According to legend, when the Preface to Lanting was passed on to Wang Xizhi's descendant Zhi Yong, Zhi Yong became a monk and passed it on to his disciples on his deathbed. Deliberating on calligraphy and painting, the preface of Lanting Collection is treasured in the dark sill between the beams. Emperor Taizong, who loved Wang Xizhi's calligraphy, looked for the original Lanting and finally realized that it was in the hands of eloquence, so he tried his best to get it, but eloquence did not show his true feelings. Emperor Taizong was helpless, so he sent Xiao Yi to Yuezhou to design a false surrender. Dressed up as a poor scholar, Xiao Yi visited him and made friends with Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi. They often drink, write poems and comment on the paintings and calligraphy of the two kings. When the wine was hot, eloquence finally revealed that he had the original book Preface to Lanting Collection. Xiao Yi's debater regarded him as a "good friend" and lost his guard. He put the original Lanting on the console table instead of putting it back in the dark sill between the beams. One day, knowing that the debater was going out, Xiao Yi sneaked into the monk's room and stole the original work of Lanting Jishi. Xiao Yi stole the original Lanting, went to the local official office, and ordered him to preach eloquence and knock on the empire. When the debater arrived, Xiao Yi told him that he had come by decree to get the original Lanting, and now he had it, so he called to say goodbye. After listening to eloquence, he fainted and died of shock and regret. After receiving the original work of Wang Xizhi, Emperor Taizong imitated and extended it, and gave his prince a near minister. On his deathbed, he was buried in Zhaoling. Therefore, this "best running script in the world" was buried underground. Dragon Book is the most famous ink in Tang Dynasty, and Dingwu Book is the first stone carving. According to Guo Moruo's textual research, the second half of the Preface to Lanting handed down from ancient times has nothing in common with Wang Xizhi's thoughts, and the calligraphy style is also different from the epitaph of the Eastern Jin Dynasty unearthed in recent years, which is suspected to be wrongly entrusted by Sui and Tang Dynasties. But some people disagree.
He managed to seize it before his death and took it with him after his death. Thus, a good national treasure was brought into the loess by the emperor and disappeared from the world forever. This is China's great sorrow.