石渠寶笈初編﹝御書房﹞,下冊,頁879&故宮書畫錄﹝卷一﹞,第一冊,頁15&孫過庭(西元七世紀),字虔禮,浙江富陽人(書譜中自稱吳郡人)。〈書譜序〉在短短三千字的文內,品評古代書法家的優劣,討論書法的技巧與經驗,並總結從六朝到唐代以來的書法理論。 本文不僅是寶貴的早期書法理論史料,本身更是一件優美的書法作品。孫過庭的草書深受王羲之章草的影響。全文以圓筆為主,但他的筆劃比王羲之的「十七帖」更變化多端,結構也更修長。&Sun Kuo-t'ing, a native of Chekiang, presented a concise and complete essay appreciating the virtues of ancient calligraphers in the short span of 3,000 characters. In discussing the techniques and experiences in calligraphy, he summarized the history of this art from the Six Dynasties period to the T'ang dynasty. Not only is this work a precious source of historical material on the early history and theory of calligraphy, it is also a beautiful work in its own right. Sun's cursive script was influenced by the draft-cursive script of Wang Hsi-chih. Done mostly with a rounded brush, Sun's strokes are more varied than in Wang's Seventeen Works (Shih-ch'i t'ieh) and the characters are further elongated.&本卷草書三百五十一行,為初唐書法家、書學理論家孫虔禮所作。孫虔禮,生卒年不詳,據卷末「垂拱三年(687)寫記」,推估作者活動年代在西元七世紀後期,即唐高宗和武后時代。其名、字號和藉貫歷來說法不一,依孫氏友人陳子昂所作《孫君墓誌銘》中所載,孫氏名虔禮,字過庭,河南陳留人。本幅則為孫氏僅存的書跡。 本卷起首自書「書譜卷上」,卷末謂「今撰為六篇,分為兩卷。」知此作原為六篇,分為上、下二卷,今故宮所藏,僅為上卷中書譜總序一篇。文長三千餘字,論理精確,敘述扼要,為珍貴的早期書法理論史料。而文字本身更是一件優美的書法精品。全文以圓筆為主,並巧用隸法,深受王羲之章草的影響。但其筆劃比王羲之的「十七帖」更變化多端,結構也更修長。 &This handscroll in cursive script, composed of 351 vertical lines of text, was done by the early T'ang calligrapher and theorist Sun Kuo-t'ing. Little is known about Sun, but he dated this scroll to 687, indicating that he was active at least in the latter half of the 7th century. There is also some controversy to other parts of his biography, but an epitaph written by a friend indicates his surname was Sun, his given name Ch’ien-li, his style name Kuo-t'ing, and his hometown in Honan province. This work represents the only surviving piece by this calligrapher. The first column of the handscroll at the right states, “Chapter one of Essay on Calligraphy,” and the end is inscribed, “This is a selection of six topics divided into two chapters.” The scroll now in the Museum collection represents only the general preface at the beginning of chapter one, which has not survived. More than 3000 characters in length, the contents deal with the essential points and basic principles of calligraphy, making it an important example of early calligraphic theory. The calligraphy itself is also a masterpiece of early cursive script. Using rounded brushwork with some elements of clerical script, it reflects the strong influence of Wang Hsi-chih's draft cursive script from the 4th century. However, the strokes here are more varied and the characters more slender than those shown in Wang's “Letters of the Seventeenth”.