Yan Zhenqing wrote Draft of a Requiem to My Nephew to mourn a relative. Its corrections and brushwork preserve the process of writing, with a vivid emotional and historical background.
The work relates to his family's experiences during the An Lushan Rebellion. Its calligraphic value also comes from the relationship between its words, brush movements, and character as a draft.
Rebellion and remembrance
Yan Zhenqing made the mourning draft in 758, during the upheaval of the An Lushan Rebellion. A draft could preserve qualities that a carefully prepared final inscription might smooth away. In this manuscript, changes in the wetness of the ink and the movement of the brush accompany visible corrections. The National Palace Museum describes the work as a solemn requiem whose handwriting nevertheless conveys personal feeling. Regular, running, and cursive forms coexist, making the manuscript both a memorial text and a record of writing as it happened.
By the time Yan Zhenqing took up the post of governor of Pingyuan, the An Shi Rebellion was imminent. With his political sensitivity, Yan Zhenqing immediately started preparing for war by fortifying the city wall and stocking up provisions. He also sent emergency memorial to Emperor Xuanzong, but was ignored.
In December 755, An Lushan and Shi Siming rebelled under the name of removing Yang Guozhong. The ill-prepared Tang government troops retreated with little resistance from all the prefectures in Heshuo area (which includes the present day provinces of Shandong, Hebei and Henan); Yan Zhenqing's Pingyuan was one of the strongholds that continued to resist. He then combined force with his cousin, Yan Gaoqing, who was the governor of Changshan (present day Quyang, Hebei), fighting the rebels at their rear. The government in its desperation, promoted Yan Zhenqing to Deputy Minister of Finance, and conferred him great military power to assist General Li Guangbi in the suppression of the rebellion.
A calligrapher's developing style
Yan Zhenqing is popularly held as the only calligrapher who paralleled Wang Xizhi, the "calligraphy sage". He specialized in the regular and cursive scripts, though he also mastered other styles. His style of regular script, often called Yan script, brought Chinese calligraphy to a new realm, emphasizing strength, boldness, and grandness. Like most of the master calligraphers, Yan Zhenqing learned his skill from various calligraphers, and the development of his personal style can be basically divided into three stages.
Most calligraphers agree Yan Zhenqing's early stage lasted until his fifties. During these years, Yan Zhenqing tried out different techniques and started to develop his personal genre. His calligraphy brought together influences associated with Zhang Xu and the earlier master Chu Suiliang. Zhang Xu was skilled in Cao Script, which emphasizes the overall composition and flow; Chu Suiliang, on the other hand, was renowned for his graceful and refined Kai Script. Yan Zhenqing also drew inspiration from the Wei Bei Style, which originated from Northern nomad minorities and focused on strength and simplicity.
Yan drew on several earlier script traditions as his style matured. His regular writing became especially known for forceful, upright forms. Horizontal strokes could be relatively thin while vertical ones carried greater weight; spacious centers and firmer outer structures helped give characters a sense of balance. At the same time, changes in thickness and the treatment of dots and oblique strokes preserved movement within the strong framework. These features explain why later students examined individual strokes as well as complete compositions. They also make the mourning draft especially revealing: a trained writer's long practice remains visible even as grief and revision disturb the surface of an unfinished text.