Resistance and Obedience
Calligraphy of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties

"Those who will maintain the heads will not maintain the hair; those who maintain the hair will not maintain the heads." The Qing dynasty government forced the Chinese citizens to wear Manchurian clothes and shave their hair - leaving a Manchu-style pigtail. The law stipulated that those who did not follow the Manchurian ways would be beheaded, a typical example of the rulers' tyranny at the time.

The transition from the Ming to Qing dynasties was not a mere shift in the government, but one of the greatest cultural shifts in Chinese history, one in which the Chinese people fell under the dominance of the Manchu, who were a different race from Manchuria in northeast China. There are many stories involving the Chinese resistance against and submission to the Qin government.

Deprived of authority, Ming government officials had to make difficult choices; some died for their country and some committed suicide. There were those who served the Qing government to attain high positions and honor. Some left the secular life to become Buddhist or Daoist priests, and some continued to resist Qin government as lieshi (patriots).

Former Ming government officials and lieshi such as Huang Taochou, Ni Yuanlu, Wang To, Fu Shan, and Chu Ta, produced connected-style calligraphy, which had been refined by Dong Qichang. Reflecting the social turmoil at the time, their works developed into an unusual style. This display of late Ming and early Qing calligraphy features impetuous connected-style works revealing the calligraphers' strong emotions and fury, as well as those showing rich feelings by a group of unique calligraphers.