Lu Zhongnan: Master of Kaishu Calligraphy in China

Lu Zhongnan: Master of Kaishu Calligraphy in China

Lu Zhongnan is one of China’s most respected living calligraphers, celebrated for his disciplined kaishu (regular script) — the standard, upright script used across Chinese writing and art. In this profile, we look at his career, his best-known works, and why collectors value his brushwork.

A Career Dedicated to Regular Script

Born in December 1950, Lu Zhongnan served three terms as a council member of the China Calligraphers Association (5th, 6th, and 7th) and as a member of the 10th, 11th, and 12th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He also headed the design department of the Military Museum of the Chinese People’s Revolution. His dedication was recognized early: in 1986 he won first prize in China’s first national televised calligraphy competition.

Lu’s kaishu is rooted in the classic Tang dynasty style of Ouyang Xun (557–641), known for its precise, architectural structure. He has published dozens of volumes in small and medium kaishu, including complete transcriptions of the Three Hundred Tang Poems, Three Hundred Song Ci, the Heart Sutra, and Mao Zedong’s poems, as well as textbooks such as Kaishu Basics and A Study of Kaishu Composition. In 2008 he recorded a televised lecture series on kaishu techniques, and in 2020 he appeared in CCTV cultural programs on Spring Festival couplets and lantern riddles.

Works That Made History

Some of Lu’s most famous pieces were created for major national occasions. In March 2017 he wrote “A nine-story tower begins with a mound of earth; a journey of a thousand li begins with a single step” (137 x 68 cm) as a gift presented to U.S. President Donald Trump during President Xi Jinping’s state visit. That same year he produced a large work (246 x 124 cm) for the BRICS summit venue in Xiamen and a piece (220 x 95 cm) for the Chinese Embassy in Bulgaria. In 2009 he wrote Su Shi’s “Niannu Jiao: Remembering the Past at Red Cliff” (364 x 142 cm) for Zhongnanhai, the leadership compound in Beijing.

His small-kaishu renderings of the classic preface “Lanting Ji Xu” (Preface to the Orchid Pavilion) and Fan Zhongyan’s “Yueyang Lou Ji” (Record of Yueyang Tower) are among his most reprinted works. Collectors also prize his 2020 rendering of Mao Zedong’s “Qin Yuan Chun: Snow.”

Why Collectors Value Lu Zhongnan

Lu’s works are held by the National Museum of China, the National Art Museum of China, the Guangdong Museum of Art, Tsinghua University, and Renmin University of China, as well as by central government agencies and Chinese embassies abroad. His style — orderly, steady, and quietly elegant — makes his calligraphy ideal for offices, studies, and ceremonial settings, and his long record of public commissions adds to its authenticity and appeal.

If you are considering a commissioned calligraphy work, Badou Art’s specialists are happy to guide you in choosing an artist, format, and inscription that fit your purpose.

Source: https://www.cntizi.com/3211.html