Also trained as a virtuoso in literati scholarship, Shen Wei (1862–1945) grounded his Shufa in the Tang dynasty’s regular script, with its emphasis on order and uprightness. Even in this couplet, written in the freer mode of cursive, his characters retain a firm structure: thick, steady strokes suppress the flying whites and flowing connections often prized in more expressive hands. Where many masters of running script revel in layered strokes and shifting forms, Shen keeps his brush disciplined and unified, moving like a well-ordered legion.

This restraint aligns closely with the couplet’s content. Popular in Shen’s time, such paired verses carry a lyrical quality akin to a ghazal, conveying private emotions through natural imagery and subtle suggestion. Dedicated to a friend, the lines speak of a bond known only to the two, likening it to the spring breeze drawn inward and kept close to the heart.

In both style and sentiment, Shen Wei demonstrates how Shufa can balance freedom with restraint—an art that captures not only the visible gesture of the brush, but also the unspoken intimacies of human connection.

沈卫（1862-1945）书法同样学唐楷章法正气，使他的行书也于随性自由的表达中保持严谨正派，避免牵丝飞白和连贯笔画下可能对字形结构的逾越。相较于许多行书名帖笔触的飘逸自由与形制多元，沈卫将笔画保持统一，让笔毫如军团列阵行进。

沈卫自持的笔墨与这幅七言联的内容相呼应。作为当时流行的楹联对句，此句将幽玄的细腻情感寄托于自然元素之上，上阕以春光比友人，下阕却将春风收回襟怀“只自知”，以含蓄诗意的手笔表达了与友人心灵相通的情谊，兼具抒情和艺术表达。

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Inscription:

献之先生雅属
For Mr. Xianzhi
春能蕴藉如相识，
Gentle as an old friend is the spring,
风入襟怀只自知
Joins my heart as a secret is the breeze

七十五老人沈卫
Seventy-five old man Shen Wei