Poem
Wen Hengming 文衡明 (1470-1559)
Running script
Wen Hengming whose given name was originally Bi 壁 and whose literary name was Hengming 徵明 ， later used the
designated name 行 and literary name Hengshan 衡山 。 He was born in Changzhou and moved to the beautiful village
of Suzhou, both in Jiangsu Province. During that time Suzhou was the center of art in China. As many as 150 painters
and calligraphers had gathered there. Wen Hengming and his teacher Shen Zhou were two of the first to begin the
Wumen School of Painting, named for an ancient name for Suzhou. Wen Hengming was an official and noted scholar
within the Ming government. As such, he had both resources and the leisure to develop his skills. While the poem
shown here is in running script, he was particularly known for his small regular script. He is considered one of the four
master painters of Suzhou. Harvesting Season, a painting by Wen Hengming has further examples of his calligraphy.
Ming Dynasty

http://hua.umf.maine.edu/China/SMcalligraphy/index.html
(c) Marilyn Shea, 2006, 2007