曲園居士俞樾(一八二一―一九O七),浙江德清人,道光年間考中進士以後,一度任職翰林院編修、提督河南學政。四十歲以後選擇教書工作,在江浙一帶書院講學,從此專心研究學問,到老仍然手不釋卷。數十年教學相長,俞樾不但桃李滿天下,在學術上的成就也相當可觀。 俞樾也是清代學者書法家的代表,他的隸書融合楷書的質素,有橫平豎直端凝的氣質,卻不覺得刻版單調;結體近於方正,內歛含蓄,沒有鋒芒畢露的銳氣。這幅對聯不僅書法值得欣賞,文字內容也深具意義,令人體會到俞樾深受儒家思想薰陶,不止於重視求學問,也同時重視品德修養。 &*Yu Yueh, a native of Chekiang province, was a chin-shih civil service candidate of 1850. He served in the Hanlin Academy and in Honan as Education Commissioner. After the age of 39, he focused on studies and teaching, serving as an instructor in Kiangsu and Chekiang provinces. Teaching for decades, he not only had numerous students but was also known for his scholarship. Yu Yueh is representative of the Ch’ing dynasty scholar-calligrapher. This pair of scrolls with eight characters each forms a couplet, and his clerical script includes features of standard script. Though the characters are evenly arranged (as are the strokes within each of them), the calligraphy does not appear stiff at all. The upright rectangular characters have an angular touch that complements the soft, introverted brushwork. Furthermore, the scholarship and edifying contents of the couplet complement the inherent beauty of Yu’s calligraphy.