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Secondary sourcePaintingQing dynasty

Shitao Calligraphy of the Tao Te Ching

Shitao · Qing dynasty

Two facing pages of Qing-era cursive calligraphy by the painter Shitao, rendering text from the Tao Te Ching.

It is a later calligraphic copy of the Tao Te Ching, the text traditionally linked to Laozi, made by the painter Shitao.

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Two facing pages of cursive Chinese calligraphy in black ink on aged, yellowish paper. The text is written in vertical columns and includes characters from the Tao Te Ching. Small seal marks appear in the lower corners of each page.
Shitao, calligraphy of the Tao Te Ching, Qing dynasty. Photograph from the Wikimedia Commons record.

About this source

What it is

These are two facing pages of cursive Chinese calligraphy in black ink on aged, yellowish paper. The text runs in vertical columns and includes characters from the Tao Te Ching. Small seal marks appear in the lower corners of each page. The work is attributed to the painter Shitao and dates from the Qing era. The facts available do not record where it is now held.

Why it matters

The Tao Te Ching is the text traditionally linked to Laozi, and later artists often copied it by hand. A painter like Shitao did not only write the words but shaped them into a visual work. The pages show how a Qing-era artist engaged with a classic text that was centuries old by his time, and how calligraphy could be both reading and art.

Look closer

  • How does the handwriting itself, with its flowing strokes and spacing, shape the way you read the text?
  • What do the seal marks suggest about ownership, approval, or the artist's identity?
  • What does a copy of a text tell us about the artist, and what might it leave out about the original?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Laozi on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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