Copy of Mi Fu's Record of Fangyuan Nunnery - Character 2
Ming Dynasty master Dong Qichang engages in a fascinating artistic dialogue across centuries in this scroll, where he copies the work of the eccentric Song Dynasty calligrapher Mi Fu. The text is the 'Record of the Square and Circle Hermitage,' rendered here in a fluid running script that dances across the aged, brownish surface. Dong Qichang believed that copying wasn't just replication but a way to capture the 'spirit' of the ancients; here, he channels the wild energy of Mi Fu—a man so obsessed with art he once bowed to a strange rock and called it 'brother'—into his own elegant, refined style.