偃师出土颜真卿撰并书郭虚己墓志

Discovery of an Epitaph Handwritten by Yan Zhenqing

1997年10月,偃师市首阳山镇砖厂发现唐墓一座。墓葬为土洞墓,受到严重破坏,随葬器物无存,只在甬道内发现墓志一方,为唐代大书法家颜真卿撰书,是当前发现的颜真卿书法艺术的最早作品。此墓志单字结构严密,笔划刚劲有力。它和《多宝塔碑》前后相承,风格基本一致,而现藏最早的《多宝塔碑》拓本,是北宋拓本的影印本。新出土的郭虚己墓志则保持了颜真卿楷书的原始风貌。

A tomb was found in a brick factory at Shouyangshan Township, Yanshi, Henan inOctober 1997. Nothing but an epitaph was left to this severely damaged catacomb. Theepitaph handwritten by Yan Zhenqing, a master calligrapher of the Tang dynasty, turns outto be his earliest work known so far. The epitaph is characterized by a coherent arrangement of well-structured characterswritten with bold strokes. It bears a stylistic similarity to the famous inscription on thestele in memory of the Duobao Pagoda. The latter has been largely eroded by seasons overthe two thousand years from 752 AD the year of the erection of the stele to the NorthernSong when the rubbing was made of the stele. So, this newly found epitaph allow us tobetter appreciate Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy.