Autobiography of Huai Su Note III - Vincent's Calligraphy

Vincent's Calligraphy

Preserving Authentic Traditional Chinese Culture in the West

- preserving authentic traditional Chinese culture in the West

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Vincent's Calligraphy

"疎" or "疏" ? The character "疎" written in the phrase "氣概通疎 (疏)" in Huai Su's Autobiography (懷素自敘帖)

KS Vincent Poon Jan. 2017

I) First, the character "疎" is a different character form of the character "疏". (1)

II) Observing the character "疏" found in the two versions, Shu (蜀本) and Su (蘇本) versions, of the Autobiography and comparing those two with the "疏" entry in calligraphy dictionary "行草大字典", one can easily conclude that the character should be "疏":

Shu (蜀本):

Su (蘇本):

"疏" entry in calligraphy dictionary "行草大字典":

Source: 蕭勞，《行草大字典》，北京：中國書店，1981年

It is, therefore, the character "疎 (疏)" in "氣概通疎 (疏)" in both versions should be "疏", which means "wide and receptive (稀, 闊)" in this context (2).