Lunshu shengyu 論書賸語

Lunshu shengyu 論書賸語 "Leftover words of calligraphy theory" was written during the high Qing period 清 (1644-1911) by Wang Shu 王澍 (1668-1739), courtesy name Ruolin 篛林 (also written 若霖), style Xuzhou 虚舟. He is known for his interpretation of the model calligraphy Chunhua fatie (see his Chunhuage tie kaozheng 淳化閣帖考正; brief Getie kaozheng 閣帖考正).

The Lunshu shengyu of 1 juan length is usually appended to the Chunhuage tie kaozheng. The preface holds that the text explores the wondrous and profound, uncovering insights that past sages had not yet revealed. The text briefly characterises the technique of keeping the brush (zhibi 執筆) and moving the brush (yunbi 運筆), the structure of characters (jiezi 結字), the use of ink (youmo 有墨) and imitating the ancient masters (lingu 臨古), and then discusses various writing styles like the seal script (zhuanshu 篆書), chancery script (lishu 隸書), standard script (kaishu 楷書), cursive script (xingshu 行書), grass script (caoshu 草書). It ends with notes on large-character calligraphy (bangshu 榜書) for boards and signs and a longer discussion of the old masters (lungu 論古). Although the text is brief, its judgments are exact and insightful.