Diamond Sutra

CHINA; Ming dynasty

Written by Dong Qichang when he was past 70 years old, this manuscript was produced in the form of an accordion-fold book. The work consists of 37 spreads, with each page containing black ink grid lines. It was produced in 1625, and is thought to be a successive effort that took several sittings to complete.
Regular script is employed in this work. Where quick strokes were applied around bends and turns, faint trails of ink often connect between separate strokes, and where broken, the lines form implicit links. There is an outward tendency inherent in the character form, an attribute reminiscent of Yan Zhenqing’s Prabhutaratna Pagoda Stele. Some of the characters, however, are compact in structure and have horizontal strokes which are tilted. This generates an interesting juxtaposition of regular and slanted characters across the script, a feature that is especially unique and demonstrative of Dong’s mastery.
Dong Qichang, also known as Xuanzai or Wenmin, was a Ming dynasty (1368–1644) official from Huating (present day Shanghai) and an adept calligrapher and art connoisseur. He was a keen learner of calligraphic styles of the past, and collected old works extensively. As an advocate for the practice of copying past calligraphy, Dong’s efforts left a lasting impression on the calligraphy of the late Ming and early Qing (1644–1911) periods.