Summary Of Taming Of The Shrew By Eugene Wang

In “The Taming of the Shrew: Wang Xizhi (303-361) and Calligraphic Gentrification in the Seventh Century,” Eugene Wang examines the work of Wang Xizhi, a legendary early Chinese calligrapher. Eugene Wang argues that the qualities attributed to the calligraphy largely developed in the 7th century in response to sociopolitical changes. A little background information, Wang Xizhi lived during a time referred to as China’s Period of Division and this allowed him to cultivate his brush writing skills. Wang Xizhi was successful in all three scripts – running, cursive, and regular. Eugene Wang discusses the afterlife of the artist’s body of work. He also, presents methodologies for analyzing and appreciating Chinese calligraphy, along with some of

Tranquil disposition of a gentleman became the standard profile of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy, an alternative characterization built upon the trope of a “brave warrior” (252). In the medieval rhetorical scheme of binary oppositions, the “brave warrior” is often juxtaposed with the “gentleman.” This is complementary opposition between the brave warrior and the gentleman that constitutes the dual roles in the description of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. In context to Tang calligraphic discourse that tends to cast Wang’s calligraphy in a graceful disposition, the view of his writing strikes one as refreshingly perverse in its characterization of Wang’s calligraphy in terms of the “warrior” trope (253). The colophon, which was also attributed to Wang in the Tang period, emphasizes the analogy, between the arts of calligraphy and war. In the essay it mentioned, “Brush is knife; ink, armature; water and inkstone…” comparing the art brush to a knife (253). Also, the twist and turns of the brush represents the killings and slaying of war. Even if we dismiss the attribution, we nonetheless can regard the colophon as part of the discursive formation associated with image of Wang Xizhi in the Tang period. 253. There’s a strong, forceful

Music is used as symbolic expression for emotional stirrings. Traditional Confucians use such expressions as a measurement of the success or failure of a government. In the “Book of Rites,” it’s mentioned, “there is an interaction between the words and the airs (of the people) and the character of their government” (255). In the “Book of Rites,” rulers were urged to regulate the society through ceremonies and music and the arts. The purpose of these ceremonies and music is not to satisfy the appetite of ears and eyes, but it’s intended to teach people to regulate the likes and dislikes of the people and hope to bring them back to the normal course of humanity. They came to the conclusion that the ideal form of expression is to have “joy without wantonness and sorrow without breakdown” (255). For example, Emperor Taizong’s obsession with calligraphy was an integral part of his campaign to revive Confucian culture. “Wang Xizhi was installed as a part of calligraphy mainly because of the formal aspects of the style associated with him were seen as perfect embodiment of aesthetic and moral qualities that set forth in Confucian thought” (255). Eugene Wang describes Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy and