Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Li Yong
Tang official and calligrapher, son of Li Shan and governor of Beihai, whose running-script steles set a model; he was beaten to death in 747
A desk holds an unrolled sheet bearing three bold black ink strokes, with a rack of many brushes above it, a stone ink slab and ink stick, a porcelain bowl, a red lacquer box, a dish of red seal paste and a paperweight; a small seated figure shows through a round window onto bamboo.
Also known as Zi Taihe · Li Beihai
Li Yong, courtesy name Taihe, was the son of Li Shan, the commentator on the Wenxuan anthology. Early in the 700s he became a reminder of the left and made his name by speaking his mind, and after repeated demotions he governed Kuozhou, Chenzhou, Zizhou and Huazhou and the commanderies of Jijun and Beihai, which gave him the name Li Beihai. He excelled at commemorative inscriptions and wrote steles in running script, and many sought his texts and hand. In the first month of 747 the chief minister Li Linfu used a criminal case to have him and Pei Dunfu beaten to death. His surviving steles include the Li Sixun stele and the Lushan Temple stele, of which the Palace Museum in Beijing holds a Song rubbing.
Life and times
Dates Birth uncertain (674 by one account); died 747