Thousand-Character Essay in Cursive Script by Zhao Ji,

Song Dynasty,

Handscroll, Ink on silk, 20.5 x 872 cm, Museum of

Liaoning Province, China

The emperor Huizong, Zhao Ji (108 -1135) was the eleventh son of the emperor Shenzong. As the eighth emperor of the dynasty, he was good at nothing in politics. But he loved calligraphy and painting and during his reign he personally watched over the Hanlin Academy of Painting. Artists were elected through national examination. Thanks for his efforts, the Painting Academy had great development and renowned artists were recruited in it. Besides, he personally supervised compilation of the Xuanhe Catalogue of  Calligraphic Works, Xuanhe Catalogue of Painting, and Xuanhe Catalogue of Antiques (Xuanhe was the title of his reign), which have played an important role in the history of Chinese art.

This long hand scroll is a rare piece executed by Zhao Ji. The skilled brushwork, balanced structure of each character  and the overall artistic conception of the whole piece make it comparable with Huai Su's calligraphy. A thousand character  in dashing brushwork are written on a 13-meter scroll with a ground with patterns  manually painted by court artisans. The calligraphy and the patterns on the ground together contributed to the milestone. Executed in 1122 when Zhao Ji was 40 years old, the scroll displayed his fully fledged style.