Dublin Core
Title
Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew (祭侄文稿)
Subject
Ancient Calligraphy
Chinese Calligraphy
Caligraphy Masterpiece
Famous Calligraphy
Running Script (行書)
Tang Dynasty (唐朝)
Yan Zhenqing (顏真卿)
Description
Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew (祭侄文稿) was written by Yan Zhenqing (顏真卿) to express his grief and sorrow for the death of his nephew, during the rebellion of An Lushan (安祿山) in around 755 AD.
This scroll was likely a preliminary draft for the eulogy for Yan Zhenqing's nephew. It can be seen that Yan Zhenqing went back and crossed out and changed his words in numerous places. This shows how he composed and edited his writing, providing insight into his ideas as well as his calligraphy. Despite the formality of the content, the style of the work reveals considerable emotional unrestraint, making this one of the more significant examples of Yan Zhenqing's works
This scroll was likely a preliminary draft for the eulogy for Yan Zhenqing's nephew. It can be seen that Yan Zhenqing went back and crossed out and changed his words in numerous places. This shows how he composed and edited his writing, providing insight into his ideas as well as his calligraphy. Despite the formality of the content, the style of the work reveals considerable emotional unrestraint, making this one of the more significant examples of Yan Zhenqing's works
Creator
Yan Zhenqing (顏真卿)
Date
Tang Dynasty (唐朝)
Rights
National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院), Taipei (臺北市)
Relation
Diligence monument (勤禮碑)
Duobao Tower Monument (多寶塔碑)
Story of Ma Gu in Xiantan (麻姑仙壇記)
Format
Handscroll
Ink on paper
28.3 x 75.5 cm
Running script (行書)
234 characters in 23 columns
Language
Chinese
Type
Calligraphy
Identifier
draftofarequiemtomynephew
Spatial Coverage
In the rebellion of An Lu-shan (安祿山) around 755 AD, Yan Zhenqing’s nephew Yan Jiming (顏季明) was serving in the government of Changshan (常山). The rebel forces invaded the town, and the Tang armies did not come to the rescue, resulting in the fall of the town and the death of Jiming. After the incident, Yan Zhenqing sent his elder nephew Quanming (泉明) to the town to make funerary arrangements and was only able to find Jiming's head. Yan Zhenqing's heart was filled with deep sorrow and indignation when he wrote this piece.
Calligraphy Item Type Metadata
Transcription
維乾元元年，歲次戊戌。
九月庚午，朔三日壬申
第十三叔，銀青光祿大夫
使持節、蒲外諸軍事、蒲州刺史。
上輕車都尉、丹陽縣開國侯真卿
以清酌庶羞家於亡任贈贊善大夫季明之靈。
惟爾挺生，夙標幼德。宗廟瑚璉，階庭蘭玉，每慰人心。
方期戩谷，河圖逆賊閒釁，稱兵犯順。
爾父竭誠，常山作郡。餘時受命，亦在平原
仁兄愛我，俾爾傳言，爾既歸止，爰開土門，土門既開，兇威大蹩。
賊臣不救，孤城圍逼。父陷子死，巢傾卵復。
天下悔禍，誰為荼毒！
念爾遘殘，百身何贖？嗚呼哀哉！
我承天澤，移牧河關。泉明比者，再陷至常山，攜爾首櫬，及茲同還。
撫念摧切，震悼心顏！
方俟遠日，卜爾幽宅。魂而有知，無嗟久客。
嗚呼哀哉！尚饗。
九月庚午，朔三日壬申
第十三叔，銀青光祿大夫
使持節、蒲外諸軍事、蒲州刺史。
上輕車都尉、丹陽縣開國侯真卿
以清酌庶羞家於亡任贈贊善大夫季明之靈。
惟爾挺生，夙標幼德。宗廟瑚璉，階庭蘭玉，每慰人心。
方期戩谷，河圖逆賊閒釁，稱兵犯順。
爾父竭誠，常山作郡。餘時受命，亦在平原
仁兄愛我，俾爾傳言，爾既歸止，爰開土門，土門既開，兇威大蹩。
賊臣不救，孤城圍逼。父陷子死，巢傾卵復。
天下悔禍，誰為荼毒！
念爾遘殘，百身何贖？嗚呼哀哉！
我承天澤，移牧河關。泉明比者，再陷至常山，攜爾首櫬，及茲同還。
撫念摧切，震悼心顏！
方俟遠日，卜爾幽宅。魂而有知，無嗟久客。
嗚呼哀哉！尚饗。
Translation
In the inaugural year of Gān yuan, the reign period of Emperor Sùzōng of the Táng Dynasty.
On the third, a reshen day, of the ninth month, in which the first was a gengwu day
His thirteenth uncle, Grand Master of Imperial Entertainments with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon,
Commissioner with Extraordinary Powers Over All Military Affairs in Puzhou, Prefect of Puzhou
Senior Commandant of Light Chariots, and Dynasty-Founding Marquis of Danyang District, Yan Zhenqing
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:
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.
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].
Your father [Yan Gaoqing] expended his integrity as commandery governor of Changshan, while I, too, had received a mandate at that time, in Pingyuan.
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 villains feared they would be pressed on all sides.
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.
Heaven has no regret for this calamity, but who else could cause such suffering?
I remember how you met with your cruel death, but could we ransom all those people. Alas, how I grieve!
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.
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.
I send this announcement to your abode in the nether world, that your spirit may have knowledge of it. Do not weep there long.
Alas, how I grieve! May you accept this offering.
(McNair, 1998)
McNair Amy (1998). The Upright Brush, Yan Zhenqing’s Calligraphy and Song Literati Politics, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 0-8248-1922-5
On the third, a reshen day, of the ninth month, in which the first was a gengwu day
His thirteenth uncle, Grand Master of Imperial Entertainments with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon,
Commissioner with Extraordinary Powers Over All Military Affairs in Puzhou, Prefect of Puzhou
Senior Commandant of Light Chariots, and Dynasty-Founding Marquis of Danyang District, Yan Zhenqing
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:
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.
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].
Your father [Yan Gaoqing] expended his integrity as commandery governor of Changshan, while I, too, had received a mandate at that time, in Pingyuan.
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 villains feared they would be pressed on all sides.
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.
Heaven has no regret for this calamity, but who else could cause such suffering?
I remember how you met with your cruel death, but could we ransom all those people. Alas, how I grieve!
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.
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.
I send this announcement to your abode in the nether world, that your spirit may have knowledge of it. Do not weep there long.
Alas, how I grieve! May you accept this offering.
(McNair, 1998)
McNair Amy (1998). The Upright Brush, Yan Zhenqing’s Calligraphy and Song Literati Politics, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 0-8248-1922-5
Item Relations
| This Item | Has Format | Item: Running Script (行書) |