Shufa yayan 書法雅言

Shufa yayan 書法雅言 is a book of "elegant words on the standards of calligraphy" written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Xiang Mu 項穆 (c. 1550-c. 1600), courtesy name Dechun 德純, style Zhenyuan 貞元 or Wuchengzi 無稱子, from Xiushui 秀水 (today part of Jiaxing 嘉興, Zhejiang). He was a son of the famous art collector Xiang Yuanbian 項元汴 (1525-1590), author of the book Molin yinji 墨林印記. Xiang Mu's book was published in 1599.

The short book consists of 17 chapters dealing with various aspects of the art of calligraphy. The arrangement is similar to Sun Guoting's 孫過庭 (646-691) Shupu 書譜. The author interprets calligraphy from a Neo-Confucian viewpoint as a "unison between Heaven and Earth" (tongliu tiandi 同流天地) and calls it a "guard" for teaching and transmitting the Classics (yiwei jiao jing 翼衛教經). Calligraphy was also an expression of the artist's personal mind and his moral qualities because dishonest or upright natures found their shape in the artwork (xie zheng zi xing 邪正自形). A calligrapher had therefore to nourish honesty in his heart and to focus his mind on the expression of his spirit.

The most excellent combination of the Confucian spirit with the art of calligraphy was found in the works of Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303-361), while later generations, even Su Shi 蘇軾, Mi Fu 米芾 (1051-1107) or Ni Zan 倪瓚 (1301-1374), failed to grasp the essence of this spirit. While Xiang's basic thoughts on calligraphy resemble those expressed in Yang Shen's 楊慎 Mochi suolu 墨池瑣錄, Xiang is much more radical.

The book is included in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Yihai zhuchen 藝海珠塵, Meishu conshu 美術叢書 and Congshu jicheng chubian 叢書集成初編.