵造反。
In those days, you were blessed and happy. How could we imagined that the rebel traitors would commence our misfortune ? But they took up arms and violated their submission [to the throne].
尔父竭誠，常山作郡。余時受命，亦在平原。
你的父親（顏杲卿）竭誠盡力，在常山擔任太守。我（顏真卿）那時接受朝廷任命，也在平原都擔任太守之職。
Your father [Yan Gaoqing] expended his integrity as commandery governor of Changshan, while I, too, had received a mandate at that time, in Pingyuan.
仁兄愛我，俾尔傳言，尔既歸止，爰開土門，土門既開，兇威大蹙。
仁兄（杲卿）出於對我的愛護，讓你給我傳話（即擔任聯絡）。你既已回到常山，於是土門被奪回。土門打開以後，凶逆（安祿山）的威風大受挫折。
My selfless older brother so loved me that he asked you to send word to me. You had already returned home and Tumen Pass was conquered; with the opening of Tumen Pass, the villians feared they would be pressed on all sides.
賊臣不救，孤城圍逼。父陷子死，巢傾卵覆。
賊臣（王承業）擁兵不救，致使（常山）孤城被圍攻陷, 父親（顏杲卿）和兒子（顏季明以及家族人等）先後被殺。好像一個鳥巢被從樹上打落．鳥卵自然也都會摔碎，那裡還會有完卵存在！
A traitorous official [Wang Chengye] failed the rescue and so the orphaned city was besieged and compelled to submit. The father was taken and the son killed, the nest tipped and the eggs overturned.
天不悔禍，誰為荼毒！
天啊！面對這樣的慘禍，難道你不感到悔恨！是誰製造了這場災難？
Heaven has no regret for this calamity, but who else could cause such suffering ?
(Alternative translation) Oh my God, who has no sympathy for this calamity. Who else could cause such suffering?
(Alternative translation) Everyone has sympathy for this calamity. Who else could cause such suffering?
念尔遘殘，百身何贖？嗚呼哀哉！
念及你（季明）遭遇這樣的殘害（被殺後只留頭部，身體遺失）．就是一百個軀體哪能贖回你的真身？嗚呼哀哉！
I remember how you met with your cruel death, but could we ransom all those people. Alas, how I grieve!
(Alternative translation) I remember how you met with your cruel death, even using one hundred bodies (may imply ‘including myself’) cannot redeem your body. Alas, how I grieve!
吾承天澤，移牧河關。泉明比者，再陷至常山，攜尔首櫬，及茲同還。
我承受上天的恩澤，派往河關（蒲州）為牧。親人泉明，再至常山，帶著盛裝你首級的棺木，一同回來。
Since that time, I have been graced with the Beneficence of Heaven and transferred to shepherd the flock on the He-Guan border [Pu-zhou]. After Quanming found me and Changshan was retaken, he retrieved your encoffined head and has now returned together with it.
撫念摧切，震悼心顏！
撫卹、思念之情摧絕切迫，巨大的悲痛使心靈震顫，容顏變色。
The memory of your death is revived in me and the shock of grief in my heart and my face is just as it was on that distant day.
方俟遠日，卜尔幽宅。魂而有知，無嗟久客。
請等待一個遙遠的日子，選擇一塊好的墓地。你的靈魂如果有知的話，請不要埋怨在這里長久作客。(你不要老在外面做流浪的亡魂。)
I send this announcement to your abode in the nether world, that your spirit may have knowledge of it. Do not weep there long.
(Alternative translation) Wait for some time (may be quite long), I will select a suitable location for your grave. Your spirit may have knowledge of it. Please do not wander for too long.
嗚呼哀哉！尚饗。
嗚呼哀哉！請享用這些祭品吧！
Alas, how I grieve! May you accept this offering.
Yan Zhenqing (顏真卿) (709–785) was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang Dynasty. He was born in Wàn-nián Xiàn (萬年縣), Jīng zhào fǔ (京兆府) now Xī’ān (西安), Shǎnxī (陝西). His ancestors came from Línyí Xiàn (臨沂縣), Lángyá Jùn (瑯琊郡).
In 734, at the age of 22, Yan Zhenqing qualified from the Imperial Examination and was granted the title of Jinshi (進士). With outstanding academic background, Yan Zhengqing rose rapidly through the ranks. His uprightness and outspoken style angered the corrupted officials. Consequently in 753, he was sent out of the capital as the governor of Pingyuan (平原). During the An Shi Rebellion (安史之亂), Yan was the first to lead his troops in fighting the rebels and thus earned a reputation as a brave and loyal official. His brother Yan Gaoqing (顏杲卿) and his nephew Yan Jiming (顏季明) were brutally executed by the rebels.
In 764, Emperor Daizong (唐代宗) conferred the title of Duke of Lu (魯公) on Yan Zhenqing in recognition of his firm loyalty to the government and bravery. In 784 Li Xilie (李希烈) rebelled. Yan Zhanqing was sent to negotiate with the rebels. He was also brutally killed by the Li Xilie in 785.
Contributions of Yan Zhenqing to Calligraphy
Of all the Tang calligraphers, Yan Zhenqing’s style was the most original. His style was a form of liberation from the past. His overriding desire was to impart the maximum power into his strokes – ‘dots like falling stones, horizontals like rain clouds, corners like bent metals, curves like extended bows.’ (豐腴雄渾、柔中帶剛。點畫爽利挺秀、骨力遒勁、結體嚴緊心。) The characters he executed were full of weight, achieved by enclosed forms which had the ideal solidity of the block or the cylinder. In this way he hoped to gain a greater fullness and a more pervasive movement. At the same time, he endowed his characters with an revitalising lustre – the brightness that is so essential to beauty.
Masterpieces like Record of the Duobao Pagoda (多寶塔碑) and Stele of the Yan Family Temple (顏家廟碑) show all this great features of Yan’s calligraphy. His standard scripts have been widely used as the copy books for children and beginners for the last 1250 years. However, they were not written just for children or beginners. Older calligraphers with more experience and expertise can equally appreciate Yan’s standard scripts to the full.
Further readings or viewing :
http://baike.baidu.com/view/32111.htm (祭姪文稿) (Chinese translation)
http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/Article.aspx?sNo=04001003 Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew
https://tw.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081116000015KK09703 (Chinese translation)
http://udn.com/NEWS/OPINION/OPI4/4602780.shtml
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%A2%9C%E7%9C%9F%E5%8D%BF (顏真卿)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STK1bsQh0kQ 20130614《殷瑗小聚》中國美術史–顏真卿的祭姪文稿 (蔣勳) Excellent lecture by Professor Chiang Xun
http://baike.baidu.com/view/309283.htm (多宝塔碑)
http://baike.baidu.com/view/925375.htm (顏家廟碑)
Ouyang Z and Wen C.F. (2008) Chinese Calligraphy, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-12107-0
McNair Amy (1998) The Upright Brush, Yan Zhenqing’s Calligraphy and Song Literati Politics, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 0-8248-1922-5
http://www.asian-studies.org/EAA/EAA-Archives/4/3/251.pdf (Book Review of The Upright Brush)
Ch’en Chih-mai (1966) Chinese Calligraphers and Their Art (中國的書法), Melbourne University Press
Patrick Siu Chinese Calligraphy & Landscape Painting 蕭燿漢談書畫 