Fan with Inscription from Maogong Ding

Wáng Tí was a scholar, calligrapher, and seal carver and collector during the late Qīng dynasty (1644–1911). One of the founders of the influential Xīlíng Seal Art Society (Xīlíng Yìnshè 西泠印社), Wáng was known for his accomplishments as a calligrapher in bronze script and small seal script.

This text was cast inside a famous bronze ritual vessel known as the Ding Vessel of the Duke of Mao (Máo Gōng Dǐng毛公鼎), now in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Taiwan. It is the world’s longest known bronze inscription. Consisting mainly of the young King Xuan’s words, the inscription recounts the newly enthroned king’s urgent demand for the Duke of Mao, referred to as Father Yin in the text, to take charge and rebuild the kingdom, which had been thrown into turmoil by the mismanagement of the previous king.

Considered as one of the top-ranked calligraphy works of bronze script, this inscription has been a key model for calligraphers since the vessel was first discovered in 1843.