柳宗元（773～819）是唐代最重要的文學家之一，他與同時代的韓愈（768～824）以及北宋的歐陽脩（1007～1072）、蘇洵（1009～1066）、曾鞏（1019～1083）、王安石（1021～1086）、蘇軾（1037～1101）、蘇轍（1039～1112）等人合稱為「古文八大家」，對後代影響極為深遠。文學之外，柳宗元的書法也屬當行，他和劉禹錫（772～842）一起學書於皇甫閱門下，是盛唐大書家張旭的三傳弟子，湖湘地區的後生尤其喜歡學他的字，連從日本國來的書家橘逸勢（782～842）據說也曾向他請益筆法，足見他於書法上確有不凡的造詣。劉禹錫曾給柳宗元寫過一詩，詩中有「柳家新樣元和腳」之語，乃是因他的書法而有的。然而後世的學者因為沒見過柳宗元的字，又不清楚劉詩的來龍去脈，只看到「柳家新樣」，便逕言是指大書法家柳公權（778～865）的字；而對「元和腳」則是完全無法體會，只能望文生義，憑空揣測，各說各話，遂衍生了許多糾葛。這些糾葛不但造成註詩的困擾，同時也讓書法史學者十分頭痛，視為難以解答的問題。本文首先根據文獻證明柳宗元的確有擅書之實，而且還是筆法傳承上重要的人物之一；進而對傳世的幾件柳宗元書跡加以考辨，論其真偽；再以新發現的〈靈宮殿刻石〉和〈獨孤申叔墓誌〉，試著對「元和腳」提出解釋，藉以闡明劉詩之本意，期能有助釐清長久以來的困惑。文末更對蘇軾襲用此語而改「腳」為「手」之事提出討論，以之結尾。

Liu Zong-yuan is one of the most important literati in the Tang Dynasty. He was listed among the “Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties” with the contemporary Han Yu 韓愈 (768-824), the Northern Song literati Ou-yang Xiu 歐陽 脩 (1007-1072), Su Xun 蘇洵 (1009-1066), Zeng Gong 曾鞏 (1019-1083), Wang An-shi 王安石 (1021-1086), Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037-1101), and Su Zhe 蘇轍(1039-1112). Besides literature, Liu Zong-yuan was also skilled in calligraphy. He ,together with Liu Yu-xi 劉禹錫 (772-842), learned calligraphy from Huang-fu Yue 皇甫閱, so is purportedly the third- generation disciple of Zhang Xu 張旭, one of the greatest calligraphers in High Tang. According to records, the junior literati in Hunan 湖南 region especially like to learn Liu’s calligraphy. Even Japanese calligrapher Tachibana no Hayanari 橘逸勢 (782-842) had allegedly asked Liu Zong-yuan for writing technique advice. All these anecdotes indicate that Liu Zong-yuan undoubtedly had extinguished attainments on calligraphy. Liu Yu-xi had written a poem to Liu Zong-yuan. In this poetry, he wrote down a sentence – ‘the new (writing) style of Liu family is Yuan-he Foot’’ – to compliment Liu’s calligraphy. However, the scholars in later ages, who don’t many chances to witness Liu’s calligraphy, neglect the context of Liu’s poem and misleading attribute ‘‘the new (writing) style of Liu family’ 柳家新樣 to another calligraphy master Liu Gong-quan 柳公權 (778-865) . Due to the misunderstanding, their interpretation about ‘Yuan-he Foot’ 元和腳 could not help but be highly questionable, which brings a huge difficulty to grasp the real meaning of ‘Yuan-he Foot’. This article attempts to resolve this long-time mystery from two aspects. First, this article provides textual evidences to affirm that Liu Zong-yuan was definitely good at calligraphy, and then tries to distinguish the true and false of the existing asserted Liu’s calligraphy works. Secondly, according to the newly discovered ‘the Ling Gong Palace Stele’ 靈宮殿刻石 and ‘Du-gu Shen-shu epitaph’ 獨孤申叔墓誌, this article provide a new interpretation on ‘Yuan-he Foot’, in order to illuminate the authentic meaning of Liu’s poem. Besides, this article also makes a brief discussion on the possible implication of Su Shi’s modification –‘Yuan-he hand’ 元和手.