It is said that Wang Xianzhi began to learn calligraphy when he was seven or eight years old, and his first teacher was naturally his father Wang Xizhi. By the time he was in his teens, Wang Xianzhi thought his calligraphy was already very good. So he ran to ask his father, "I just need to practice for another three years at my present level, right?" Wang Xizhi just smiled and didn't answer. His mother shook her head and said it was far from enough.
Wang Xianzhi then asked, "That five years will be enough." As a result, the mother still shook her head, and finally she was anxious to offer it. When she asked how long it would take to practice her handwriting, her father went to the window and pointed to a row of vats in the courtyard and said, as long as you dye all the water in the eighteen vats in the courtyard, maybe your handwriting will be practiced.
So Wang Xianzhi began to practice calligraphy day and night for five years. One day, he showed his father his masterpiece, but his father didn't answer. Instead, he added a little under the word "big" he wrote, which became the word "too". My father didn't speak, and he showed his work to his mother gloomily. After reading it for a long time, his mother said, "My son has been practicing calligraphy for so long, only this is like your father."
For one thing, the point that my mother refers to is actually the point that my father just added. I immediately felt very ashamed, so I began to practice calligraphy more diligently. I don't know how long it took, but he finally learned something and became a great calligrapher.
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Wang Xianzhi has a family history and studies hard. His poetry and calligraphy are rising stars in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. His cursive script is as skillful, graceful and romantic as his father Wang Xizhi, and his father and son are called two kings together.
Wang Xianzhi's cursive script is even more commendable. Yu Zhuo once said: "The cursive script descended from Zhang Zhi in Han Dynasty, and it was just a wonderful person and a slave."
Wang Xianzhi's ink remains are rarely preserved, and the quantity is far less abundant than that of Wang Xizhi. Wang Xianzhi's writings in Neifu "only exist" because Tang Taizong condescended to offer them instead of buying them. In the early Song Dynasty, "two kings" were emphasized in calligraphy. Song Taizong and Zhao Guangyi paid attention to calligraphy, purchased the ink of the famous ancient emperor Wang Mingchen, and ordered Wang Shuzhu to copy ten volumes. This is the famous "Chunhua Pavilion Post".
During the Xuanhe period in the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Huizong excelled Wang Xianzhi's calligraphy, and the number of Wang Xianzhi's calligraphy collected in Xuanhe Shupu increased to more than 8. However, the vast majority of these ink books have not been preserved, and the only remaining ink books are no more than seven, and they are all copies. There are still some original engravings in the past dynasties.
Mo Bao, a cursive script handed down from ancient times by Wang Xianzhi, has Duck Head Pill Sticks and Mid-Autumn Sticks, all of which are copies of the Tang Dynasty. His Duck Head Pill Sticks, with cursive characters, is a silk copy.
In the Qing Dynasty, Wu Qizhen praised this post in the Book of Calligraphy and Painting, saying: "(This post) has elegant and upright calligraphy, amazing beauty and natural interest, and it is the supreme product."
Wang Xianzhi's "Mid-Autumn Festival Post" is cursive, with * * * 22 characters. It looks as good as new, and its feathers are Ji Guang, which is rare in the world. Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty included it in Sanxitie and regarded it as a "national treasure".
Baidu encyclopedia-Wang Xianzhi