"Ritual Vessels Stele" Inscriptions Scroll by Hong Kong Famous Calligrapher Yi Yueshi (1912-2007 )
香港名書法家易越石 (1912 -2007 )漢禮器碑銘書法立軸
Yi Yueshi (1912- 2007)
Biographical Notes
A native of Hengyang, Hunan. Yi is an expert in seal-character research, who began his studies in Chinese painting, calligraphy, seal carving, and engraving in China in 1920s. Since he settled down in Hong Kong in 1949, he devotes his full time to calligraphy and seal carving. Yi excells in calligraphy, painting and seal carving, and is particularly noted for writing oracle bone script, clerical in the style of the Han dynasty and Stone Drum or Shihku script. Yi is an ardent traveler, who often chooses scenes from his travels as the subject of his work. He has published several books on calligraphy and seal carving including 'Study on Shihku Characters' in 1982 and 'An Historical Outline of Masters in Seal Carving'.
Selected Exhibition Records
Yi Yueshi has held solo exhibition in Hong Kong in 1978 and 1984. Yi has also held numerous solo exhibitions abroad, mainly in Asia. His works were also featured in joint exhibitions including '1956 Joint Exhibition of the works of carvers in Hong Kong and Macao'、'Modern Chinese Painting and Calligraphy from the Taiyilou Collection' (Hong Kong Museum of Art '1991), and 'Joint Exhibition of Yi Yueshi's Paintings and Calligraphy and Jie Jianling's Sculptural Arts' (2001)
易越石 (1912 - 2007)
字慧伯，號培堂，一號士卿，1912年夏歷十月六日生於湖南衡陽迴雁峰下愛蓮亭畔。幼讀《四書》《左傳》。1924年私淑同里曾熙學詩琴書畫。1925年起習金石篆刻。易氏遵奉“ 讀萬卷書，行萬里路”的古訓，注重游歷寫生。1933年至北京，觀賞故宮歷代書畫及石鼓文真蹟。1936年經雲貴入川，游峨眉、青城諸山。1937年，他首度在成都舉辦金石書畫展，書畫大師張大千曾為題耑，由此聲名鵲起。同年游西康(今川西)諸名勝，遇康定道尹、金石篆刻家康同生，師事之。1945年考賞西安碑林，臨摹名碑書法。1946年登華山險峰，亦游西湖寫生。1949年游桂林寫生。易氏游遍大江南北，故其刻印“步行十萬里 ”，當非虛言。同年移居香港，專業從事書法及篆刻創作， 並孜孜不倦教授後輩書藝。
易氏工書畫、篆刻。書法兼擅甲骨、鐘鼎、漢隸及石鼓文等各體。易氏繪畫以山水為主，兼及花鳥人物。其畫作注重形似色彩，發揮氣韻理趣，不脫古人法度，又自具個性。易氏自弱冠始，即臨摹及研究石鼓文。石鼓文又稱獵碣文，易氏既作研究，又作臨摹，兼二者於一身。著有《石鼓文新考》《石鼓文書法與研究》二書，將石鼓文補訂為505字，較清代阮元刻本多出63字，香港著名學者饒宗頤稱其“薈萃古今，折衷至當 ”，又稱其臨本“運筆紓徐沈著，更能存石鼓文之真貌.....堪為后學津逮”，是極其公允的評價。易氏篆刻風格一如其書法，構思嚴密、布局巧妙。在師法多家的基礎上，易越石形成自己的風格，其為名作家金庸所刻之“金庸作品集 ”印，平正端莊，不趨流俗。在當代中國印學名家中，易氏占有一席之地。易氏並著有《歷代印學家概述》一書。
展覽資料
易越石作品曾於多次在長沙、香港、澳門、台北、高雄、台南、泰國曼谷、新加坡、馬來西亞吉隆坡、加拿大溫哥華、澳大利亞坎培拉、墨爾本、雪梨、日本熊本縣、美國洛杉磯、紐約，菲律賓馬尼拉等地舉辦書畫篆刻個人展覽。聯展包括「1958港澳篆刻家作品聯合展覽」 「太乙樓藏中國近代書畫」展 (香港藝術館.1991) 「易越石書畫、解建陵雕塑聯展」(2001)等。
Click at the Images Below to See Other Paintings of this Painter in the Collection
Before the invention of paper and printing, the best way in China to keep outstanding writings and calligraphic works was to carve them on stone. These inscriptions on steles are known as beiwen or, less common, shishu ("stone books"). One of the earliest examples of stele inscription is "Ritual Vessels Stele" which was engraved in the 2nd year of the Yongshou era of the Eastern Han Dynasty by a prime minister called Hanshu. The stele was to commemorate a renovation project of the Confucian Temple in Shantung. The stele measured 227.2cm tall and 102.4 cm wide. The inscriptions were in the style of "Official Script", an ancient style of calligraphy current in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-A.D.220). The stone rubbing of the inscriptions on the "Ritual Vessels Stele" is greatly treasured by the great calligraphers of the Ming and Qing Dynasties as a model of the "Official Script".
在十八塊東漢碑刻中，聞名於世的有“乙瑛碑”、“禮器碑”、“孔宙牌”、“史晨碑”等。
《禮器碑》是東漢桓帝永壽二年（156年）魯相韓敕所立，又稱《韓敕碑》或《漢魯相韓敕造孔廟禮器碑》，在山東曲阜孔廟。碑高227.2cm，寬102.4cm，四面環刻，隸書，無碑額。碑陽16行，滿行36字，刻序、銘及韓敕等9人的題名，碑陽記述魯相韓敕修繕孔廟和製作禮器、免除孔氏差徭等活動。碑陰分為3列，各17行；左側3列，各4行，右側4列，各4行，均為題名。
此碑在唐代不顯於世，宋稍顯。明都穆《金薤琳琅》，清孫承澤《庚子銷夏記》、王昶的《金石萃編》等書著錄。
彙品：
明 郭宗昌：漢隸當以《孔廟禮器碑》為第一。其字畫之妙，非筆非手，古雅無前，若得之神功，非由人造，所謂星流電轉，纖踰植發，尚未足形容也。漢諸碑結體命意，皆可仿佛，獨此碑如河漢，可望不可即也。（《金石史》）
清 王 澍：隸法以漢為奇，每碑各出一奇，莫有同者；而此碑尤為奇絕，瘦勁如鐵，變化若龍，一字一奇，不可端倪。（《虛舟題跋》）
清 楊守敬：要而論之，寓奇險于平正，寓疏秀於嚴密，所以難也。（《平碑記》）
清 郭尚先：“漢人書以《韓敕造禮器碑》為第一，超邁雍雅，若卿雲在空，萬象仰曜，意境當在《史晨》、《乙瑛》、《孔廟》、《曹全》諸石之上，無論他石也。（《芳堅館題跋》）
清 翁方綱：此碑奇絕多變是由於7人所書。
清 方朔：“蓋此碑之妙不再整齊而在變化，不在氣勢充足而在筆力健舉。漢碑佳者雖多，由此入手，流麗者可摹，方正者亦可摹，高古者可摹，縱橫跌宕者亦無不可摹也。蓋隸法之正變於此碑之正文與陰及兩側已盡，不必一一細指。《枕經堂金石書畫題跋》
《禮器碑》存世最早拓本為明初拓本。此印行之拓本為端方舊藏至清康熙時精拓本。二行“自天王以下”之“自”字首撇已不清楚；四行“亡於沙丘”之“於”字中有石泐，僅少許連及鉤筆下.
Stone Rubbing of the "Ritual Vessels Stele" 《禮器碑》拓圖
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