Yan Zhenqing

Resisted the rebels during the An Lushan Rebellion; his calligraphy founded the "Yan style."

Life

Uprising at Pingyuan

Yan Zhenqing, a fifth-generation descendant of Yan Zhitui, passed the jinshi examination. As prefect of Pingyuan he sensed that An Lushan intended to rebel and quietly strengthened the city walls and stockpiled grain. When An Lushan rose in revolt in 755 and the commanderies of Hebei fell one after another, he and his cousin Yan Gaoqing, prefect of Changshan, rose to resist, and 17 Hebei commanderies answered their call.

Draft Eulogy for My Nephew

Yan Gaoqing was defeated and captured, and died cursing the rebels. In 758 Yan Zhenqing found the skull of his nephew Yan Jiming and, in grief and fury, wrote the Draft Eulogy for My Nephew, called "the second-best running script under heaven."

Died for His State

Afterward he was repeatedly demoted for speaking his mind. When Li Xilie, military governor of Huaixi, rebelled in 784, the chancellor Lu Qi, seeking to have him killed by another's hand, sent the 75-year-old Yan Zhenqing to persuade Li to surrender. Held captive for more than a year, he never yielded and was strangled. His regular script was powerful and dignified, known as the "Yan style"; paired with Liu Gongquan, it gave rise to the phrase "Yan's Sinew, Liu's Bone."

Legacy

Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy pioneered a robust, majestic style with enormous influence on later generations; his moral integrity and his calligraphy are often admired together, and he is the usual example for the saying "the writing reflects the man."

Major works & achievements

• Draft Eulogy for My Nephew
• Duobao Pagoda Stele
• Yan Qinli Stele

Did you know? His Draft Eulogy for My Nephew is now held by the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and its crossings-out preserve the grief and fury with which he wrote it.

Key dates

• 734Passed the jinshi exam
• 753Became Prefect of Pingyuan
• 755Rose in arms against An Lushan
• 758Wrote the Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew
• 771Wrote the Record of the Altar of the Immortal Magu
• 784Strangled by Li Xilie