Qianshen Bai is Assistant Professor of Chinese and Asian Art at Boston University.
Calligraphy has long been considered the pinnacle of Asian art. Bai examines a particular period in the development of Chinese calligraphy: the transitional period between the Ming and Qing dynasties... [His] book is a delight to read, accessible yet full of colorful detail. Bai brings academic rigor to the subject, yet delivers the information in a way both suspenseful and intriguing. He shows himself to be not only a fine scholar but also a terrific writer.--S. Skaggs Choice (12/1/2003 12:00:00 AM) This is an ambitious and wide-ranging book. Qianshen Bai endeavors to construct the historical circumstances under which the scholar-artist Fu Shan (1607-1684) contributed to dramatic changes in the practice of calligraphy during the late seventeenth century... There is much to be learned in the densely argued pages of this book. By analyzing the craft of Fu's calligraphy, Bai generously shares his own expertise as a calligrapher, which doubtless aided his comprehension of Fu Shan's famously difficult writing.--Anne Burkus-Chasson China Review International