Su Shi’s Running Script, Li Bai’s Immortal Poem Scroll, Stored in Japan
The paper size is 34.5×107.81 centimeters.
This post was written by Su Shi at the age of 58 in the eighth year of the Yuanyou reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (1093 AD). It was recorded in Qigao Shi’s “Record of Summer Retreats in Jiangcun”. After that, there were annotations by Cai Songnian, Shi Yisheng, Liu Yi, Gao Yan, Zhang Bi, Gao Shiqi, Shen Deqian, and other scholars from the Ming and Qing dynasties. This post has since spread to Japan. Shi Yisheng commented that “if we praise Taibai’s words, then there would be no poetry in the world; if we appreciate Dongpo’s calligraphy, then there would be no words in the world.” These two poems are not included in the collected works of Li Taibai. There are only two poems by Taibai. The first one unfolds gracefully with an ethereal atmosphere, drawing people into its charm. The second one is desolate, transcending the human world. As for the calligraphy, the first poem is delicate and beautiful, gradually entering a realm of wonder in the latter ten sentences, showing various transformations with inscrutable subtlety. The second poem gallops freely, purely combining divine expression with human writing, exuding an ethereal aura, leading the mind along with the writing, transcending the worldly realm. The artistic conception of this calligraphy is quite difficult to attain.
