唐寅《致若容札》析疑

Analysis on Doubts about Tang Yin’s Letter to Xu Shangde

美国大都会艺术博物馆所藏唐寅晚年行草书《致若容札》,涉及其生平著作、师友往来等内容,公布后颇受艺术史家重视。但此札是否为唐寅亲笔,存在不少问题。信札中唐寅自述晚年完成八种著作,与现存唐寅生平史料并不符合。在书法水准上,信札笔力较弱,结字不稳。同时书写习惯和现存唐寅尺牍真迹也不一致。在解决这些疑问之前,不宜作为唐书真迹直接利用。

The cursive-script calligraphic work Letter to Xu Shangde(Zhi Ruorong zha) by Tang Yin(1470~1524) in his late years,a piece of collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, provides information including his literary productions and correspondences with instructors and friends. It has drawn attention from and been attached with importance by art historians ever since it was released to the public. However, there are still many doubts regarding Tang Yin’s authorship. The eight literary works that Tang Yin mentioned he had completed in his late years in the letter are contrary to what extant biographical archives of Tang Yin record.Judging from the calligraphic mastery level, characters in the letter show weakness in brush-pen movement and lack of structural stability. Furthermore, the writing format differs from other letters by Tang Yin accepted as authentic. The author argues that it will not be appropriate to directly utilize this calligraphic work as authentic historical materials until the pending issues are solved.