Wen Peng (1498–1573). The Thousand-Character Classic in clerical script (detail), dated 1561. 

NEW YORK - A loan exhibition devoted entirely to Chinese calligraphy— including masterpieces by some of the most renowned practitioners in Chinese history—will open at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 29.  Featuring more than 40 works, from towering scrolls designed to fill reception halls to intimate works meant to be enjoyed by lone scholars in their studios, Out of Character: Decoding Chinese Calligraphy—Selections from the Collection of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang will introduce viewers to the art of the written word that was prized above all other visual art forms in traditional China.  The selection of works and their interpretation in the galleries are intended to speak to beginners and specialists alike, using artworks of the highest quality to introduce key concepts of format, script type, and style. One of the highlights of the exhibition is the 16th-century album by Wen Peng (1497-1573) called The 1000-Character Classic; consisting of 85 leaves, it will fill a 25-foot-long wall.

Some of the most notable works on view will be: a standard script transcription of the Buddhist text The Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing) by Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322); a scroll of poems written in powerful cursive script by Xiong Tingbi (1569-1625), a Ming general charged with defending the Great Wall; a cluster of works by 17th-century Ming loyalists; and an important group of 19th-century pieces by the masters of the “Epigraphic School,” who based their calligraphy on the archaic scripts found on bronze vessels and monumental stone steles.

Zhao Mengfu (1254-1322), The Lotus Sutra (Miaofa lianhua jing). 

The Sutra on the Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Miaofa lianhua jing), in small standard script. By Zhao Mengfu, 1254-1322. Handscroll, number 3 of a set of 7, ink on paper. Loan Courtesy Guanyuan Shanzhuang Collection. Photography by Kaz Tsuruta.

The Sutra on the Lotus of the Sublime Dharma by Zhao Mengfu. Courtesy Asian Art Museum

Emperor Qianlong (in hanfu) by European Qing court painter Giuseppe Castiglione. 

Wen Peng (1498–1573). The Thousand-Character Classic. Japanese version from the brush of calligraphy master Maki Ryoko (1777-1843).