He created the "Nangong style" originally, combining calligraphy and inscriptions, Kang Youwei: deeply inspired

"Zhang Yuzhao from Hubei Province, his books are ancient and profound, and his stippling and turning points are all traces, but his mood is very steep. His charm is all the glory of the Jin and Song Dynasties. He can really cook Jin Tao Wei, conceive Song Liang and nurture Qi Sui, which has never been seen in thousands of years. Compared with". ——Kang Youwei's "Guangyi Boat Double Bow"

What kind of calligraphy Zhang Yuzhao of Hubei wrote was so praised by the great calligrapher Kang Youwei, the leader of stele calligraphy in the late Qing Dynasty, that he was called "incomparable since the year before last". Is there anything more to add? It starts with a stele.

In the twelfth year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty, Nangong, Hebei Province rebuilt the county school. Zhang Yuzhao wrote an article and wrote "The Stele of Rebuilding Nangong County School". This stele is also called "Nangong Stele". Therefore, Zhao’s calligraphy is named “Nangong Style”, which is actually a kind of Wei Bei style calligraphy. This kind of font that combines rubbings and rubbings is called "Nangong style", and it is also a font highly praised by Kang Youwei.

"Nangong style" calligraphy combines the northern stele and the southern calligraphy in one furnace. The pen is old-fashioned and full of muscles and bones. It has the squareness of Wei stele calligraphy and the softness of calligraphy learned from calligraphy. The law, the inner circle and the outer square, both hardness and softness, can write the feeling of fusion of inscriptions and inscriptions in the late Qing Dynasty when stele studies prevailed. The rule of the world lies in talents, and talents must come from learning", abolishing the imperial examination system and stereotyped essays, the content of which is also once in a thousand years.

In addition, Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy also inspired Kang Youwei a lot. Kang Youwei once got an authentic piece of Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy. He carefully observed Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy brush, ink, composition, and structure. He was deeply inspired and realized the brushwork. " I got his book, examined its falling ink and moving the brush, the middle brush must be broken, the outer ink must be connected, the turning must be tense, the square is the circle, the falling must be reserved, and the circle is the square; therefore, it is sharp and must be kept, and it must be extended. But Shijie is Dawu’s brushwork.”

Zhang Yuzhao's "Nangong Style" calligraphy does have a unique treatment on the change of square and circle. Zhang Yuzhao's "outside square and inside circle" treatment method makes the font look strong and powerful, and at the same time, it can also contain muscles and bones, inside and outside. Dufang is too rigid, and it is easy to make the font "wild". The combination of square and circle is not wild, which is the brilliance of Zhang Yuzhao's calligraphy.

Born in a scholarly family, Zhang Yuzhao, who was intelligent since he was a child and a student of Zeng Guofan, suffered repeated setbacks in his official career, but he has made great achievements in education, calligraphy, and literature, which can be regarded as unyielding.