Artist: Gaoxian (active in the 9th century)
Date: Tang (618-907)
Dimensions: Height 30.8 cm, Width 331.3 cm
Material: Ink on paper
Gaoxian, active during the Dazhong era (the 9th century) of the Tang dynasty, was a monk. A native of Wuxing (nowadays Huzhou, Zhejiang province), he was adept in cursive script and running script. He learned his style from Huaisu. In his youth, he became a monk at Kaiyuan Temple and later moved to Chang'an, residing in temples such as Jianfu and Ximing. He was bestowed the title "Shiwang Dade" (the virtuous monk of the ten regions). This work exhibits bold and expansive brushworks with a firm and vigorous appeal. The work was once attached with another piece of One Thousand Characters by Xianyu Shu supplementing its missing part, which is now housed in the Liaoning Provincial Museum.