博
Artist: Lu Jianzhi (dates of birth and death unknown)
Date: Tang (618-907)
Material: Ink on paper
Lu Jianzhi was native to Wu county in the Wu prefecture (present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu province). Once a historiographer and an official in the court, he was a descendant of the famous official Lu Wan in the Eastern Jin dynasty. Lu Jianzhi was a distant relative of Lu Ji and Lu Yun. Lu Jianzhi learned calligraphy in his youth from his uncle, Yu Shinan. Thus, Lu Jianzhi mastered the essence of brushwork technique from Yu. Lu enjoyed equal reputation with Ouyang Xun, Yu Shinan, and Chu Suiliang. The Lu family, having migrated from the north to southeastern China around the end of the Western Han dynasty, played a significant role in promoting regional cultural development throughout the Han and Tang dynasties. Lu Jianzhi was renowned for his transcription of Lu Ji's masterpiece Wen Fu that was referred to as "The Literary Legacy of the Two Lus". This piece shows that successive generations of the Lu family collectively shaped local cultural memory. This leaf is from the "Finest Edition" of the Chunhua Ge Tie, a compendia of rubbings made in the Northern Song dynasty.
