Nutgrass Grows on the Southern Hills - Wu Xizai

A set of four hanging scrolls by Wu Xizai, featuring masterful seal script calligraphy from the Qing Dynasty.

This work by Wu Xizai, a master of the Qing Dynasty, presents a series of four hanging scrolls executed in seal script (zhuanshu). Wu Xizai, born Wu Tingyang, was a prominent figure in the development of the Deng school of calligraphy. His approach to the brush is characterised by a steady, rhythmic control that draws upon the ancient traditions of bronze and stone inscriptions. The characters are balanced with precision, maintaining a consistent weight and structure that reflects his deep study of archaic forms.

The text, titled Nutgrass Grows on the Southern Hills, demonstrates the artist's ability to transform rigid, ancient scripts into a fluid, expressive medium. Each character occupies its space with deliberate intention, creating a visual harmony that relies on the tension between the ink and the negative space of the paper. Unlike the more decorative styles of his contemporaries, Wu Xizai favoured a return to the structural integrity found in earlier epigraphic traditions. The vertical orientation of the four scrolls encourages a slow, meditative reading of the text, where the viewer observes the subtle variations in stroke thickness and the deliberate placement of each radical.

As a practitioner of the Deng school, Wu Xizai sought to revitalise the seal script by infusing it with the energy of clerical script (lishu). This synthesis is visible in the rounded edges and the controlled modulation of the brush. The work serves as an example of the scholarly pursuit of calligraphic excellence during the late Qing period, where the mastery of ancient scripts was considered a primary indicator of a scholar's intellectual discipline. The ink remains crisp against the aged paper, preserving the clarity of the artist's hand for contemporary study.