The sage of calligraphy is Wang Xizhi.
Wang Xizhi (303-361), courtesy name Yishao, was born in Langya Linyi (now Linyi, Shandong). He once served as a general of the Youjun Army, and in his later life he was called the King of the Youjun Army. The Wang family was a prominent family in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and there were many people who were good at calligraphy. His father Wang Kuang was good at official calligraphy, his cousin Wang Tuo was good at practicing calligraphy, and his uncle Wang Weigong was good at writing calligraphy. In addition, among the cousins, Wang Tian, ??Wang Qia, and Wang Zhu are all famous for their good calligraphy. In such a scholarly family with a rich artistic atmosphere, Wang Xizhi's talents were well cultivated. He began to learn calligraphy when he was 7 years old, and studied under Mrs. Wei when he was 12 years old. He learned from many experts and became a master of many schools. He once "crossed the Yangtze River and traveled to famous mountains in the north, and saw the books of Li Si, Cao Xi, etc., and also read the books of Zhong Shu and Liang Ge. Also in Luoxia, I saw Cai Pa's "The Three-Body Book of the Stone Classic" (Wang Xiaozhi's "Inscribed on Mrs. Wei's "After the Brush Formation Picture"). Not only did he receive help from Jiangshan, but he also witnessed the calligraphy of his predecessors extensively. He was broad-minded and his artistic spirituality was well inspired. He carried out drastic reforms in regular script and running cursive script. He changed the simple calligraphy style of the Han and Wei dynasties into a beautiful and elegant style, which is full of the flavor of the times. Wang Xizhi has many works handed down from generation to generation. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once collected his works extensively. According to Zhang Yanyuan's "Calligraphy Essentials", there are thousands of pieces. Source Calligraphy House, Calligraphy House is a calligraphy learning base. Although most of what we can see today are imitations, the imitators are all masters of calligraphy, and their fresh and elegant style can still be seen. Yang Xin said that his calligraphy is "more valuable than any other in ancient and modern times." Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty praised his works as "The calligraphy is majestic and majestic, like a dragon leaping over the heavenly gate, a tiger crouching on a phoenix, and so it is a treasure of the past dynasties" ("Comments on the Pros and Cons of Ancient and Modern Calligraphers"). No one has always praised Wang Xizhi more than Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He admired Wang Xizhi's calligraphy to the extreme and searched extensively, and finally brought "Lanting Preface" to Zhaoling. Tang Taizong also wrote a "biography" for "Book of Jin·Biography of Wang Xizhi". : "After careful study of ancient and modern times, we have developed seal scripts and found them to be perfect. It is Wang Yishao! Look at his point-drawing work and the wonderful cutting. The smoke is dew and knotted, and the shape seems to be broken but still connected; the phoenix, the old man, the dragon and the pan. , the momentum is like diagonal but straight. You won't feel tired after playing it, and you won't know the end of it after reading it. He is just a person who imitates with his heart, and the rest are just like him." The praise for Wang Xizhi has almost reached the highest level. Due to Wang Xizhi's calligraphy attainments and profound influence on future generations, coupled with the high admiration of the emperor, , so later generations called him the "Sage of Calligraphy".