Yu Youren

CHINA, Shaanxi, Xianyang

Born in Sanyuan district of Xianyang, Yu Youren was a calligrapher and poet with an original name of Yu Zhouxun and an alias of Saoxin, among others. Having diligently practiced cursive script since a young age, his best works were inscriptions on the Stele of Zheng Xi and Inscription of Stone Gate, both of which exhibited brushstrokes that were simple, unadorned, and unrestrained.
His career in calligraphy began with learning the style of Zhao Mengfu, then turned to that of the style seen on steles from the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534). Garnering a later influence by Wang Shitang, Yu learned clerical cursive script and also copied several famous works in wild cursive script. He was able to combine the essences of various styles and created his own form with simple yet fluid brushstrokes that pioneered a new trend for which he was honored as the Sage of Modern Cursive Script.
Yu founded the Cursive Script Research Society in Shanghai in 1932 where he collected outstanding works in cursive scripts from the past and, alongside colleagues, compiled them into the Thousand Character Classic in Standard Cursive Script. Yu was also the author of Poems from Youren, Articles from Youren, and Autobiography of a Shepherd, among other works. An engraving of his calligraphy entitled Sentiment on Mother’s Suffering Day for Giving Birth can be seen on the Stele Wall of Fo Guang Shan Monastery in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.