Gochiku Nakabayashi

A calligrapher from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period. His given name was Takatsune, and his pen names were Kotatsu and Gochiku. He was a samurai of the Nabeshima clan in Hizen (Saga Prefecture). At the age of 19, he went to Edo and studied calligraphy under Yamanouchi Kosetsu and Ichikawa Beian. In 1882 (Meiji 15), he traveled to Qing China and studied under Pan Cun in Beijing. In 1884, he returned to Japan with many rubbings of stone monuments from the Six Dynasties period. He later traveled abroad again, and it is clear that these studies had a significant impact on Gochiku's learning and calligraphy, developing a unique and innovative style of calligraphy that was unique to the calligraphy world of the Meiji period. His calligraphy is skilled in all three styles: seal, clerical, regular, running, and cursive, and his free-spirited brushstrokes are filled with a grandiose atmosphere, demonstrating the establishment of a style that could be called the Gochiku school, which pursues beauty in form.

[Minoru Furuya]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

幕末から明治の書家。名は隆経、字(あざな)は子達、梧竹と号した。肥前（佐賀県）鍋島(なべしま)藩士の出身。19歳で江戸に出て山内香雪(やまのうちこうせつ)および市河米庵(いちかわべいあん)に入門して書を学び、1882年（明治15）清(しん)国に渡航して北京(ペキン)の潘存(はんそん)に師事、84年に六朝(りくちょう)の碑拓本を数多く携行して帰国した。のち再度渡航したが、これらの留学が梧竹の学書法に著しい影響を及ぼしたことは明らかであり、明治の書壇には異色の斬新(ざんしん)な書風を展開させた。その書は、篆(てん)・隷・楷(かい)・行・草の各体に巧みであり、奔放闊達(かったつ)な筆致のなかに気宇雄大な趣(おもむき)があふれ、造型美を追究した梧竹流ともいうべき書風の確立がみられる。

［古谷　稔］

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